Get Kent Cycling!

Kent Green Party supports the recommendations of the 'Get Britain Cycling' report(1). Steve Dawe explains:
"The Get Britain Cycling report of the All Party Cycling Group in Parliament offers many important recommendations of relevance to Kent. Health, education, sport and business all benefit from increasing levels of cycling but investment is needed to reduce ill-health and obesity. This will, of course, help to live healthier lives requiring less medical attention for more of their life span. The Report recommends more 20 mph limits; increasing cycling from 2% of all journeys in 2011 to 10% by 2025; improved access and availability to training to enhance cycling skills.

"Kent Green Party supports extending cycle routes to help this process, creating real cycling networks throughout the County. It should also be noted that carbon dioxide in our atmosphere has now reached 400 parts per million, the highest level for over 3 million years. This makes it imperative that greater efforts must be made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or radical increases in temperature and climate instability will make life in Kent far more difficult than we have ever experienced.

"Kent Green Party also urges to public to sign the epetition calling for the recommendations of the Get Britain Cycling report to be implemented. This can be found at: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/49196 Signatures stand at about 57,000 already and the petition closes on 23rd April 2014."

Ends c232 words

FURTHER INFORMATION: Steve Dawe, Press Officer, KENT GREEN PARTY, on 01732 355185 or 07747 036192. Contact address as above. Promoted by H.Dawe for Kent Green Party, both at 27 Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF. KENT GREEN NEWS, free ezine, is available by subscription at www.kentgreenparty.org
Notes:
1.      Summary and recommendations from the report: http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/zuvvi/media/bc_files/campaigning/Get_Britain_Cycling.pdf

Greens win first Kent County councillor

The Green Party has gained its first Kent County Councillor with a stunning victory in Hythe. Martin Whybrow gained 1659 votes (34.77 per cent) and a majority of 313 to displace the Conservatives. The Green Party ran a high-profile, positive campaign.

Martin Whybrow says: "This was a tremendous team effort and I am so pleased for the many people who were part of it. We provided an attractive, clear alternative for people who were frustrated on a range of local and national issues. Here, at least, this was not a protest vote, it was far more subtle than that, we engaged with a wide range of residents, including public support from our highly regarded, outgoing Tory councillor."

To put the victory into perspective, this was the first time the Green Party had fielded a candidate for KCC in Hythe; in 2009, the Conservatives had gained 2771 votes, with a majority of over 1500.

Martin adds: "I believe this breakthrough is just the start of a change in politics in Shepway and, I hope, across the rest of Kent and Medway. There are so many potentially excellent Green Party councillors out there and I am sure I am the first of many."

FURTHER INFORMATION: Martin Whybrow on 01303 269827 or 07787 124794. Contact address as above. Promoted by H.Dawe for Kent Green Party, both at 27 Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF. KENT GREEN NEWS, free ezine, is available by subscription at www.kentgreenparty.org

Keith Taylor, Green MEP, supports Green Party's Tonbridge candidates

Keith Taylor, Green Party Member of the European Parliament for the South East Region, is visiting Tonbridge on Tuesday 30th April from about 1.30pm. He will be campaigning with Green Party candidates Hazel and Steve Dawe for the Kent County elections, in Tonbridge. Keith Taylor says:
“I am very pleased to be supporting the record effort of 43 Green Party candidates for Kent County Council in these elections, in Tonbridge and later in the day in Canterbury. The comprehensive manifesto offered by Kent Greens (1) promises to turn Kent away from the austerity and hopelessness which other parties are offering.
“The three key themes Kent Greens are emphasising in these elections are a message about how we start ending the recession the last Government and the Coalition are inflicting upon us. Opportunity, hope and leading useful lives are behind all these themes:
·       Ending poverty, increasing employment opportunities and improving services

·       Making public transport, walking and cycling the most favoured means of transport
·       Conserving and enhancing the natural environment for tourism, forestry and biodiversity  for future generations.”

Ends c183 words

FURTHER INFORMATION: from Matthew Butcher Press Officer for Keith Taylor, Green Party Member of the European Parliament for the South East, on
Tel: 0207 250 8418 or 07940 500633
Email: keithpress@greenmeps.org.uk OR Steve Dawe, Press Officer, KENT GREEN PARTY, on 01732 355185 or 07747 036192 for Tonbridge or Kent wide queries OR Russell Page for Canterbury: 01227 719026. Contact address as above. Promoted by H.Dawe for Kent Green Party, both at 27 Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF. KENT GREEN NEWS, free ezine, is available by subscription at www.kentgreenparty.org
Notes:
1.      Available at http://www.kentgreenparty.org/policies.php

Climate Change in the Kent Curriculum

Kent Green Party is appalled to find that Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education(1), is supporting a radical reduction in references to climate change in the school curriculum. Steve Dawe, Press Officer of Kent Green Party, comments:
"The UK's carbon dioxide emissions rose 4.5% in 2012(2). Instead of making new efforts to actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Coalition Government is attempting to push climate change out of the national curriculum as it continues to support the exploitation and use of coal, oil, gas and shale gas through hydraulic fracking (3).
"Over 65,000 people have signed petitions against Mr Gove's proposed changes already(4). Mr Gove should bear in mind that out of 13,950 peer reviewed articles on climate change 1991-2012 only 24 rejected climate change(5). Mr Gove is siding with the unscientific tiny minority on climate change and in consequence is unfit for the office of Secretary of State for Education. He is denying the scientific significance and continuing impacts of climate change.
"Kent Green Party urges all political parties participating in the County Elections to condemn Mr Gove's actions and to indicate their support for increased resources to deal with climate change. Essential actions here in Kent would include:
1. Traffic reduction policies and more resources for better walking, cycling, bus and train services;
2. Increases in food growing and forestry to cut carbon-intensive imports;
3. Insulation improvements and solar water heating and solar panels for as many of our buildings as possible, as quickly as possible."

Ends c255 words
FURTHER INFORMATION: Steve Dawe, Press Officer, KENT GREEN PARTY, on 01732 355185 or 07747 036192. Contact address as above. Promoted by H.Dawe for Kent Green Party, both at 27 Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF. KENT GREEN NEWS, free ezine, is available by subscription at www.kentgreenparty.org
Notes:
1. Michael Gove does not have the confidence of the teaching profession. The Association of Teachers and Lecturers - http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/mar/25/teachers-vote-no-confidence-michael-gove & the National Union of Teachers - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-22002527 have both passed motions of no confidence in him;
2. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/28/uk-co2-emissions-up-2012 Also, the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii has recorded carbon dioxide in the atmosphere now reaching about 395 parts per million. James Hansen, leading climate change expert at NASA, considers we need to get back to 350 ppm to stabilise the climate.
3. And has failed to reduce emissions in the transport sector to the extent that the UK is under threat of prosecution at EU level as it is breaking air pollution laws to which we are a signatory. In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a large proportion of fossil fuels remaining in the earth's crust must never be used, or global temperatures could rise above 4.5 degrees above the average in 1990, fundamentally altering climatic conditions and coastlines throughout the world and reducing the capacity of the planet to grow food in many regions.
4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-22158941 Please also note that On Tuesday, April 16th People & Planet submitted their formal curriculum consultation response with a focus on the geography curriculum and the citizenship curriculum, urging for key issues and concepts such as climate change, sustainability and active global citizenship to be retained. UCU, NUS, PCS, UNISON and TSSA all signed this document with P&P: http://peopleandplanet.org/climate-consultation
5. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/12/19/1171764/-Climate-Deniers-Have-No-Scientific-Credibility-End-of-Discussion

