Apologies for the sudden silence over the last couple of weeks. Partly, this is because Green Party activists and supporters are out all over the capital, delivering hundreds of thousands of leaflets about the great work that Jean has been doing over the last decade in the European Parliament.
If you can help with distribution of leaflets - even if you only have an hour or two to spare - please do get in touch with reelectjean@hotmail.co.uk
Meanwhile, Jean continues to work hard across London. More details to come soon - but for now, here are just two examples, one from last weekend, and one from the weekend to come!
GREEN MEP TO DEBATE WOMEN’S POLITICAL FUTURE IN BIRTHPLACE OF FEMINISM
Jean Lambert to join celebrations of 250th anniversary of Mary Wollstonecraft’s birth
Jean Lambert, London’s Green Party MEP, will celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Mary Wollstonecraft, the mother of feminism, by taking part in a debate about the position of women in politics today.
The discussion on “Political Power for Women: How Far Have We Come? Why Does It Matter?” will take place at 7pm on Saturday 25 April at the Newington Green Unitarian Church, Hackney.
Jean Lambert MEP will join other prominent female politicians, the London MPs Diane Abbott and Emily Thornberry, for the debate, which will be chaired by the journalist Suzanne Moore.
The event forms one of a series to mark the birth of Mary Wollstonecraft, author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, the seminal treatise first published in 1792, which argued against the received attitudes of women and femininity, and called for women to develop, and be credited with, their own intellectual faculties.
Wollstonecraft was also an educationalist: central to her argument in the Vindication was a call for girls to be granted the right to a rational education. The passion and foresight of her work made her an icon for the feminist movement.
Jean, a former teacher and a longstanding campaigner for equality, said:
“Women have made great strides in politics, but are still hugely underrepresented, with just one in five MPs and one in four MEPs being female.
“I am proud to be celebrating the achievements of Mary Wollstonecraft, who was a true inspiration to women of her time and indeed to many people now. She was prepared to stand up for women’s rights and challenge the status quo in a way that that no-one had done before.
“Still the glass ceiling exists for many women when it comes to career opportunities and the gender pay gap often starts with first jobs, despite the fact that women’s educational achievements equal or outdo those of men.
“I encourage anyone who is interested in discussing the role of women in modern society to come along to the debate – it should prove to be a lively and empowering evening.”
Profits from the Mary Wollstonecraft celebrations will be donated to Stop the Traffik, the worldwide movement to combat people trafficking.
THINKING LOCALLY WITH KINGSTON GREENS
Jean Lambert, London’s Green Party MEP, will join local Greens for a walkabout in Kingston next weekend [Saturday 2 May].
Jean will be meeting residents and discussing the key issues for the borough. Education is one area of concern. Kingston’s schools are hugely oversubscribed, and in March the council admitted that it faced a multi-million pound bill to tackle the shortfall in primary school places.
Efforts to address this have meant that money has been diverted from improvements to existing school buildings, and many local schools are now dependent on temporary classrooms.
While plans for a major Tesco store next to Tolworth station have this week been cancelled, the process of redeveloping the town centre has proved controversial. There has also been anger over the council’s handling of its new waste collection system.
Jean Lambert MEP said:
“There’s been a lot of anger locally about priorities. People have felt they are not being listened to. These local issues will be familiar to many Londoners, but I’m looking forward to hearing what effect they have had on daily life in Kingston, and how people would like to see things change.
“I’m also looking forward to discussing the Green New Deal with local party members. A report recently found that the recession will hit London harder than the rest of the UK [1], and as fears about the economy continue to grow, now is the time for us to be considering the sort of practical measures that will help us not only to recover from the downturn but to put better, more stable systems in place. Greens think locally – as individuals struggle with the impact of a global recession on their own lives this grassroots approach is more important than ever.”
Chris Walker, the Green Party Parliamentary candidate for Kingston & Surbiton said:
”It's great that Jean is taking time to visit Kingston as we are concerned about many of the issues she's campaigning for in the European Parliament, like improved public services, human rights, better housing conditions and new green employment opportunities.”
John Johnson, Employment Spokesperson for Kingston Green Party, welcomed the opportunity to discuss local Green solutions to the recession with Jean. He said:
“Green Party policy would create thousands of local green jobs in saving energy, reducing waste, repairing and reusing products and services for good local value for money.”
Showing posts with label london. Show all posts
Showing posts with label london. Show all posts
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Friday, 6 March 2009
London Green News
The new edition of London Green News is out, going to hundreds of thousands of homes across the capital in the next few weeks. Jean is on the front page! Check it out, here.
P.S. If you are having trouble downloading the file, please do visit http://london.greenparty.org.uk and download it from the front page.
P.S. If you are having trouble downloading the file, please do visit http://london.greenparty.org.uk and download it from the front page.
