Jean Lambert video

An excellent letter in today's Guardian from Jean.

The government's research highlights the valuable contribution that migrants have made to our economy recently. However, the social problems encountered in some areas point to the fact that we were woefully unprepared for their arrival. Many local authorities believed the migrants would gravitate towards already ethnically diverse regions, not settle in rural areas where they had little prior experience of integrating people from different cultures.

There has been a lack of information available in different languages about finding work and accommodation, and accessing social security, education and healthcare. It is little wonder then that many migrants have fallen prey to unscrupulous gangmasters and landlords. Given the government's tendency to think of migrants purely as economic units, we should be thankful to those authorities and organisations that have helped to ease the tensions and made the transition to life in Britain easier than it would otherwise have been.

Jean Lambert MEP Green MEP for London

"Star Wars": The Green MEP Strikes Back

She might be London's Green MEP, but we're happy to share her with other parts of the UK now and again. Jean took part in a demo at Menwith Hill, a United States spy base in Yorkshire, this weekend to protest against its involvement in the "Star Wars" missile system.

The demo, organised by the Campaign for Accountability of American Bases (CAAB), took place at the Menwith Hill communications centre outside Harrogate: where military, economic and political information is gathered and fed back to the US Government.

On 25th July the UK Government announced that it had given permission for Menwith Hill, the largest electronic monitoring station in the world outside America, to be used in the American Missile Defence System.

The site is run by the US National Security Agency (NSA), which monitors the world's communication for US intelligence, and employs around 1,800 US civilians and servicemen to analyse communications, mainly from Europe, Russia and the Middle East. All telecommunications traffic to and from Europe and passing through Britain is intercepted at the base: including private telephone calls, faxes, emails and other communications. Much of this information is collected from spy satellites, which is captured at the site by dishes contained in large white 'golf-balls' or radomes. The data is then processed and relayed back to the United States automatically.

Jean says:
"The Government approved the Menwith Hill site for missile defence without any parliamentary debate; undermining the democratic process in this country and revealing that they are not prepared to discuss the implications of this decision."

"In allowing the US to use the base, our Government is making our country more vulnerable to attack. Any US adversary could now target Britain in order to destroy the effectiveness of the missile defence system."

"Our long-term security requires international conflict resolution and a commitment to averting potentially disastrous environmental problems like climate change. On the contrary, this missile defence system simply intensifies divisions between nations."

Jean makes no.7 in Evening Standard most influential list

Jean is number 7 in the environment section of the Evening Standard's annual list of the 1000 most influential people in London.

There are also mentions for Green Mayoral candidate Sian Berry and London Assembly member Jenny Jones. Jenny also makes the list in the Running London section, along with fellow Green on the London Assembly, Darren Johnson.

Erith Marshes campaign success

Jean's role in the is reported in this week's Bexley Times.

A SUPERMARKET'S decision to change plans to build on marsh land has delighted environmental campaigners.

Asda applied to build a unit to recycle their plastics and cardboard on the Southmere Green part of Erith Marshes in October last year. But now they have submitted plans to refurbish an existing building on the marshes at Crabtree Manor Way North, Belvedere, for the service centre. Green campaigners were celebrating the withdrawal of the plans for the original site after they wrote to Asda outlining the environmental importance of the Southmere Green.

Jean Lambert MEP, who wants to get the land designated as a Greenfield site, restricting it from industrial development said: "Southmere Green on Erith Marshes is recognised as having high biodiversity, landscape and public green space value, as well as an important flood management role. It is completely wrong for it to be developed when there are far more suitable sites locally. The only reason for allowing development is the planning history for which Bexley council is responsible."

Bexley council plans to build a build an industrial park on the Southmere Green in Erith Marshes.

Re-elect Jean

We're a group of Londoners, some of us are members of the Green Party, others are not, but we are all really pleased that back in 1999 London was the first place in the UK to elect a Green politician to represent us in the European Parliament. We're proud that Jean Lambert is our Euro-MP and so we're working to make sure she gets re-elected in 2009.

We'll be posting things that Jean is doing and has done that we think are reasons you should help us re-elect Jean. If you've got stories or questions, please email us at re.elect.jean@googlemail.com

Cheers