Outgoing Conservative Councillor supports Green Candidate

Current Conservative Kent County Councillor for Hythe, Chris Capon MBE, who is stepping down at the forthcoming election, has come out in support of the Green Party candidate as his replacement. The Conservatives in Hythe were already on the backfoot after dropping in an outsider to replace Mr Capon. The support is likely to influence a lot of local voters, given the extent of the respect for the departing councillor, who was awarded the MBE this year for his services to the town. In contrast to his new Conservative opponent, Green Party candidate, Martin Whybrow, lives and works in Hythe and is extremely involved in the community, including as chair of Transition Hythe and as a long-standing voluntary director at Hythe Town Football Club.
Mr Capon says: “I’d like to thank the people of Hythe, it has been an honour and a pleasure to serve the town during 46 years as a councillor... Like myself, Martin is someone who is always to be seen around the area, has done a lot of good work, and shows the energy and passion that is needed. The town needs a local man and I would be delighted to see him follow me as our town’s KCC representative.”
Martin Whybrow comments: “Chris has served this area wonderfully well and will be a most difficult act to follow. I am sure everyone joins me in thanking him and wishing him well, I have no doubt that he will remain highly active and we will continue to see a lot of him. I very much appreciate his support and will certainly turn to him for advice if I have the tough task of following him.”
The Green Party was the main opposition in Hythe at the last local elections and is threatening to cause a major upset in the KCC elections. It has run a highly visible campaign, with boards and posters up around the ward (with nothing visible from any other party), and a lot of canvassing and leafleting. Martin adds: "We are not taking anything for granted, we've a long way to go, and we know that the Conservatives have a well-oiled machine when it comes to local elections. Nevertheless, we believe our messages are getting through, we've received an extremely friendly reception everywhere, and I believe the town recognises that we are the main opposition and the best chance for new ideas and energy."
Ends
FURTHER INFORMATION: Martin Whybrow on 01303 269827 or 07787 124794. Contact address as above. Promoted by H.Dawe for Kent Green Party, both at 27 Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF. KENT GREEN NEWS, free ezine, is available by subscription at www.kentgreenparty.org

Supermarkets let down customers over GMs

Kent Green Party is disturbed to find that major supermarkets are allowing more GM materials into the food chain. Dr Hazel Dawe, Campaigns Officer for Kent Green Party, reports:
"After the horse meat scandal, we might think supermarkets would want to rebuild trust with their customers. However, despite public opposition, they are allowing more GM materials into our food. On 12th April, Sainsbury's, Marks and Spencer and the Co-operative ended their previous bans on using suppliers that give Genetically Modified feed to the livestock from which they sell eggs, cheese, yoghurt, milk and meat. Tesco have done the same with chicken feed. Morrisons and ASDA apparently have no GMO-free animal feed policies. Other supermarkets remain silent on their policies. Waitrose claim to be anti GM and not to use GM feed, but they sell patented salad/veg crops from a subsidiary of Monsanto.
"In short, whatever our preferences,
people are now feeding themselves and their families genetically modified organisms.
"The only people actually avoiding GMs completely are organic-only consumers, vegans, and those who are self-sufficient, or can completely avoid supermarkets. If we want Kent's agricultural land to remain free of GM crops, we need to ensure major retailers eliminate the use of GM animal feed and other GM crops.
"All key claims made about GM crops have been found to be inaccurate(1). Kent Green Party urges consumers to write to supermarkets demanding that GM ingredients are not used in animal feed in any of their products(2)."

Ends c251 words

FURTHER INFORMATION: Dr Hazel Dawe, Campaigns Officer, KENT GREEN PARTY, on 079444 71083 or 01732 355185. Contact address as above. Promoted by H.Dawe for Kent Green Party, both at 27 Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF. KENT GREEN NEWS, free ezine, is available by subscription at www.kentgreenparty.org Dr Dawe holds a Kent Wildlife Trust Gold Award for having a garden appropriate for encouraging wildlife and beneficial insects, like bees.

Notes:
1.      Global Citizens Report on GMOs: The GMO emperor has no clothes: http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Environment/documents/2011/10/19/GMOEMPEROR.pdf
2.      Further action: Dismiss PR excuses about lack of GM free feed availability.
See: http://www.gmwatch.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14771%3Abrazilian-non-gm-soy-producers-baffled-by-uk-retailers-decision
AND
http://www.soilassociation.org/news/newsstory/articleid/5170/soil-association-comment-m-s-sainsbury-s-co-op-and-tesco-gm-animal-feed
We now have a petition too:
TO: UK SUPERMARKETS & FOOD RETAILERS: GM FREE FOOD FOR HUMANS & ANIMALS.
http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/gm-free-food-for-humans-animals
Here are all the contact details for email/facebook:

Tesco:
Group Corporate Responsibility Team: cr.enquiries@uk.tesco.com
Customer Service (0) 800 505555
customer.service@tesco.co.uk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tesco?fref=ts

The Co-Operative:
customer.relations@co-operative.coop
Phone: 0800 0686 727
https://www.facebook.com/TheCooperativeFood?fref=ts

Sainsbury's: http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/sol/contact_us/contact_us.jsp
Sainsbury's Careline: 0800 636 262
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sainsburys?fref=ts

Marks & Spencer:
https://www.marksandspencer.com/gp/contact
Head Office: 0207 935 4422
For questions regarding products, stores, service or quality:
0845 302 1234
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MarksandSpencer

Asda:
0800 952 0101
http://your.asda.com/contact-us
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Asda?fref=ts

Morrisons:
General or Corporate enquiries - 0845 611 5000
Customer service enquiries - 0845 611 6111
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Morrisons?fref=ts

Iceland:
01244 842842
https://www.iceland.co.uk/contact-us/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/icelandfoods?fref=ts

Lidl:
0800 0180 266 (Northern Ireland)
http://www.lidl.co.uk/cps/rde/SID-A0CA9763-761376D6/www_lidl_uk/hs.xsl/customer-service-contact-form.htm

Aldi:
0844 406 8800

"In 2009, the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) stated that, "Several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with genetically modified (GM) food," including infertility, immune problems, accelerated ageing, faulty insulin regulation, and changes in major organs and the gastrointestinal system. The AAEM has asked physicians to advise all patients to avoid GM foods"

Greens Field Record Slate in County Elections

Kent Green Party is fielding 43 candidates in the County Elections to be held on Thursday 2nd May 2013(1). This is the largest number of Green Party candidates in any part of the South East Region in these elections, other than in Oxfordshire. Stuart Jeffery, Chair of Kent Green Party, comments:
“Kent Green Party’s 43 candidates for Kent County Council deserve supporting, as a challenge to the rather miserable vision of hopelessness and austerity presented to voters by other parties. We are a rich country and the other parties pretend we are poor, continuing to support cuts and low pay for most people - as if ordinary people were to blame for the long recession.
“The themes we are taking into these elections, taken from our manifesto available at: http://www.kentgreenparty.org/resources/kent/greening_kent_policies_only.pdf offer a positive alternative to the politics of fear, envy and greed:
·       Ending poverty, increasing employment opportunities and improving services
·       Making public transport, walking and cycling the most favoured means of transport
·       Conserving and enhancing the natural environment for tourism, forestry and biodiversity  for future generations(2).

"We want to see real improvements in the quality of our economy. We will create jobs  real jobs in industries that we urgently need, public transport, energy efficiency, insulation, sustainable farming, renewable energy, education. We will tackling poverty with a living wage and 10:1 wage ratio in KCC(3).

"We will improve the quality of travel in Kent with 20mph limits where people live(4). We will make it the socially acceptable speed to drive in residential areas. We will be investing in public transport, walking and cycling, making them the first choice for travel.

"We will tackle air pollution from roads that kills 700 people each year in Kent(5). We will be improving the quality of the environment, conserving and enhancing the natural environment for tourism, forestry and biodiversity - for future generations and we will be protecting green spaces, farmland and woodland."

Ends

FURTHER INFORMATION: Stuart Jeffery, Chair, KENT GREEN PARTY
07970 436029. Contact address as above. http://www.stuartjeffery.net Alternate contact, Steve Dawe, Press Officer on 07747 036192 or 01732 355185. Please leave message if necessary on any of these numbers and we will try to get back to you shortly. KENT GREEN NEWS, free monthly ezine, is available at www.kentgreenparty.org Published by Kent Green Party and promoted by H.Dawe, both at 27, Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF.
Notes:
1.      Attachment contains full list of Green Party County candidates in 2013.
2.      These three themes have featured in separate releases, see www.kentgreenparty.org press releases 26th March, 3rd April and 10th April.
3.      More than 1200 people are paid less than £7.45 per hour while 5 staff are paid over £74.50 and almost 500 paid over £25 per hour.
4.      70 to 80% of people back 20mph limits.
5.      About 29,000 deaths are directly attributable to air pollution from traffic each year across the UK, according to the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants  and 200,000 suffer effects on their health.

Countryside or urban sprawl?

