Rupert's Read

Green Party lead candidate for Europe tours Suffolk projects .    Green Party campaigning in Suffolk stepped up a gear this week when the lead candidate for the European elections, Rupert Read, came to Suffolk on Monday for a series of fact-finding visits to projects which the Green Party is keen to encourage.    His first visit was to the Oak Tree Farm Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) enterprise at Rushmere St Andrew just outside Ipswich. There he met Tom Wilmot, one of the directors of the community interest company. CSA ensures a supply of good quality locally grown produce and also enables many Ipswich people to directly grow some of their own food. Rupert was pleased to see the wide range of vegetables available, even in winter, helped feed the pigs (who are being kept in exemplary conditions), and heard about the plans for fruit production, cattle and bees.    Second call was to the Energy From Waste (EFW) pl...

  Twitter doesn't know the proper spelling of 'Canute'. Goto the link below, to see my tweet, and you'll see what I mean! ----- Original Message ----- From: Twitter Ads (via Twitter) To: RupertRead Sent: Friday, February 21, 2014 5:02 PM Subject: Your Tweet has not been approved for use in your Twitter Ads campaign         @GreenRupertRead, your Tweet cannot be promoted based on the Twitter Ads inappropriate language policy.         ...

  EAST AIR POLLUTION TARGETED IN EU PROSECUTION NDR set to increase health risk   Air pollution in the east of England is bad enough to figure in new EU legal proceedings against the British government. Further road-building projects, such as the Northern Distributor Road in Norwich, are likely to make the situation worse. Last year, the Department of Health's own figures revealed that  Watford and Luton are the worst places in the Eastern Region for causing death through man made air pollution with 6.50% of deaths in Watford and  6.43%  in Luton attributable to air pollution, above some London boroughs. The UK now faces court appearances and fines of up to £300m a year after the European Commission launched legal proceedings against it for failing to reduce "excessive" levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution from traffic in line with the air quality directive which should have been adopted in 2008. The British governme...

- Keith Taylor MEP takes swipe at Lib Dems for their role in the Coalition and at UKIP for their frequent absence from the European Parliament One of South East England's Euro-MPs has demanded that the Green Party is included in any national debate ahead of the European Elections.  Keith Taylor, one of two Green MEPs for the UK, has demanded that his party is included in any television debate. His call comes after Nick Clegg challenged Nigel Farage to a debate ahead of the European Elections.  Mr Taylor also attacked the Lib Dem's for attempting to brand themselves as a 'party of change.' Mr Taylor went on to criticise UKIP for their 'inability to represent the people who voted for them'.  Mr Taylor represents the same region as Nigel Farage, but has been present at double the amount of key votes in the European Parliament than the UKIP leader. [1] Keith Taylor, Green Party MEP for South East England, said:...

My new post on Green Words Workshop: http://greenwordsworkshop.org/node/56

#VoteGreen2014, to punish the Coalition: http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article4010585.ece   We could be wiped out in European elections, Lib Dem president warns ...Yep - and the Greens are the ones to do it.

This is great news!:   EURO-MPs have backed Green demands for the immediate suspension of talks leading to a proposed new trade deal between the EU and the US after an investigation found 'overwhelming evidence' of a programme of mass surveillance of EU citizens by US security forces. Members of the Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee said the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Programme (TTIP) should not be pursued – at least until the US agrees to change its law and halt all 'data mining' from 'phone and Internet use in the EU. The investigation, set up by the committee after whistleblower Edward Snowden lifted the lid on the US PRISM project to monitor and record EU citizens' telephone and Internet usage, condemned PRISM, which it said 'may entail a breach of EU ctizens' fundamental rights'. It calls for an end to all mass surveillance, observing that privacy is not a luxury, but a fundamental right in a free and...

How it will destroy them... http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/rupert-read/climate-how-ukip-and-tory-right-will-defeat-themselves Check this out: my latest published article, prompted by the climate chaos we are experiencing right now; already making quite a stir...

The UK's response to the flooding crisis must centre on a long-term strategy to address climate change the Green Party says today, as it recommends a series of ten measures to improve the country's flood resilience in future. It says sustained political action on climate change is crucial to reducing the risk of severe flooding happening again. The Party is calling for Environment Secretary Owen Paterson to be sacked and for the Prime Minister to remove Cabinet Ministers and senior government officials who refuse to accept the scientific consensus on climate change (1). The Met Office has said (2) that the evidence points to climate change contributing to these extraordinary floods. Keith Taylor, the Green Party's Euro MP for South East England, said: "These floods, which are now affecting thousands across my constituency, bring into focus the devastating risk of inaction on climate change.  We need to do all we can rig...

