SOC-Ing it to him
Brian Haw, the peace protestor who was been camped out in Parliament Square for over six years, was left bloodied and shaken with a deep cut to his face, after a police officer lunged at him to try to prevent him from filming during the Freedom to Protest assembly on the 12 January.
Mr Haw was then arrested for an unspecified public order offence and claims that further assaults took place while in the police van and while being held at Belgravia Police Station. When he appeared at Southwark Crown Court two days later to defend against an unrelated charge of contempt of court, bruising to his face and wrists was evident.
Policing of the recent events calling for the repeal of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act (SOCPA) have been described as heavy-handed. MEP Caroline Lucas has written to Home Secretary Jacqui Smith MP to condemn the police brutality witnessed at the event near Downing Street. Speaking of the incident, Dr Lucas said: "I utterly condemn the aggressive mishandling of Brian Haw during the demonstration, and his subsequent treatment while in the custody of police. He is a passionate and peaceful campaigner, and a popular hero following his outstanding efforts to publicly oppose the Iraq war.
"This incident provides yet more proof that police actions taken under the terms of SOCPA are putting a stranglehold on civil liberties and threatening the right to gather in peaceful protest. It is a sad day for this country when the face of modern democracy is frightened and bloodied and peering out of a police van on a Saturday afternoon."
Mr Haw has now been released, having been charged with a minor public order offence under Section 4 of SOCPA. Jenny Jones AM has written to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Ian Blair, asking for an explanation of the latest assault, and she will be raising the issue at the next Authority meeting, which is held in public.
DESERT POWER-ING ON
Last issue, Green World took an in-depth look at the possibilities of generating clean power from the world’s deserts. TREC-UK Co-ordinator, Gerry Wolff, details the developments since last year.
The vision of “clean power from deserts” which I outlined in GW58 (November 2007) is becoming a reality. Currently, there are about 40 concentrating solar power (CSP) plants on the drawing board around the world: six are in the process of being built and about 13 are on stream. There are increasingly frequent news reports relating to the ‘DESERTEC’ vision, and there are now about 40 companies involved in the design, manufacture and installation of CSP plants with no shortage of relevant conferences.
Although these developments are very welcome, there is still a huge amount to be done. Electricity from fossil fuels is artificially cheap because of subsidies and because the atmosphere is still being used as a free dumping ground for CO2. An HVDC Supergrid and a single market for electricity are needed throughout Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (EUMENA). And there is still a need for much greater awareness of the DESERTEC ideas amongst politicians, business people, journalists and the general public.
To get things up to speed, the main TREC group have called for a EUMENA-wide “Apollo-Programme DESERTEC,” comparable in boldness with that which put people on the Moon. This proposal, which is endorsed by MEPs Matthias Groote, Rebecca Harms, Vittorio Prodi and Anders Wijkman, was announced at a meeting in Brussels in November where Prince Hassan of Jordan, former President of the Club of Rome, made a formal presentation to the European Parliament of a “White Book” describing the DESERTEC concept. Sigmar Gabriel and Michael Müller, two ministers in the German government, have also publicly endorsed the concept.
Here in the UK, we have made presentations to various organisations including DBERR (twice), the Climate Group and the TUC. In November we made a presentation to a meeting of the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee in the House of Commons. A 1500-word briefing report about the ideas is due to appear in Science in Parliament, a publication that goes to all MPs, to all members of the House of Lords, and to others outside Parliament.
More information:
www.trec-uk.org.uk
www.desertec.org
Jean Lambert MEP joined a group of cross-party London politicians to prepare meals for housebound HIV sufferers. After volunteering with The Food Chain, an organization that delivers meals to 350 people in the capital every Sunday, Jean Lambert said: “As well as the right medication, good nutrition is vital for those with weakened immune systems. The Food Chain provides a crucial service for housebound HIV and AIDS sufferers, helping to improve their quality of life. New volunteers are always welcome.” www.foodchain.org.uk
York Keeps Cycle Lanes Open
Andy D’Agorne said of this decision “There is concern that the council is to sell off assets needed for a community facility purely because they don’t have the vision to look beyond the short term financial return. Before selling on the open market, the council should be looking nationally and locally for an operator who wants to use these premises to provide the facility identified as needed in the cycle strategy.
“A significant proportion of the costs identified in the study will need to be spent by any occupant of this building: for disabled access and service connections, for example. These enhancements will increase the value of the property and should not be set against the likely income of the operation.” He is now urging the Liberal Democrats to grasp the opportunity offered by the location.