Kent Green Party is concerned that Kent’s countryside is to be sacrificed to development under the National Planning Policy Framework(1). Dr Hazel Dawe, Campaigns Officer of Kent Green Party, explains:


“The Government has already been forced to recognise that its original proposals for a new National Planning Policy Framework were unworkable (2). However, there is no absolute protection under current law for the countryside or for agricultural land. Consequently, there is no guarantee that Kent’s long-term empty homes, offices, derelict industrial sites and shops will ever be made into housing.

“Kent Green Party challenges all parties standing in the County election to demonstrate that they are committed to opposing urban sprawl and to conserving the countryside for tourism, agriculture, forestry(3) and biodiversity.

“We have a rich, diverse countryside in Kent. We are extremely unlucky that well over a hundred years of nearly uninterrupted Conservative rule in Kent has led to many unwanted developments that have destroyed and degraded large areas. We need to:

1. Protect the countryside and green belts, defending rural footpaths, and placing new protective designations on the landscape;
2. Create new allotments on the edge of urban areas on agricultural land, to boost farm incomes and increase vegetable growing;
3. Provide increased financial support to farmers and voluntary and commercial groups working to plant sustainable woodlands and extend natural habitats;
4. Designate more areas as unsuitable or inappropriate for development to protect public open space, allotments, habitats and current and future walking and cycling routes;
5. Create a dramatic increase in water conservation by everyone, for example by making water butts available to homes and businesses at low prices.”


ends
FURTHER INFORMATION: Dr Hazel Dawe, Campaigns Officer, KENT GREEN PARTY, on 079444 71083 or 01732 355185. Contact address as above. Promoted by H.Dawe for Kent Green Party, both at 27 Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF. KENT GREEN NEWS, free ezine, is available by subscription at www.kentgreenparty.org Dr Dawe holds a Kent Wildlife Trust Gold Award for having a garden appropriate for encouraging wildlife and beneficial insects, like bees.
Notes:
1.      The Government’s National Planning Policy Framework can be seen at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/6077/2116950.pdf
2.      The government has had to back off in its revised proposal notably through:
“• confirmation of the development plan as the basis for planning decision-making locally
• a fuller explanation of what it means by sustainable development
• recognition of the ‘intrinsic character and beauty of the countryside’
• support for brownfield development
• stronger support for town centres
• clarification of the relationship between local and neighbourhood plans
• a 12-month, supported, timetable for implementation.” SEE: http://www.lgiu.org.uk/briefing/national-planning-policy-framework/ However, serious problems remain as under-funded local government often does not have development plans in place. SEE for example: CPRE briefing on implementation problems of the National Planning Policy Framework, March 2013: http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&ved=0CFkQFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cpre.org.uk%2Fresources%2Fhousing-and-planning%2Fplanning%2Fitem%2Fdownload%2F2999&ei=3SRlUargD4_s0gXXwYDABw&usg=AFQjCNG_zeLBI52GDqlr-bUNqF2OAFxrAQ&bvm=bv.44990110,d.d2k


3.      Including for biomass energy and reducing the UK’s wood imports. The UK was the third largest net importer (imports less exports) of forest products in 2010, behind China and Japan: http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-8xfcwy

Lydd: Close the Airports, open leisure centres

Kent Green Party is appalled by the Government's decision to permit airport expansion at Lydd. The Party is equally disturbed by the continuation of attempted expansion of Manston Airport. Kent Green Party believes both sites are suitable for prime leisure developments instead. Steve Dawe comments:
"The Government decision to expand Lydd Airport and Kent County Council's continuing enthusiasm for the economically faltering Manston Airport ignore environmental and economic realities.
"The public have no legal right to protection from aircraft noise (1). Aircraft add to local air pollution, and to greenhouse gas emissions. Aircraft disturb and displace bird populations, many of which are in decline in the UK at present. And the local environment around Lydd contains both one functioning and one retired nuclear power station and associated radioactive materials as well as a wind farm with new wind turbines being proposed. The area is in consequence hazardous for aviation expansion involving heavier, larger aircraft than currently use Lydd(2).
"Airports generate very few jobs for the space they occupy, compared to possible all-weather leisure centres on the same sites. So this decision is wrong environmentally and economically. Kent Green Party welcomes news that legal challenges are to be mounted against this decision."

Ends c207 words

FURTHER INFORMATION: Steve Dawe, Press Officer, KENT GREEN PARTY, on 01732 355185 or 07747 036192. Contact address as above. Promoted by H.Dawe for Kent Green Party, both at 27 Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF. KENT GREEN NEWS, free ezine, is available by subscription at www.kentgreenparty.org
Notes:
1.      Householders have a right to noise protection from other sources from 11pm to 7am each day. However, this right does not include any protection whatsoever from aircraft noise.
2.      Green MEP Keith Taylor condemns this decision:

http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/2013/04/10/keith-dismayed-at-government-decision-on-lydd-airport/ http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/update/2013-04-10/green-party-mep-expresses-dismay-at-lydd-airport-decision/
3.      By the Lydd Airport Action Group.

Kent County Council 'Overall Failure on Transport'

Kent Green Party has condemned the transport policies of Kent County Council as an 'overall failure.' Stuart Jeffery, Chair of Kent Green Party, explains:
"Obesity and avoidable illness are made worse in Kent by levels of car use. If we are serious about reducing the impact of avoidable health problems on the NHS, we have to make walking and cycling the most popular means of transport(1).
"But, out of 20 publications and submission Kent Green Party has compiled since early 2010, 10 are on transport since the policies of Kent County Council are a perverse concoction of pollution creating, road building and other money wasting fallacies(2). We judge that KCC’s transport policies are an overall failure in every aspect.
"Our County could be a quieter, cleaner and healthier place. But this cannot happen without policies to systematically reduce traffic levels. Kent Green Party wants:
1.      A fight for lower rail and bus fares(3);

2.      Allocation of resources away from road building and widening towards improving cycling and walking routes and creating better long-distance networks for both;
3.      Improved Green Travel Plans for all workplaces;
4.      Support for a rapid increase in the number of charging points for electric vehicles;
5.      Promotion of higher Air Passenger Duty to encourage more use of rail for getting into Europe and travelling within the UK, instead of more aircraft polluting our environment and making more noise each year"

Ends c241 words

FURTHER INFORMATION: Stuart Jeffery, Chair, KENT GREEN PARTY
07970 436029. Contact address as above. http://www.stuartjeffery.net Alternate contact, Steve Dawe, Press Officer on 07747 036192 or 01732 355185. Please leave message if necessary on any of these numbers and we will try to get back to you shortly. KENT GREEN NEWS, free monthly ezine, is available at www.kentgreenparty.org  Published by Kent Green Party and promoted by H.Dawe, both at 27, Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF.
Notes:
1.      Stuart Jeffery is the national Health spokesperson for the Green Party of England and Wales.

2.      Government policies clearly contribute also. SEE: http://www.kentgreenparty.org/publications.php KCC favours road-building, despite evidence that induced traffic generation fills up new road infrastructure making it worthless as a means of relieving congestion other than temporarily; it also favours airport expansion at Manston, port expansion without appropriate safeguards to reduce air pollution, and grossly inadequate cycling and walking routes throughout Kent.
3.      Rail fares are roughly 40% above the European average in the UK. In 2011, the complete social and environmental costs of car travel were about £56 billion, making the current subsidy to private motorists in the UK about £24 billion a year after taxes. But from 2001-2011, rail fares increased 62% in real terms and bus fares by 69%, whilst revenue from motoring taxes has actually decreased during the last ten years. So it isn’t motorists who are hard done by, it is rail and bus users.( p3 Institute for Public Policy Research  The War on Motoring: myth and reality: http://www.ippr.org/publication/55/9542/the-war-on-motorists-myth-or-reality This must include road spending and the costs of A&E and policing, as well as the health costs of air pollution which kills about 29,000 people a year in the UK. SEE: Air Pollution: the invisible killer www.keithtaylormep.org.uk)

Invest in employment in Kent, dump austerity

Kent Green Party, preparing for County Elections this May, rejects the austerity policies shared by other parties. There is a large enough existing and potential tax base to allow Government to invest in creating more useful employment(1). Steve Dawe explains:

“If the Coalition Government is serious about ending poverty, increasing employment opportunities and improving services, then it needs to increase taxes upon the wealthiest groups in society and corporations. We have become the most unequal society amongst the rich industrialised countries on this planet. Kent County Council must play a part by helping to reduce poverty. Useful measures should include:
1.      Using empty homes, long-term empty shopfronts and derelict shops in industrial estates for social housing;
2.      Reducing class sizes and expanding services to young people and the elderly; employing enough staff to meet the needs of the vulnerable and poor in our County;
3.      Reintroducing the Community Programme, to provide employment and training to the long-term unemployed people throughout Kent;
4.      Stepping up all schemes to improve energy efficiency in homes and other buildings to help reduce energy costs for all(2);
5.      Better support for forming cooperatives as new businesses throughout Kent.
“At present, Government policy has forced our County Council into a further £94 million of cuts, threatening libraries, services to young people and the elderly and Council employment. With more cuts planned for future years, local government is being deliberately reduced to a hollow shell to protect tax cuts for the wealthiest (3).”
Ends c251 words
FURTHER INFORMATION: Steve Dawe, Press Officer, KENT GREEN PARTY, on 01732 355185 or 07747 036192. Contact address as above. Promoted by H.Dawe for Kent Green Party, both at 27 Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF. KENT GREEN NEWS, free ezine, is available by subscription at www.kentgreenparty.org
Notes:
1.      There is a general failure by HMRC to collect taxes on time, especially from corporations, leaving as much as £28 billion uncollected in some years. Caroline Lucas MP, Green MP for Brighton Pavilion, is advocating a Land Value Tax to increase the currently very low taxes on large land holdings in particular. Cigarette and alcohol taxes can be raised to enhance NHS spending. Taxing those earning over £150,000 a year at 50% will help to address inequality and support local government which has experienced the largest cuts of any sector of public spending.
2.      The successful expansion of renewable energy despite the recession and very poor support by the Coalition illustrates considerable potential in expanding employment in this sector, reducing greenhouse gases and giving a boost to declining levels of engineers in the UK. Instead, the Government is favouring nuclear expansion with huge long-term subsidies, the coal industry and the exploitation of shale gas  all of which are highly polluting.
3.      Like the reduction of the top rate of tax to 45p in the £ from early April, the continuation of tax havens on UK controlled territories and the Government’s bizarre refusal to join other European states in running a financial transaction tax to help raise revenues and support investment, jobs and services.

The Budget of Failed Opportunities for Kent and Medway

Kent Green Party objects to another Budget of failed opportunities. The Coalition continues to increase inequality, undermine our environmental and undercut efforts by small businesses to increase useful employment. Stuart Jeffery, Chair of Kent Green Party comments:

“The recent Budget will not help Kent and Medway. The Coalition Government has made a secular religion out of austerity and it is not working. Failure to collect taxes on time and declining taxes on the wealthy and corporations, contributes to the rising Public Sector Deficit and this Government’s mad obsession with cutting essential public sector jobs.
“This budget will not close the food banks now operating in every local council area in Kent. It will not stop homelessness increasing here. It does nothing to increase social housing which is the only decent housing many households can afford (1); it does nothing to bring our empty homes, offices, shops and derelict industrial sites into use for housing because Quantative Easing is giving money to the financial sector not to investment in our declining construction industry (2). Estimates of child poverty in Kent stand at over 20% in many of our districts and are predicted to rise (3).
“The Government’s enthusiasm for adding to greenhouse gas emissions continues. Shale Gas exploitation at places like Cowden and Woodnesborough is to be made easier. Air pollution is to be worsened by the Government’s failure to raise fuel duties which would encourage more car users to switch to electric cars which are cleaner and cheaper to run than ones using petrol or diesel(4).”

Ends total w 265

FURTHER INFORMATION: Stuart Jeffery, Chair, KENT GREEN PARTY
07970 436029. Contact address as above. http://www.stuartjeffery.net Alternate contact, Steve Dawe, Press Officer on 07747 036192 or 01732 355185. Please leave message if necessary on any of these numbers and we will try to get back to you shortly. KENT GREEN NEWS, free monthly ezine, is available at www.kentgreenparty.org Published by Kent Green Party and promoted by H.Dawe, both at 27, Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF.
Notes:
1.      There are about 45,000 households on social housing waiting lists in Kent and Medway at present;
2.      Estimates for empty homes in Kent and Medway are about 22,000; there are about 6000 empty industrial buildings. Records of long-term empty shops or empty spaces in industrial estates are not available, but the problem is evident throughout Kent from observation. Natalie Bennett, in the Green Party’s national press release on the Budget commented: “The Bank of England has already e-printed £375 billion for quantitative easing, to the great benefit of the richest 5% in Britain and little impact for the rest of us; what Osborne should have done today was set out a big investment programme in renewable energy generation and energy efficiency at interest rates designed to maximise uptake rather than profits for Green Deal lenders. Treating 1 million of our cold draughty homes each year would create 140,000 jobs, save each household up to £250 in fuel bills, and cut carbon emissions."
3.      SEE: End Child Poverty (coalition of 100 charities) http://www.barnardos.org.uk/130212_ecp_local_report_final__2_.pdf See our previous release at www.kentgreenparty.org on this subject. Comment from the Green Party national press release on the Budget: A new report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation warns that a combination tax rises, welfare cuts, and wages freezes will mean that within two years almost 7.1m of the nation’s 13m children will be living "below the breadline". 460,000 children would be pushed below those levels by the increase in VAT and cuts to tax credits, 170,000 by sluggish wage growth and 80,000 by the curbs on public sector pay. Just 20,000 would be raised above the minimum level by the new Universal Credit system, which begins to come into force in October. 90 per cent of families will be worse off in 2015 than in 2010.
4.      The Government is proceeding with further nuclear power stations despite the subsidies required, the lack of safe disposal of nuclear waste and the exodus of companies from British nuclear power proposals due to rising costs and limited returns from such investment. SEE: the Nuclear Free Local Authorities list for details of economic problems associated with this high cost energy technology.

A SILENT SPRING WITHOUT BEES?

Kent Green Party notes that the European Parliament has failed to support a ban on pesticides known to be harmful to our declining bee populations. Dr Hazel Dawe, Campaigns Officer of Kent Green Party, comments:

"I am a very keen gardener. In my garden, bees are my allies in the pollination of plants. But each year there are fewer bees and I am moving more pollen around myself with a paintbrush  doing the job that bees used to do. Some insecticide products have been increasingly implicated in the decline of honeybees over the past decade, and there is serious concern that they pose unacceptable risks to wild bees and pollinators. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that of the 100 crop species that provide 90% of food worldwide, 71 are pollinated by bees(1).

"Last year, EFSA, the European Food Standards Agency, had identified significant flaws in regulatory risk assessment guidelines for testing pesticides on honey bees, and highlighted a need for consideration of wild bees within the regulatory system(2).

"Despite the accumulated evidence, the European Parliament has failed to ban pesticides that harm bees in a recent vote. Kent Green Party urges the public to write to their MEPs to get them to re-open this issue immediately. I do not want to walk into my garden sometime soon and be confronted by a silent Spring(3)."

Ends c233 words

FURTHER INFORMATION: Dr Hazel Dawe, Campaigns Officer, KENT GREEN PARTY, on 079444 71083 or 01732 355185. Contact address as above. Promoted by H.Dawe for Kent Green Party, both at 27 Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF. KENT GREEN NEWS, free ezine, is available by subscription at www.kentgreenparty.org Dr Dawe holds a Kent Wildlife Trust Gold Award for having a garden appropriate for encouraging wildlife and beneficial insects, like bees. Research work primarily by Zoe Hall, Green Party Press Officer, Green Party of England and Wales.
Notes:
1.      EFSA: Bee health http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/beehealth.htm and see also Keith Taylor, Green MEP for Kent, on this issue: http://www.keithtaylormep.org.uk/2013/03/12/greens-urge-uk-government-to-suspend-use-of-pesticide/
2.      Scientific Opinion on the science behind the development of a risk assessment of Plant Protection Products on bees (Apis mellifera, Bombus spp. and solitary bees) http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/efsajournal/pub/2668.htm
3.      See: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/15/bee-harming-pesticides-escape-european-ban This result has left environmental campaigners, scientists and Green politicians bitterly disappointed. The vote failed to reach the required majority. Green MEPs across Europe had written to every nation's environment minister to garner support. Further information: EU Regulation 1107/2009 (Annex II, 3.8.3.) states: "An active substance, safener or synergist shall be approved only if it is established following an appropriate risk assessment on the basis of Community or internationally agreed test guidelines, that the use under the proposed conditions of use of plant protection products containing this active substance, safener or synergist: will result in a negligible exposure of honey bees, or has no unacceptable acute or chronic effects on colony survival and development, taking into account effects on honey bee larvae and honey bee behaviour." Also relevant on this topic: EFSA identifies risks to bees from neonicotinoids http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/press/news/130116.htm?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=infocus&utm_campaign=beehealth & Neonicotinoid Pesticide Reduces Bumble Bee Colony Growth and Queen Production  Whitehorn et al, Science 20 April 2012: 351-352.Publ: 29 March 2012 [DOI:10.1126/science.1215025] &  Chemicals Regulation Directorate "DATA REQUIREMENTS HANDBOOK"- Version 2.2, June 2012 &  "Behaviour of Imidacloprid in Fields.Toxicity for Honey Bees"; Bonmatin et al.