One of the South East of Englands MEPs is demanding that the UK Government and mainstream media 'wake up' to the links between flooding and climate change. Keith Taylor MEP, whose constituency has been hit hard by flooding, is demanding that the threat of increased extreme weather is taken seriously. "Though individual weather events can't be explicitly linked to climate change the evidence suggests that we can expect more of this kind of extreme weather in the future. It is, therefore, amazing that there have been so few mentions of climate change in the media as thousands of people are hit hard by this unusually wet weather. The Government and the media need to wake up to the links between weather like we're seeing and the global climate change that our fossil fuelled economy is causing. Though better planning and flood defenses will help us mitigate the risks of climate change the only way to properly protect ourselves is to take ...

This letter has just come to my attention, published a few weeks ago in the INDEPENDENT:  So, the "plebgate" policeman lied. If police can act this way to bring down someone as powerful as a Cabinet minister, then just imagine how they sometimes treat ordinary citizens, let alone demonstrators, animal rights and environmental activists, and so on. Rupert Read, Norwich http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/letters/letters-we-will-never-root-out-police-corruption-9054397.html

>> Today, as the country wakes up to yet more weather chaos, the realisation is dawning in more and more minds that - as the Met Office itself has finally said - climate chaos is coming home to roost in this country. It's tragic; it's terrible; it's a terrifying portent. This is a time for steady forward-looking leadership and long-termism, based on a sound understanding of the natural and human processes at work here. At last, the climate-denial of the Tory Right and of UKIP is being shown up for the profoundly dangerous nonsense that it is, and people are starting to realise that it is surely time to turn to the one Party that has been correct on this vital issue all along... (Just yesterday, a Guardian poll showed us moving up to 7%,   just 2% behind the Tories' Coalition Government partners, the LibDems!)  >> Today, it's  100 days to go   until 'E-Day', European Election Day, May 22. ...

  A stonkingly timely piece by my colleague James Abbott: http://britishinfluence.org/climate-denial-ukip-great-issue-time/

Region still at risk after ban rejected by European Parliament.                                                                    European Parliament members have voted for tough new targets on mitigating man-made climate change - but against an outright ban on fracking. The Greens voted to adopt the strategy, despite the targets falling short of what they wanted and a bid to ban fracking being rejected by other MEPs, in order to give their strong backing to the setting of binding targets, an approach previously rejected by the European Commission. Rupert Read, lead MEP-candidate for the East of England, commented: " This shows ho...

It was manmade climate change wot done it. But human error - political error - has made it much worse... It's time attention starts to turn to t he nefarious effect that water privatisation on Britain's vulnerability to flooding has had, actively worsening flood conditions for many people. This was brilliantly exposed in the LRB , during the last truly 'biblical' (sic. - the days of 'natural disasters' are increasingly over; we live in the anthropocene, now...) floods: http://www.lrb.co.uk/v30/n15/james-meek/when-the-floods-came  . Do read! And the issue is back on the media's agenda, as this very recent Dispatches programme chillingly showed: http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/videos/all/floods-your-money-down-the-drain  . Basically, the water companies have made vast profits - while reducing investment in flood-protection etc. It is a classic story of the perils of privatisation of a natural monopoly. We Greens thin...

LibDem Minister visiting Norwich this past weekend. If Davey knocked on my door, I would be worried it was to tell me he wanted to frack underneath it!  http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/politics/energy_and_climate_change_secretary_ed_davey_visits_norwich_resident_to_talk_about_fuel_costs_1_3301507

Second guessing who is riding up (and who is slipping down) in politics is a subtler and trickier game than it sometimes looks. With elections this May, and not least the five-yearly ones for the European Parliament, speculation is already building. And the European elections operate of course on a 'proportional representation' system of voting, thus making it much easier than usual for smaller parties to take seats...    Far off on  the right-hand side of the track, the Ukip horses are off, belting round the bend to whoops of delight from converts who love a good race to beat up the favourites. Few in the short term will stop them. Farage and his leather-backs can't get into Europe fast enough to get us out of Europe. Or so his backers believe.     But what's this? Another storm on the horizon, other deluge, another flood, and then another drought most probably. Food and raw materials prices unstable and challenging. Fossil fuels r...

EAST'S MIGRANT WORKERS DENIED EU PROTECTIONS Greens condemn missed opportunity   EURO-MPs have agreed to adopt a common system for ensuring that seasonal workers from outside the EU, providing essential labour in the EU economy, are paid and housed properly anywhere in Europe. But the UK Government has already opted out of the new rules in a move which the Green Party in the east of England has condemned. The 'Seasonal Workers Directive' was adopted by a majority of MEPs yesterday, the tenth anniversary of the tragic death of 23 unprotected Chinese migrant workers in Morecambe Bay. It guarantees access to rights enjoyed by other workers in their country of employment – particularly minimum wage legislation – and, crucially, the right to take action against rogue employers. It also sets a maximum...