Monday, 16 February 2009
Greening Work
Jean will be speaking at a public meeting on Saturday 21st February, being organised by the Green Party Trade Union Group and focusing on the role of trade unions in building a green economy. Well worth a visit, I'd say....
GREEN PARTY TRADE UNION GROUP & London Federation of Green Parties
PUBLIC MEETING: ALL WELCOME
Work-Life Balance, Greening Work and the Role of Trade Unions
The world is plunging headlong into recession, but could these difficult times provide the opportunity for a 'New Green Deal' or a 'Just Transition' from our current economic system, which cause economic & ecological disaster? What will this new economy be like? How can workers' rights be defended as it is built?
Date: Saturday 21 February, 2pm-5pm
Venue: St Pancras Church Hall , Lancing Street, off Eversholt Street, London, NW1 1AN. Next to Euston BR, tube and bus stations.
SPEAKERS:
Jean Lambert MEP, Green Party Member of the European Parliament for London. Jean will be talking about her Green Work report and work-life balance, giving a European context.
Tony Kearns, CWU Senior Deputy General Secretary. Tony will give a national union perspective.
Anne Elliott-Day, PCS, Public and Commercial Services Union. Anne will explain the importance of trade union green representatives.
Sian Jones, TUC/Trade Union Sustainable Development Advisory Committee. Sian will be talking about trade union initiatives to green the workplace.
**ALL WELCOME**
This event is FREE, but you should reserve a place by emailing Pete Murry - yrrumuk@yahoo.co.uk or call 07736 525 187
GREEN PARTY TRADE UNION GROUP & London Federation of Green Parties
PUBLIC MEETING: ALL WELCOME
Work-Life Balance, Greening Work and the Role of Trade Unions
The world is plunging headlong into recession, but could these difficult times provide the opportunity for a 'New Green Deal' or a 'Just Transition' from our current economic system, which cause economic & ecological disaster? What will this new economy be like? How can workers' rights be defended as it is built?
Date: Saturday 21 February, 2pm-5pm
Venue: St Pancras Church Hall , Lancing Street, off Eversholt Street, London, NW1 1AN. Next to Euston BR, tube and bus stations.
SPEAKERS:
Jean Lambert MEP, Green Party Member of the European Parliament for London. Jean will be talking about her Green Work report and work-life balance, giving a European context.
Tony Kearns, CWU Senior Deputy General Secretary. Tony will give a national union perspective.
Anne Elliott-Day, PCS, Public and Commercial Services Union. Anne will explain the importance of trade union green representatives.
Sian Jones, TUC/Trade Union Sustainable Development Advisory Committee. Sian will be talking about trade union initiatives to green the workplace.
**ALL WELCOME**
This event is FREE, but you should reserve a place by emailing Pete Murry - yrrumuk@yahoo.co.uk or call 07736 525 187
Saturday, 14 February 2009
Commitment to the Living Wage
One common, and mistaken, stereotype about Greens is that they only work on issues to do with environmental sustainability. However, unlike the mainstream parties, Greens understand that a healthy planet will not be worth living on unless the inequality and injustice that blights our society is dealt with. Green Party elected representatives on all levels have been working hard to deal with issues of poverty and deprivation that the other parties have ignored for too long. A good example is the work being done across the country on the 'living wage'.
The concept is simple. The minimum wage, while welcome, is simply not enough for people to live on. A Green government would introduce a Citizen's Income for everyone, as of right - but before we are in a position to implement such a scheme, we can still push hard for a liveable wage for people's work. In London, that rate is currently £7.45 an hour, and it was the budget negotiations of the London Assembly Green Group that made it the official policy of the GLA. It has been Green Party policy for some time now, and while campaigning and community groups like London Citizens are doing excellent work pushing forward the concept, it is elected Greens who are at the forefront of making it happen in council chambers across the UK. Just two recent examples of our efforts in this area can be seen in Southwark and Lambeth.
And don't think that Jean is missing out on this campaign for social justice! As ever, she's pushing things forward on a European level, and making sure that pioneering Green work in London is replicated across the continent. An example of her latest effort to bring the European Commission into line on a living wage can be seen in her Written Question, below.
WRITTEN QUESTION P-0922/09
by Jean Lambert (Verts/ALE)
to the Commission
Subject: The inclusion of living-wage conditions in procurement processes
The Commission may be aware of the London Living-Wage Policy of the Greater London Authority, and similar standards in other Member States, whereby public and private employers guarantee a minimum wage greater than the statutory requirement as a response to issues of local or regional low pay, affordability and poverty.
Can the Commission confirm that the inclusion of living-wage conditions in procurement processes is taken into account by the EU procurement regime, such that the benefits of living-wage guarantees can be enjoyed to an equivalent standard by workers directly employed by third parties?