BEDROOM TAX ON THE POOR AND THE DISABLED

Kent Green Party is disturbed by another Coalition Government attack on the poorest and most vulnerable in our society. Dr Hazel Dawe, Campaigns Officer of Kent Green Party, comments on the Bedroom tax and its victims:

“The poorest households in Kent and Medway have already had several years of big increases in energy and food bills, and real terms cuts in both wages and benefits.  Now the Coalition Government’s ‘bedroom tax’ being introduced in April will make about 17,000 people in Kent and Medway poorer. They will have to move or face average benefit losses of £569 a year(1). The tax is indiscriminate and unjust, it penalises the disabled, single parents, families of those recently deceased, foster parents and the parents of children in the army or at university(2). The retrospective nature of the tax makes it particularly unjust as people did not know about the threat to benefits when they took up the tenancy(3).
“The "Bedroom Tax", is part of a welfare change that will cut the amount of benefit that people of working age can get if they are considered to have a spare bedroom. This means they will have 14% of their Housing Benefit cut for one spare room, or 25% for two or more(4). There is no clear definition of what is a bedroom: the Government is leaving this to social landlords and the Department of Work and Pensions to define(5). Dining rooms could for example be included or excluded.
There is even a legal case in which ten children with a variety of problems are challenging the Government because of their need for separate bedrooms (6)(7)!”

ends

FURTHER INFORMATION: Dr Hazel Dawe, Campaigns Officer, KENT GREEN PARTY, on 079444 71083 or 01732 355185. Contact address as above. Promoted by H.Dawe for Kent Green Party, both at 27 Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF. KENT GREEN NEWS, free ezine, is available by subscription at www.kentgreenparty.org

Notes:
1. http://www.porchlight.org.uk/media-centre/press-releases/over-17000-people-in-kent-and-medway-to-fall-foul-of-bedroom-tax/

2.      http://bolton.greenparty.org.uk/news/2013-03-09-bedroomtax.html
3.      . http://northwest.greenparty.org.uk/news.html/2013/03/02/lancaster-green-councillors-act-on-bedroom-tax/
4.      The power to do this is contained in the Welfare Act 2012, and is commonly referred to as the criteria or under-occupation penalty.
5. http://mk.greenparty.org.uk/news/2013-02-24-mk-green-party-opposes-the-bedroom-tax.html
6.      The case will not be heard until after the Bedroom tax comes into force next month: http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/tenancies/children-launch-legal-challenge-to-%E2%80%98bedroom-tax%E2%80%99/6525992.article#.UTTZdoYJmr4
7.      Full constituency breakdown, which may be used as part of the release at the discretion of the recipient, see attached table.

NATALIE BENNETT, LEADER OF THE GREEN PARTY, SPEAKS IN TONBRIDGE

Natalie Bennett, Leader of the Green Party, will be speaking in Tonbridge on Tuesday 12th March, 7.30pm at the Forsyth Hall (Age Concern Hall) in Bradford Street. All are welcome.
Natalie says:

“I have been lucky enough to travel throughout the country, seeing what elected Greens can do to improve their communities and create useful employment. On 12th March, I will be offering examples from this experience which have local relevance to Tonbridge and to neighbouring towns. The examples will include:
·       modern pedestrianised town centres
·       Far more social housing
·       An end to empty homes, long-term empty shopfronts and offices, and empty industrial sites that blight our communities
·       More allotments
·       20 mph limits on residential roads
·       Cheaper bus services
·       Lower rail fares
·       Improved cycling and walking routes.”

Natalie will be visiting some local initiatives during the day of the 12th March, and hearing from local Greens about the challenges to the West Kent area which are presented by the Coalition Government’s many failings.

Ends 172 words

FURTHER INFORMATION: Natalie Bennett via Green Party Press Office on 020 7549 0310 OR Steve Dawe, Press Officer, KENT GREEN PARTY, on 01732 355185 or 07747 036192. Contact address as above. Promoted by H.Dawe for Kent Green Party, both at 27 Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF. KENT GREEN NEWS, free ezine, is available by subscription at www.kentgreenparty.org

END CHILD POVERTY IN KENT AND MEDWAY

Kent Green Party is concerned about the rise in child poverty in Kent and Medway, which is predicted to rise even further in the immediate future. Steve Dawe comments:
"Coalition cuts and poor wages are driving up child poverty. The recent report of the End Child Poverty coalition shows the proportion of children in each of our council areas in Kent currently living in poverty:
Ashford                 18%
Canterbury                      20%
Dartford                        19%
Dover                           22%
Gravesham                       22%
Maidstone                       17%
Medway                  23%
Sevenoaks                       14%
Shepway                         23%
Swale                           25%
Thanet                          28%
Tonbridge and Malling           15%
Tunbridge Wells         14%

"The national figure is 20.2% of children living in poverty, a truly appalling statistic. But six of Kent's council areas are higher than this. When this is combined with the fact that every district in Kent now has a Food Bank as well to feed the hungry(2), we can see that Coalition cuts and declining purchasing power for households are undermining the future of our children.
"Kent Green Party does not believe making the poorest suffer is acceptable. Our tax system could be used to collect more revenue from corporations and the richest households is anything but gross injustice. Coalition policies are forecast to increase the numbers of children and households in poverty. For our children to have hope, their policies of poverty creation must be rejected by all of us."

Ends c232 words
FURTHER INFORMATION: Steve Dawe, Press Officer, KENT GREEN PARTY, on 01732 355185 or 07747 036192. Contact address as above. Promoted by H.Dawe for Kent Green Party, both at 27 Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF. KENT GREEN NEWS, free ezine, is available by subscription at www.kentgreenparty.org
Notes:
1.      End Child Poverty (coalition of 100 charities) http://www.barnardos.org.uk/130212_ecp_local_report_final__2_.pdf
2.      See our previous release at www.kentgreenparty.org on this subject.
3.      Tax alternatives include: raising cigarette, alcohol, petrol, diesel duties; raising Air Passenger Duty; adding more council tax bands at the top of the scale; shutting all tax havens operating on UK controlled territories.

NO INCINERATORS!

A coalition of groups will be picketing against Incinerator development at the offices of Viridor in Kent on Friday 1st March, 11.00am at 42 Kings Hill Ave, Kings Hill, West Malling, ME19 4AJ. Steve Dawe, Press Officer of Kent Green Party, explains:
"Kent Green Party, the Sutton & Croydon Green Party and the Stop the South London Incinerator Campaign are opposed to all waste incineration, and want to see waste reduction, re-use, recycling, composting and other measures to create a zero-waste society. Viridor are planning to build a large waste incinerator in Sutton, and our groups are campaigning to stop them.
"The general public are welcome to come along and picket with us outside Viridor's offices in West Malling, Kent, on Friday 1st March at 11:00am(1): 42 Kings Hill Ave, Kings Hill, West Malling, ME19 4AJ.
"All incinerators generate thousands of journeys by heavy goods vehicles each year, an utterly wasteful activity caused by the failure to re-use and recycle efficiently in this country. Putting an end to incinerators and landfill will create more jobs in re-use and recycling throughout the country, but  as usual  the Coalition Government is failing to provide the necessary regulations or leadership."

