Rupert's Read

This news [see below] is vindication for the people of Norfolk - both in the Costessey/Norwich area and in the Kings Lynn area - who have fought for a decade against this absurd incinerator project, supported the whole while by the Green Party. Our congratulations to the Green Party's Michael De Whalley, co-founder of the anti-incinerator campaign KLWin, and to all who have fought by his side. The news is however political disaster for the Conservatives and for George Nobbs, Labour Leader of Norfolk Couty Council, who have unwisely backed this calamitiously-bad incinerator project: calamitous from a financial point of view, and also of course, if it had gone ahead, from an environmental point of view. We now need to look to a future in which Norfolk recycles and reduces its waste, rather than feeding monstrous burners. http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/politics/major_twist_in_king_s_lynn_incinerator_saga_as_officers_recommend_controversial_project_is_scrapped_...

Human-influenced climate change will spiral out of control, worsening poverty, inequality and conflict, unless we put renewables and energy conservation at the heart of energy policy. That was the warning today from Rupert Read, Green Party lead candidate in the east at the European elections, after scientists published the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report today (March 31 st ). However, Dr Read said: "We should see this report not as a document of doom but as a challenge we can rise to with the right thinking. " Of course we need to tackle high domestic energy prices and excessive profits for suppliers, but we should reorganise the sector, increasing public funding for domestic energy-saving devices and community renewable energy generation and keeping fossil fuels in the ground. This is certainly a wake-up call against fracking ." The new report warns that no-one will be immune from the effects of climate change, ...

Summary of large COMRes Poll from 15/16th March 2014: Euro Election voting intention in the Eastern Region (among those who expressed a voting intention and said they would definitely vote): Labour 14% UKIP 44% Conservative 21% Lib Dem 7% Green 12% Other 2% If this result occurs on May 22, then exactly what I have been saying will happen, in terms of seats switching: UKIP will gain at the expense of the Conservatives, and the Green Party will gain at the expense of the LibDems. Labour, weak in the East outside a few old urban strongholds, will remain static in terms of MEP-numbers. [ http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/IoS_SM_Political_Poll_16th_March_2014_%281%29.pdf  p.36, for details.] Encouraging news! Do share it.

No glory: My answer to Cameron's 'Great' War jingoism http://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/glory-averting-right-wing-revisionism-concerning-great-war/

RUPERT READ, BEHIND THE HEADLINES THE PHILOSOPHER AND POLITICIAN RUPERT READ WILL BE TALKING ABOUT WHAT MOTIVATES HIS WORK IN THE GREEN PARTY AT AN EVENT IN CAMBRIDGE ON TUESDAY. "Green Philosophy in Action" is the title of a talk he'll give at a meeting organised by Impington and Histon Climate Change Action. Dr Read, who is lead candidate for the Greens in the east of England at the European elections in May, is also Reader in Philosophy at the University of East Anglia and the author of nine books on political and environmental philosophy. He is especially interested in issues around responsible living, consumerism and economics and has argued in his book "Philosophy for Life" that philosophy is not a body of doctrine but may be used as a kind of therapy allowing us to improve our perspective on the world and our place in it. On Tuesday, he'll be offering some radical ideas and suggestions on how to respond to the threat of global warming and questionin...

Greens offer vision of energy future     One of Britain's best known environment campaigners, Sir Jonathon Porritt, will be in the east of England  today , Budget Day (Wednesday March 19 th ), calling for budget measures to address the long term cost-of-living crisis caused by the "end of oil".   He'll be in Norwich and Gt Yarmouth to launch a new report by Rupert Read, lead candidate for the Green Party in the east of England at the Euro elections in May, calling for an "energy revolution" in the region encompassing tidal, wave, wind and solar power plus energy waste-reduction to replace outdated fossil fuels and nuclear.   The Green Party says that only an invest-to-save programme such as this can address the cost-of-living crisis which will otherwise arise from the end of the age of cheap oil.   Sir Jonathon, who has served as both Director of Friends of the Earth and as Chair of the government's Sustainab...

Helen Geake and I in conversation at the place where the Magna Charta was drafted: right here in the East, at Bury: http://www.eadt.co.uk/news/politics/bury_st_edmunds_time_team_tv_archaeologist_looks_to_past_for_social_future_1_3429460

LEADING GREENS BRING SUSTAINABILITY VISION TO CAMBRIDGE TONY JUNIPER AND RUPERT READ TOGETHER FOR WEEKEND EVENT THE INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED CAMPAIGNER AND WRITER ON THE ENVIRONMENT, TONY JUNIPER, IS THE MAIN SPEAKER AT A PUBLIC MEETING IN CAMBRIDGE ON SATURDAY (MARCH 15TH). Green Party activists will be meeting people on the streets during an Action Day in the city as part of the campaign behind Rupert Read, lead candidate for the Greens in the European elections on May 22nd. Later, the two will discuss how to create a healthy low-carbon economy, and the important role that Cambridge researchers, businesses and residents have to play in moving to a sustainable future for our region. Mr Juniper, a former executive director of Friends of the Earth, who now advises companies internationally on sustainability issues, was the Green Party candidate in his home city of Cambridge at the 2010 general election when he more than doubled the Green share of the vote. He will be endorsing the Gre...