Will the Commission review the EU procurement regime to ensure that living-wage policies are not just fully accommodated, but indeed encouraged, as part of EU objectives for social and economic inclusion and sustainable development?
P.S. Don't forget - if you want Jean to be re-elected - you need to support her! Please consider donating, which you can do simply by clicking the button at the top right of this page.
The concept is simple. The minimum wage, while welcome, is simply not enough for people to live on. A Green government would introduce a Citizen's Income for everyone, as of right - but before we are in a position to implement such a scheme, we can still push hard for a liveable wage for people's work. In London, that rate is currently £7.45 an hour, and it was the budget negotiations of the London Assembly Green Group that made it the official policy of the GLA. It has been Green Party policy for some time now, and while campaigning and community groups like London Citizens are doing excellent work pushing forward the concept, it is elected Greens who are at the forefront of making it happen in council chambers across the UK. Just two recent examples of our efforts in this area can be seen in Southwark and Lambeth.
And don't think that Jean is missing out on this campaign for social justice! As ever, she's pushing things forward on a European level, and making sure that pioneering Green work in London is replicated across the continent. An example of her latest effort to bring the European Commission into line on a living wage can be seen in her Written Question, below.
WRITTEN QUESTION P-0922/09
by Jean Lambert (Verts/ALE)
to the Commission
Subject: The inclusion of living-wage conditions in procurement processes
The Commission may be aware of the London Living-Wage Policy of the Greater London Authority, and similar standards in other Member States, whereby public and private employers guarantee a minimum wage greater than the statutory requirement as a response to issues of local or regional low pay, affordability and poverty.
Can the Commission confirm that the inclusion of living-wage conditions in procurement processes is taken into account by the EU procurement regime, such that the benefits of living-wage guarantees can be enjoyed to an equivalent standard by workers directly employed by third parties?
Will the Commission review the EU procurement regime to ensure that living-wage policies are not just fully accommodated, but indeed encouraged, as part of EU objectives for social and economic inclusion and sustainable development?
P.S. Don't forget - if you want Jean to be re-elected - you need to support her! Please consider donating, which you can do simply by clicking the button at the top right of this page.
Thursday, 5 February 2009
Air pollution in London
Jean is an occasional blogger on the Guardian's Comment Is Free. Today's article is on the subject of the EU preparing to sue the UK government for its pitiful failure over air quality, particularly in London. Not a moment too soon!
Sunday, 25 January 2009
A Progressive London is a Green London
This Saturday, Jean spoke at the Progressive London conference. The conference was convened by Ken Livingstone as an opportunity for a broad group of politicians and activists to discuss how to combat the reactionary policies of the Boris Johnson administration, as well as how to unite around progressive policies in the capital for the next few years.
It was quite fitting that there were four Green representatives on the various panels (Jean, Jenny Jones AM, Darren Johnson AM, and Cllr Romayne Phoenix), since even the London Tories agree that the Green Group is the driving force behind most of the progressive initiatives in the London Assembly at the moment.
Even more fitting was the fact that Jean was speaking on a panel addressing the shape of the world in the 21st century, and how those of us with progressive politics should be meeting the challenges we now face. As the Green Party's European Election launch in late 2008 made clear, one of the solutions to the tripartite challenges of the credit crunch, climate change and economic inequality is a massive programme to generate Green Jobs. One of the major themes of Jean's re-election campaign, the need for Green Jobs has never been clearer than it is now - and is a major plank of what progressive politics in the 21st century has to look like.
Of course, lots of the political parties are mouthing platitudes about this sort of thing these days - but only the Green Party has been following up, and turning rhetoric into action. This video from Kirklees Green Party, covering their district-wide free insulation scheme and job creation programme, is only one example of what Greens are doing all over the country...and what Green MEPs can support and evangelise for on a European level.
It was quite fitting that there were four Green representatives on the various panels (Jean, Jenny Jones AM, Darren Johnson AM, and Cllr Romayne Phoenix), since even the London Tories agree that the Green Group is the driving force behind most of the progressive initiatives in the London Assembly at the moment.
Even more fitting was the fact that Jean was speaking on a panel addressing the shape of the world in the 21st century, and how those of us with progressive politics should be meeting the challenges we now face. As the Green Party's European Election launch in late 2008 made clear, one of the solutions to the tripartite challenges of the credit crunch, climate change and economic inequality is a massive programme to generate Green Jobs. One of the major themes of Jean's re-election campaign, the need for Green Jobs has never been clearer than it is now - and is a major plank of what progressive politics in the 21st century has to look like.
Of course, lots of the political parties are mouthing platitudes about this sort of thing these days - but only the Green Party has been following up, and turning rhetoric into action. This video from Kirklees Green Party, covering their district-wide free insulation scheme and job creation programme, is only one example of what Greens are doing all over the country...and what Green MEPs can support and evangelise for on a European level.
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