Ends c199 words

FURTHER INFORMATION: Steve Dawe, Press Officer, KENT GREEN PARTY, on 01732 355185 or 07747 036192. Contact address as above. OR Gordon Ross, of the  Sutton and Croydon Green Party & the Stop the South London Incinerator Campaign: 0745 399144.
Promoted by H.Dawe for Kent Green Party, both at 27 Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF. KENT GREEN NEWS, free ezine, is available by subscription at www.kentgreenparty.org
Note:
1.      We have asked other anti-incineration and environmental groups to come and join us, and have had messages of support from both of the Green Party's MEP's.

KENT GREENS LAUNCH COUNTY ELECTION MANIFESTO

Kent Green Party has launched Greening Kent: the Kent Green Party manifesto for the County Elections being held in May(1). Stuart Jeffery, Chair of Kent Green Party, comments:
“The Green Party has consistently offered the best alternative policies of any Party in Kent to the Conservatives. We commit ourselves to work to undo the comprehensive failures of Kent County Council under the Conservatives, in areas of clear inadequacy like over-priced public transport, excessive class sizes in schools, very poor walking and cycling policies and under investment in efficient, safe energy technologies. Our policies are covered by three themes:

• Ending poverty, increasing employment opportunities and improving services
• Making public transport, walking and cycling the most favoured means of transport
• Conserving and enhancing the natural environment for tourism, forestry and biodiversity  for future generations

“Here in Kent, we have the largest ‘rotten borough’ in the UK. The Conservatives have been in power in Kent since 1889 almost without interruption. The results have been a catastrophic record of over-development of warehousing, badly planned road schemes, under-development of essential services for the elderly and the young and a persistent record of creating and maintaining low quality secondary schools because of an education system divided by class through the Kent Test.
“A transfer of power and resources to our County from the national Government is essential, as part of a process of moving the tax burden from those who can least afford it to those individuals and corporations most capable of bearing it. As our General Election manifesto demonstrated, we can pay off the Deficit and maintain and improve essential services  but only the Green Party is likely to make this happen.”
ends
FURTHER INFORMATION: Stuart Jeffery, Chair, KENT GREEN PARTY
07970 436029. Contact address as above. http://www.stuartjeffery.net Alternate contact, Steve Dawe, Press Officer on 07747 036192 or 01732 355185. Please leave message if necessary on any of these numbers and we will try to get back to you shortly. KENT GREEN NEWS, free monthly ezine, is available at www.kentgreenparty.org Published by Kent Green Party and promoted by H.Dawe, both at 27, Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF.
Notes:
1.      GREENING KENT the Kent Green Party manifesto will be appearing in the Publications section of the Kent Green Party website shortly: www.kentgreenparty.org

GREEN MEP CAMPAIGNING ON RAIL FARES

Keith Taylor, Green Party Member of the European Parliament for the South East Region, is paying a quick visit to Tonbridge on Thursday 14th February. Supported by Tonbridge Greens, he will be leafleting and talking to rail commuters about our high rail fares at Tonbridge station between 07.30 and 08.30 am. Keith Taylor has commented on this issue as follows:
"The Government seems happy to allow rail companies to make large profits while doing little to reduce overcrowding, improve the South East's rail network and invest in a public transport system that could be an affordable and greener option for ordinary people. A quick comparison with other European countries only further highlights how poor our public transport system is. The price of UK rail tickets is extortionate and set to increase by 24% between 2011 and 2015, making them the most expensive in Europe. This follows a decade in which commuter fares have risen by more than 20% over wages.
"As a Green MEP and member of the European Parliament's Committee on Transport and Tourism, and with a constituency covering the busy South East region, I'm calling for an end to the failed experiment in privatised rail. This latest round of price rises will only strengthen the growing public support to renationalise the railways. Surveys show that three quarters of British voters want more control over our railways and this is something that I will continue to push for.
"While we wait for renationalisation you can still take action. I've joined the Campaign for Better Transport in calling for the Transport Secretary to end inflation busting far rises."


Ends

FURTHER INFORMATION: Keith Taylor MEP can be contacted via his press office: Media Officer: Matthew Butcher Tel: 0207 250 8418 or 07940 500633 Email:  keithpress@greenmeps.org.uk or alternatively: Steve Dawe, Press Officer, KENT GREEN PARTY, on 01732 355185 or 07747 036192. Contact address as above. Promoted by H.Dawe for Kent Green Party, both at 27 Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF. KENT GREEN NEWS, free ezine, is available by subscription at www.kentgreenparty.org

LEAVING EU WILL BE BAD FOR KENT AND MEDWAY

Kent Green Party has reacted to David Cameron's proposal for a referendum on Britain's European Union Membership in 2017. Steve Dawe responds:

"As the Green Party's worker at the No Campaign, against the Euro, during 2003, I was clear that the Euro had the potential to damage European cooperation. And so it has proved. However, Mr Cameron's creation of uncertainty by promising a referendum in 2017 can only serve to reduce foreign and domestic investment in Kent and the rest of the UK(1). Even more seriously, the powers Mr Cameron wants returned to the UK include our very limited areas of environmental and social protection. Returning powers over the environment would make it easier for the Coalition to implement planning reforms which would allow more destruction of natural habitats by development. Given the exceptional variety of habitats in Kent and Medway, it is not surprising that people in every part of our County have campaigned repeatedly to protect our land against road building, warehousing, loss of open space and against hydraulic fracking.
"Kent and Medway also need to play a part in increasing UK forests and productive agricultural land, as part of building a sustainable economy(2). You cannot do this if, by leaving the EU, you abolish Habitat protection and hand land over to those who would destroy it in the name of development.
"Of course the EU needs reforms, but as Green Party Leader Natalie Bennett has indicated, our best interests lie in remaining within a reformed EU, not pretending we will be better off outside it(3)."

Total 267 words
FURTHER INFORMATION: Steve Dawe, Press Officer, KENT GREEN PARTY, on 01732 355185 or 07747 036192. Contact address as above. Promoted by H.Dawe for Kent Green Party, both at 27 Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF. KENT GREEN NEWS, free ezine, is available by subscription at www.kentgreenparty.org
Notes:
1.      Substantial reductions in foreign students entering the UK as a result of the Coalition's policies are already reducing income to the UK economy.
2.      UK forest expansion is useful not only for the value of productive, managed forests which can be created, but as a contribution to the tourism industry in our county.
3.      Natalie Bennett said: "Green Party leader Natalie Bennett said today that the Green Party stood for "Three Yeses - yes to a referendum, yes to major EU reform and yes to staying in a reformed Europe". Natalie urged people to consider the first "Yes" in a different context to David Cameron's promise of a referendum - only if the Conservatives win a majority in the 2015 election - which has more to do with political game-playing and trying to hold together a deeply divided party that is failing in government. The Green leader said: "The Green Party believes in democracy and self-determination. On important issues like this, voters should be given the opportunity to express a clear view." On a reformed EU, the Green Party believes that decisions should be made at the lowest possible appropriate level, closest to the lives of the people it affects. It supports democratic decision-making - not the imposition of dictats from above, such as the austerity that has been forced on the people of many states in south Europe. Natalie added: "'Yes to the EU' does not mean we are content with the union continuing to operate as it has in the past. There is a huge democratic deficit in its functioning, a serious bias towards the interests of neoliberalism and 'the market', and central institutions have been overbuilt. But to achieve those reforms we need to work with fellow EU members, not try to dictate high handedly to them, as David Cameron has done." On 'yes to staying in a reformed Europe', the Green Party believes Great Britain should not abandon the European Union, but instead work from inside to make it into a fair and democratic union rather than just a vehicle for international trade. The European Union is well placed to enact policies on crucial issues such as human and workers' rights, climate change and international crime. It is through EU regulation that our renewable energy targets have been set and hundreds of thousands of jobs have been created.