Parts of East Anglia suffered badly from flooding a couple of months ago, and some still are suffering. The South West is now suffering much worse still. This is weather chaos, the consequence of human-induced climate change, starting to come home to roost. We need to tackle it at source. But we also need to mitigate its effects. Example: As the Green Party's lead MEP candidate for eastern England, I am calling today for urgent advice and encouragement (and, where necessary, financial incentives) to enable local authorities and property owners including householders and landlords to improve the drainage and porosity of parking and similar hard surfaces within their control, in order to cut flooding risk. Areas of Tarmac and other hard paving need drainage holes skillfully punched into them to enable excess water to be absorbed underground instead of filling up over-loaded surface water drainage pipes, and lying in pools on roads, pavements and in car ...

Proposals labelled 'horsemeat'... A motion tabled by Green MEPs to reject new rules proposed by the European Commission on origin labelling for meat was endorsed in a European Parliament vote today.   The Greens welcomed the outcome and called on the Commission to come forward with new and more comprehensive proposals, with Green food safety.   The Green Party's MEP for South East England, Keith Taylor, said:   "We're very pleased that a majority of MEPs have joined Greens in voting to send this inadequate legislation back to the Commission. After the horsemeat scandal in the UK people are increasingly concerned about the origin of the food they are eating.   We need full transparency in the food production chain, including country of birth labelling. Displaying this information is also an important tool for meat-eaters who want to choose to eat meat from animals that did not suffer the stress of long-distance transport, give...

 T he Green Party has today refuted Nick Clegg's absurd and wilfully-misleading assertion (made in his latest Broadcast) that the Lib Dems are the only party fighting to keep Britain in Europe. Green Party leader Natalie Bennett said that Nick Clegg's comments were "deliberately untrue" and that in any case only the Green Party stood for "Three Yeses - yes to a referendum, yes to major EU reform and yes to staying in a reformed Europe".  Dr. Rupert Read, lead Green Party MEP candidate in the East of England in the European elections, who recently published a critique of the LibDems' highly-dubious campaigning tactics ( http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/rupert-read/why-do-lib-dems-care-so-much-about-lord-rennard  ), said: "As someone who was once in the LibDems myself, I know all too well how the LibDems operate. This latest ridiculous claim by Clegg is unfortunately par for the course. No wonder they earn the epithet ...

Letter from me and Green House colleagues on why growthist greenery is a contradiction in terms: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/feb/04/carbon-capture-fracking-green-tories Scroll down for our letter on this topic.

Critics of Alastair Campbell, former Director of Communications in the Blair government, will join a demonstration when he speaks at the UEA on Wednesday (Feb 5 th ).   Among them will be Rupert Read, lead candidate for the Green Party in the east of England at the European elections in May.   Dr Read, who is 80% on leave this semester from his usual teaching and research duties at UEA, so that he can run for election to the European Parliament, said:   " Blair lied, and as a result hundreds of thousands died. But the man who crafted Blair's lies was of course Alastair Campbell.   "Campbell is partly to blame for the low repute in which politicians are now held by most of the public. But we in the Greens are different: whether you like what we say or not, you can trust us to tell it as it is. I'm demonstrating against Alastair Campbell because I want to put clear green water between the likes of him and t...

Home owners in the east of England may find fracking taking place underneath their property unless government plans are opposed. That's the warning today from Rupert Read, Green Party lead candidate in the east of England at the Euro-elections in May. Ministers and fracking firms are pushing for a change in trespass law to allow hydraulic fracturing to take place under people's homes without their permission. The Department for Energy and Climate Change, headed by Liberal Democrat MP Ed Davey, is reviewing whether current trespass laws are fit for purpose. In a Radio Four interview on the proposed law change the Chief Executive of Celtique Energy, Geoff Davis, hinted at his support for making unwanted drilling easier.[1]  Mr Davis' intervention came after a group of landowners in Sussex wrote to Ed Davey MP saying they refuse to give permission for Celtique to drill beneath their land. [2] Responding on behalf of the Green Party h...

  The recent stormy weather has shown how important it is that we prioritise investment in infrastructure such as sea defence and flood protection. In Norfolk and Suffolk alone we have seen storm surges cause serious flooding and damage, and so soon after extensive weather damage to electricity supplies in December. As the Green Party lead candidate for the East in the May European elections, I am calling on the government urgently to commission an independent, top level assessment on the resource implications of maintaining the region's infrastructure and utilities during the next 25 years. We are talking here about very substantial sums of money and other resources that have to be earmarked and made available to maintain so many things that we have come to rely upon: highways and other transportation infrastructure, water, electricity and gas supplies, sewerage, telephone and other cabling, quite apart from flood and sea defences. We know, fo...