There's been a lot of discussion about exactly why the demand for foodbanks here in the east of England is rising so quickly. Could there be a link between the number of people forced to use food banks and the number having their applications for benefit rejected? The fact is, those rejections have soared under the coalition government. Green Party analysis of figures for our region compiled by the Department for Work and Pensions reveal that "adverse decisions" against claimants for Job Seekers Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance leapt from about 19,000 to almost thirty thousand between 2008 and 2009. By last year that number had doubled again to nearly sixty two thousand. We believe that this is one of the primary causes of the increased pressure on charitable foodbanks. A Parliamentary select committee came to the same conclusion in January and called for an enquiry into inappropriate sanctions being imposed on claimants by Jobcen...

Radical ideas and suggestions on how to respond to the threat of global warming from some of the UK's leading experts and campaigners.   April 12th, 2014   Conway Hall Red Lion Square London WC1R 4RL Near Holborn Tube   £10 (£5 students) free to friends of CFI UK.   Tickets available online at:  https://humanism.org.uk/events/?page=CiviCRM&q=civicrm/event/info&reset=1&id=52   10.30 Registration   11am Dr Mayer Hillman. Senior Fellow Emeritus, Policy Studies Institute, London. What do we do now that society is demonstrating all too clearly its strong preference for downplaying the significance and implications of climate change?   12.00 Dr Rupert Read. Philosopher and Green activist.  Rupert will speak about global over-heat, the end of denialism, and the self-destruction of libertarianism in relation to this issue - and a possible way forward, in terms of guardians for ...

NEWS: LibDem confidential memo that wrongly attacks Greens revealed here, by yours truly: http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2314258/leaked_memo_now_libdems_are_running_scared_of_the_greens.html

Just seen this TIMES front page : http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/politics/article4027006.ece Very reminiscent of the scandal from soon after the last Euro-elections in 2009, when our local UKIP MEP Stuart Agnew was caught on camera by an undercover reporter advocating illegal donations to UKIP: http://rupertsread.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/ukip-eastern-region-mep-caught-with-his.html   It's extraordinary that Agnew got away with this; perhaps he won't get away with it at the polls, now that more and more people are realising that UKIP and dodgy financial activity seem to be linked at the hip.

Green proposals for democratic reform build on Magna Carta   Past meets future in Bury St Edmunds tomorrow (Tuesday March 11 th ) when Time Team archaeologist Dr Helen Geake joins east region lead Green Party candidate Rupert Read as part of his Euro election campaign. The tv archaeologist, who's also a Green Party member, will be meeting Dr Read at the Abbey Gate, close to where the Magna Carta was drafted eight hundred years ago. Helen Geake said: "The people who met that day in Bury St Edmunds were determined to make the king obey English law and to make justice available to all. Juries were to decide guilt or innocence, so for the first time in medieval England, ordinary people - not just the nobles - got involved.   "Improvements in rights and democracy are often slow. It took over 700 years after Magna Carta for women to get the right to vote or to sit on juries.   Remembering and celebrating these anniversaries will inspire...

Shocking increase in "adverse decisions" under coalition   The number of people in the east of England having their applications for benefits rejected has soared under the coalition government .   The Green Party believes this is one of the primary causes of the increased use of foodbanks. A Parliamentary select committee came to the same conclusion in January and called for an enquiry into inappropriate sanctions being imposed on claimants by Jobcentre Plus staff. They said staff should be incentivised to get people into work and not simply off benefits.   Lord Freud, the welfare reform minister, caused controversy when he recently told peers that more people were using the banks because more of them existed, and denied they were even part of the welfare system.   Green Party analysis of figures compiled by the Department for Work and Pensions reveal that "adverse decisions" against claimants for Job Seekers Allowance an...

Why we need a public transport revolution: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oW9kpt_B4U Check out my (3 minute) Conference speech, calling for a transport revolution. I think you are going to like it! The audience at Conference certainly did! Then please SHARE it... This needs a wide audience! [This was btw as you can see part of Natalie Bennett's Leader's Speech at Conference - she generously gave part of her time to me and my fellow target region lead candidates.]

Global Warming – Where Do We Go From Here?   CFI UK and Conway Hall present Radical suggestions and solutions on how to respond to the threat of global warming from some of the UK's leading experts and campaigners.   April 12th, 2014   Conway Hall Red Lion Square London WC1R 4RL Near Holborn Tube   £10 (£5 students) free to friends of CFI UK.   Tickets available online at:   10.30 Registration   11am Dr Mayer Hillman. Senior Fellow Emeritus, Policy Studies Institute, London. What do we do now that society is demonstrating all too clearly its strong preference for downplaying the significance and implications of climate change?   12.00 Dr Rupert Read. Philosopher and Green activist.   Rupert will speak about global over-heat, the end of denialism, and the self-destruction of libertarianism in relation to this issue - and a possible way forward, in terms of guardians for future people....

Some edited extracts below from the UK's leading politician speaking for the environment, Caroline Lucas. Her speech, which the Minister [ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Dan Rogerson) ] and the Shadow Minister [ Barry Gardiner ], strongly  acknowledged in their concluding speeches, follows:   From the official Hansard report:   "The  lessons that we need to learn from the recent floods are that our spending on flood protection is shockingly inadequate, and that we must not have Ministers who deny the link between the burning of fossil fuels, man-made climate change, extreme weather and enormous threats to our society - threats that the Government are exacerbating through their inequitable and unscientific climate targets, and their obsession with helping big   energy companies to extract every last drop of oil and gas that is out there. "Crucially, there ...