European action on air pollution, meanwhile, is forcing the British government to take the issue seriously, and the EU is leading the way on a financial transactions tax while Britain, in the grip of the City, resists. Natalie concluded: "We need to continue to work with our European partners to build strong, locally democratic communities that decide their own way within the framework of minimum standards on workers' and consumer rights, the environment, and on human rights - and which work together to build a more peaceful and sustainable world."
Caroline Lucas MP has also responded: Caroline in response to the PM's speech on Europe today - it might be useful if you're planning local comment on this issue. Link: http://www.leftfootforward.org/2013/01/caroline-lucas-yes-to-a-referendum-yes-to-a-better-europe/

NATALIE BENNETT, LEADER OF THE GREEN PARTY, SPEAKS AT WYE

Natalie Bennett, Leader of the Green Party, will be addressing the Annual General Meeting of Kent Green Party being held at Wye, on Saturday 19th January. She will be speaking from 3.30pm at Wye Village Hall, Bridge Street, Wye and the event is open to the public from that time. Natalie Bennett says:
"The country faces a difficult period until the next general election. The economic boost which investment in renewable energy and energy conservation, expanded education, training and health and social care could provide are all denied by Coalition policies.

"Our situation could be described as a tale of two deficits. The Coalition believes it must impoverish half of the households in the country by wage, job and benefit cuts to pay off the public sector deficit. But the Coalition suffers from a 'deficit of care'. Our shrinking public services demonstrate a callous disregard in the Coalition for the needs of many people in our society.

'And their approach is failing to meet even its stated aim, with essential public servants being thrown into unemployment, adding to the benefits bill while cutting tax income and reducing the opportunities for private business.

"There are Green Party alternatives to impoverishing many households: collecting fair taxes from corporations and wealthy individuals, investing in essential services. But the Coalition has a deficit of care and prefers to run a country with ever more food banks for the hungry(1), increasing homelessness and declining access to health care. The Green Party offers hope for the future, challenging the idea that we should or can continue on the path set by the Blair, Brown and Cameron governments."

Ends

FURTHER INFORMATION: Natalie Bennett 020 7549 0310 OR Steve Dawe, Press Officer, KENT GREEN PARTY, on 01732 355185 or 07747 036192. Contact address as above. Promoted by H.Dawe for Kent Green Party, both at 27 Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF. KENT GREEN NEWS, free ezine, is available by subscription at www.kentgreenparty.org
Notes:
1.      There are food banks now in every district council area in Kent and in Medway.

GREENS WARN KENT FARMERS OFF GMOS

Kent Green Party is warning Kent's farmers off Genetically Modified crops, challenging the uninformed enthusiasm of Secretary of State for the Environment, Owen Paterson. Steve Dawe(1) comments:
"Kent's farmers would be well advised to ignore the new enthusiasm of the Secretary of State for the Environment for Genetically Modified crops(GMOs)(2). Owen Paterson appears to have failed to consider the immense costs to farmers and the environment which have occurred wherever GM crops have been introduced.
"Genetically modified crops have been shown to radically increase the need for and the cost of inputs for farming, drastically increasing the costs for farmers. Claims of increased yields for GM crops have been shown repeatedly to be false. Claims that GM engineered pesticides and herbicides would control weeds and pests have been refuted as super-weeds and super pests have acquired resistance to them. The US Department for Agriculture has said that conventional crops are available that are resilient in the face of climate change, rejecting claims that GM crops are supposedly needed for this purpose. GMOs in general have been demonstrated to be toxic or to cause allergies in a wide variety of plant and animal species(3).
"Kent needs a diverse, mixed increasingly organic agriculture system including increased forestry, and more allotments in all areas. Our expanding network of farmers markets is just a start to the employment this could bring to our County(4). No one needs GM crops."

Ends c241 words

FURTHER INFORMATION: Steve Dawe, Press Officer, KENT GREEN PARTY, on 01732 355185 or 07747 036192. Contact address as above. Promoted by H.Dawe for Kent Green Party, both at 27 Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF. KENT GREEN NEWS, free ezine, is available by subscription at www.kentgreenparty.org
Notes:
1.      Steve Dawe has taught Development Studies at 3 different universities and environmental policy at another. GMOs have featured in a number of courses he has taught.
2.      Generally referred to generically as 'Genetically Modified Organisms'.
3.      Collected evidence from scientific papers: The GMO Emperor has no clothes: a global citizens report on the state of GMOs (2011) Vandana Shiva et al: http://no2gm.com/the-gmo-emperor-has-no-clothes/ SEE ALSO: Raj Patel  Stuffed and Starved (2008) pp133-160; John Madeley  Food for All: the need for a new agriculture (2002); GRAIN  The Great Food Robbery (2012).
4.      SEE Kent Farmers Market Association for details: http://www.kfma.org.uk/

THE RAIL FARES SCANDAL

Kent Green Party condemns the rail fare rises just being implemented. Steve Dawe, Press Officer of Kent Green Party and Natalie Bennett, Leader of the Green Party, comment:
Natalie said:
“Households already struggling with fast-rising rents, food prices and energy costs are going to suffer a new blow. Many households that consider themselves middle class, who only a few years ago were comfortably off, are now struggling, finding themselves able to make ends meet only by extreme economies ranging from skipping meals to unhealthily cutting heating. Many others have already been priced off the rails, forced into convoluted, long bus journeys or into their cars when they’d rather not be, adding to congestion on our roads and increasing our greenhouse gas emissions.”
Steve adds:
Here are some sample rail fare increases for Kent commuters:
“ROUTE                  DEC 2012                JAN 2013                % RISE
Ramsgate-London                 £4,640          £4,864          4.82%
Folkestone-London               £4,612          £4,836          4.85%
Sevenoaks-London                £2,980          £3,112          4.43%
Canterbury-London               £4,588          £4,812          4.80%
Deal-London                     £4,640          £4,864          4.82%
Dover Priory-London             £4,640          £4,864          4.82%
West Malling-London     £3,712          £3,876          4.42%
Tunbridge Wells-London  £3,968          £4,132          4.13%(1)

“In 2011, the complete social and environmental costs of car travel were about £56 billion(2), making the current subsidy to private motorists in the UK about £24 billion a year after taxes. But from 2001-2011, rail fares increased 62% in real terms and bus fares by 69%, whilst revenue from motoring taxes has actually decreased during the last ten years. So it isn’t motorists who are hard done by, it is rail and bus users.”

Ends c255 words
FURTHER INFORMATION: Steve Dawe, Press Officer, KENT GREEN PARTY, on 01732 355185 or 07747 036192. Contact address as above. Promoted by H.Dawe for Kent Green Party, both at 27 Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF. KENT GREEN NEWS, free ezine, is available by subscription at www.kentgreenparty.org
Notes:
1.      http://mediapoint.press.net/article.jsp?id=8895223 Please note from this item: “This is a table of rail fare rises, comparing the price of a 12-month season ticket bought in December with one bought from January 2. The table does NOT include the price paid if within-London travelcards are also purchased for Tube and bus journeys in the capital. Where London is mentioned, this means travel to London terminal stations where travel is allowed by any route option shown by the National Rail Enquiry system Journey Planner where the journey can be made using only one ticket.
2.      p3 Institute for Public Policy Research  The War on Motoring: myth and reality: http://www.ippr.org/publication/55/9542/the-war-on-motorists-myth-or-reality This must include road spending and the costs of A&E and policing, as well as the health costs of air pollution which kills about 29,000 people a year in the UK. SEE: Air Pollution: the invisible killer www.keithtaylormep.org.uk

20 mph in residential roads: progress needed

Kent Greens have roundly criticised Kent County Council transport supremo, Cllr Sweetland, for his email[3] claiming that "the casualty figures for the Maidstone district are falling when the increased traffic flow is taken into account" to defend the 50% increase in people killed or seriously injured in the town in 2011.

Cllr Sweetland's email also goes on to refuse to introduce 20mph limits across all residential areas despite his acknowledgement that "speed is a factor in almost crashes".

Stuart Jeffery, Chair of Kent Green Party: "Cllr Sweetland's response is more than disappointing, especially after the latest figures show a 50% rise in serious accidents in Maidstone and that he accepts that speed is a factor in almost all crashes. I simply don't understand how he can justify not taking an urgent but simple step to reduce the high number of deaths and injuries, especially when there is such high public support.

"With public support for 20mph limits in residential areas at around 73%[1] and 8 million people living in authorities that have 20mph limits[2] there are simply no barriers to this. Coupled with the benefits to road safety, and the potential reduction in air pollution and congestion, I have to question his motives for not acting.