Green Pensioner Jailed for Opposing Trident Nuclear Weapons
Irene Willis, former co-chair of Green Party Regional Council, was given a 7-day custodial sentence on Tuesday 18th December by City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London for refusing to pay a fine of £50 (+£50 court costs). The fine was for deliberately obstructing traffic around Parliament Square during an anti-nuclear protest on 14th March 2007, the day Parliament voted to replace Trident despite a huge Labour backbench rebellion. www.stopwar.org.uk
Throwaway Bags
Following an investigation chaired by Darren Johnson, the London Assembly’s Environment Committee published its report on disposable bags on 18 December. The report calls on the Government to introduce a national levy on all free throwaway shopping bags to reduce their environmental impact. The introduction of the Irish levy in 2002 saw a staggering 94 per cent reduction in the number of plastic bags distributed and the report suggests such a system could have similar success in England, providing the levy was to include paper bags as well. Darren commented that London Councils’ proposal to ban single-use shopping bags is a step in the right direction but it is restricted to London: “This is a national problem requiring a national solution” www.london.gov.uk/assembly/reports/environment.jsp
No To Call For More Supermarkets
Green Party Euro-MP Caroline Lucas has reacted angrily to the conclusions of an independent report that calls for a greater number of supermarkets to be built in the UK. Responding to the report by the Competition Commission, Dr Lucas said: “The report is worryingly inconsistent. Although the chairman of the Commission claims he is “not happy” with the effects of large supermarkets on suppliers, he is calling for an increase in supermarket numbers. The report can be found at: www.competition-commission.org.uk
Green Party Councillor Arrested Protecting Trees
Oxford Green county councillor Deborah Glass Woodin was arrested on charges of aggravated trespass after taking part in a peaceful direct action. Councillor Glass Woodin was protesting against Oxford City Council’s decision to fell 100 year-old plane trees to make way for the redevelopment and expansion of a shopping centre, which the party has opposed. However, the felling pre-empted the results of a public enquiry into the demolition of some sheltered housing which forms part of the plans. Deborah told the Oxford Mail, “I am embarrassed to be associated with an organisation [Oxford City Council] that behaves in this way. It’s as if they are saying all this is a forgone conclusion. I am not a tree-hugger – I am a democracy-lover and they have no right to pre-empt the result of a public inquiry.” www.greenoxford.com
Greens win Regency by-election
Brighton & Hove Green Party successfully held onto its seat in a crucial by-election in the Regency ward of the city council in December, brought about by the resignation due to illness of councillor Hermione Roy. The seat, a key marginal, had only been won the party for the first time in the local elections in May 2008, but Jason Kitcat, 29, finished in a comfortable first place, polling 749 votes ahead of the Conservatives on 397 and Labour on 376. The victory means the council has the same make-up as it did after the last elections in May, with no one party in overall control and the Conservatives dependent on support from their opponents to get decisions through.
Siân Calls For Sex Work Policy That Puts Safety First
The Green candidate for Mayor of London, Siân Berry, appeared on Newsnight to argue against Labour plans to attempt a crackdown on prostitution by criminalising paying for sex. Backing the Safety First campaign, which includes the English Collective of Prostitutes as well as the Royal College of Nursing and the National Association of Probation Officers, Sián called for the decriminalisation of the sex industry. Siân, alongside Green MEP for London Jean Lambert, signed the Safety First petition at the Green Party conference earlier this year.
Sign the petition for the decriminalisation of sex work and immediate action to protect vulnerable women and children from violence at: www.petitiononline.com/swsafety
Green Councillors and local campaigners celebrate the decision of the Norwich City Council Planning Committee to reject a Tesco application for a fourth time.
Green Councillors in Norwich have recently helped defeat a fourth application by Tesco to build an Express store on a local shopping street. For over three years Norwich Green Party has been supporting a local residents’ campaign to protect the Unthank Road from repeated applications by Tesco. The majority of residents in the area are opposed to the application, fearing that a Tesco store would have a detrimental effect on independent and local business in the area. There are also concerns about more traffic and delivery lorries being brought to an already congested and narrow street.
The first three applications were all recommended for rejection by Norwich City Council planning officers and were all unanimously defeated by councillors on the Planning Committee. Residents and Green Councillors were surprised when planning officers recommended a fourth application for approval.
Local Green Party Councillor and Parliamentary Candidate Adrian Ramsay commented: “As far as we were concerned, the problems with the previous applications remained this time round. The minor tinkering with the details did not affect the fundamental problems. We were delighted when the Planning Committee once again rejected the plans.”
The latest application received 14 letters of support for Tesco, with 425 in opposition. Despite this being one of the highest response rates, as well as one of the highest percentages against, to any planning application, the latest decision was not unanimous. Following a hearing lasting over two hours, the application was rejected by 6 votes to 3 with 2 abstentions in December. But in an unusual move, when the committee subsequently met to agree on the wording of its reasons for refusal in early January, planning officers asked members to reconsider their original decision. This time it was defeated by 6 votes to 5, with LibDem and Conservative councillors failing to reaffirm the decision made the previous month. At the January meeting, the planning officers stated a concern about the Council losing an appeal to Tesco if the application was rejected, and threatened not to support the councillors in an appeal process. The Green Councillors are now pursuing these procedural points to try to ensure that officers don’t make a habit of trying to undo democratic decisions.
The Green Party is calling on Tesco to sell the site in question so it can be developed for housing. www.norwichgreenparty.org