"Cllr Sweetland must act now to save lives. Further blocking of this simple and effective is unacceptable."

ends.
FURTHER INFORMATION: Stuart Jeffery, Chair, KENT GREEN PARTY
07970 436029. Contact address as above. http://www.stuartjeffery.net Alternate contact, Steve Dawe, Press Officer on 07747 036192 or 01732 355185. Please leave message if necessary on any of these numbers and we will try to get back to you shortly. KENT GREEN NEWS, free monthly ezine, is available at www.kentgreenparty.org  Published by Kent Green Party and promoted by H.Dawe, both at 27, Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF.


Notes:
1. British Social Attitudes Survey 2011 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/9029/bsa-2011-report.pdf
2. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-20mph-revolution-millions-of-drivers-face-lower-speed-limits-as-new-laws-sweep-the-country-8434292.html

3. Cllr Sweetland's (KCC Cabinet Member for Transport) email to Stuart Jeffery:

Dear Mr Jeffery

Thank you for copying me in on the recent email exchanges. I wanted to set out the facts for the avoidance of doubt.

Looking at the Maidstone district, there was indeed a rise in the number of crashes in 2011. However, it is important to put the figures into context.
   *  There were 412 car crashes on KCC roads in Maidstone in 2011, and this should be viewed against the reduction seen between 2009 and 2010 (395 to 375).  The number of car crashes in the district was 3% lower than the 2004-8 baseline average of 424.
   * The number of Killed and Seriously Injured crashes in the Maidstone district in 2001 was 24, and this again should be viewed against the reduction seen between 2009 and 2010 (29 to 16).
   * Traffic in the Maidstone district increased between 2010 and 2011 with 146,069 more vehicle miles recorded in cars.
Any road crash casualties are a cause for concern. In context, the casualty figures for the Maidstone district are falling when the increased traffic flow is taken into account.  Furthermore, simple comparison in statistical variation with the previous year does not necessarily present the true situation.  For this reason local Highway Authorities and the Department for Transport always consider at least three years data to more accurately pinpoint issues that we should focus on.

There are many benefits to the implementation of 20mph limits in specific locations and we already have nearly 800 roads in the County covered by such limits. However, whilst speed is a factor in almost all crashes, there are many other causation factors that should be taken into account when considering appropriate responses to crashes and casualties on our roads. A targeted approach, rather than an indiscriminate "blanket" reaction, has served Kent well over the years in the reduction of road crashes and I intend to maintain that approach. We have a close relationship with Kent Police, and their current position on 20mph zones is that they should have an element of self enforcement which would not require a Police presence unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Following further pilot schemes in the Maidstone area, we will be considering our 20mph policy in 2013 and we will consult widely to ensure that appropriate cost effective solutions to road safety issues are delivered. This will ensure that the limited amounts of public money we have for road safety education, enforcement and engineering are spent with the utmost efficiency.

I hope this provides some clarification for you.

Yours sincerely

AIRPORT MANIA IN A TIME OF RECESSION

Kent Green Party notes another proposal to build an airport in the Kent area, at Goodwin Sands off Deal (1). Steve Dawe comments:
"Along with attempts to revive expansion plans at Heathrow and Gatwick, and attempts to rescue failing airports at Lydd and Manston, Kent and Medway are beset on all sides with hugely expensive airport infrastructure proposals that would increase air pollution, noise and the UK's contributions to greenhouse gases and climate change. The latest proposals, for Goodwin Sands off Deal, would cause a massive increase in surface traffic in the East Kent area  on roads already seriously congested, and lower air quality and property values.
"Let us consider this from the point of view of the potential traffic impacts if a major airport is built in the Estuary or on the Goodwin Sands or elsewhere. Heathrow had 25.7 million car movements by 2010 and is forecast to reach 34 million by 2020 (2). There is no prospect whatsoever that Kent's existing or imaginable road structure could cope with such vehicle movements.
"If the Government is serious about building up local employment in Kent it will support domestic tourism. It will aid owners of existing airports to follow the proposals being made for Rochester airport, and begin conversion of existing airport sites to other uses. All-weather leisure proposals should be considered for Lydd and Manston particularly. Given the cost of food, some of the land might well be economically and expeditiously returned to agriculture."
Ends c 252 words

FURTHER INFORMATION: Steve Dawe, Press Officer, KENT GREEN PARTY, on 01732 355185 or 07747 036192. Contact address as above. Promoted by H.Dawe for Kent Green Party, both at 27 Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF. KENT GREEN NEWS, free ezine, is available by subscription at www.kentgreenparty.org
Notes:
1.      Press release launching this proposal: http://www.goodwinairport.com/dls/RP/Plan_for_Goodwin_Sands_Airport.pdf
2.      http://www.heathrowhub.com/environmental-imprints/

FOOD BANKS IN KENT AND MEDWAY

Kent Green Party notes the rapid, recent formation of a network of food banks in Kent and Medway. Dr Hazel Dawe, Campaigns Officer of Kent Green Party, comments:

"Who is carrying the burden of the recession in Kent and Medway? Kent's extensive network of food banks supplying free food to the poor now includes locations in Ashford, Canterbury, Chatham, Dartford, Deal, Folkestone, Gillingham, Gravesham, Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Sheppey, Strood and Tunbridge Wells(1).

"Clearly such initiatives will not reach all those in financial difficulties, struggling with inflated energy bills and rising food bills. There are, after all, 13 million people living below the official poverty line in the UK as a whole. What type of Christmas will all of these people have, especially those who need to resort to food banks to get by?

"We can and we should praise those who have taken up the challenge of supporting those in the greatest need in Kent and Medway. But we should be unreserved in our condemnation of political parties that place their enthusiasm for austerity above the basic needs of an increasing number of ordinary people. There is an urgent need to raise the minimum wage and to ensure that those on pensions and benefits are protected from hunger, higher energy bills and rising housing costs. The Coalition Government has a wide range of tax options which it may use to achieve this, but is taking none of them - choosing to increase poverty instead(2)."

Ends c249 words
FURTHER INFORMATION: Dr Hazel Dawe, Campaigns Officer, KENT GREEN PARTY, on 01732 355185 or 07747 036192. Contact address as above. Promoted by H.Dawe for Kent Green Party, both at 27 Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF. KENT GREEN NEWS, free ezine, is available by subscription at www.kentgreenparty.org
Notes:
1.      Details, subject to changes and additions: Ashford: http://ashford.foodbank.org.uk/ ; Canterbury food bank beginning to operate: info@canterburyfoodbank.org  or call 07718 108875. See also: http://www.canterburyvineyard.org/food-bank ; Dartford: http://www.stedmundsdartford.org.uk/ Details: On Tuesday's and Thursday's each week the food bank will provide food ... St Edmund's Church Living Well, St Edmund's Road, Temple Hill, Dartford, Kent; Deal: Deal Area Emergency Foodbank (DAEF),  set up a food bank for the needy on Monday at St Richard's Church in the Mill Hill area, November: http://dealarea.foodbank.org.uk/ ; Folkestone: https://sites.google.com/site/folkestonefoodbankproject/ ; Gravesham: http://www.gravesendchurchestogether.org/Groups/190293/Gravesend_Churches_Together/In_the_Community/Foodbank/Foodbank.aspx ; Maidstone: http://www.lighthouseuk.org/food-bank-at-the-lighthouse/ ; Medway Food Bank operates from premises in Chatham, Gillingham and Strood and relies upon donated food to serve its clientele. SEE: http://medway.foodbank.org.uk/ ; Sevenoaks: http://www.saintjohnthebaptist.org.uk/outreach/loaves-and-fishes-foodbank.html ; Sheppey: food bank assisting redundant Thamesteel workers; Tunbridge Wells, St Augustines Catholic Church runs a food bank.
2.      Suggested tax increase options: Air Passenger Duty; Cigarette and Alcohol taxation; new council tax bands at the top; ensuring increased taxation related to the use of tax havens prior to their complete closure on UK controlled territories; increasing the upper rate of income tax; using Land Value Taxation to tax use of land; ensuring that corporation tax loopholes are closed: UK support for a Financial Transaction Tax or Tobin Tax.

PRIMARY PROBLEMS NEED GREEN SOLUTIONS

Kent Green Party is not surprised Ofsted has ranked Kent in the bottom 10 of local authorities for the performance of primary schools. Steve Dawe considers this, and offers Green alternatives:
"Kent County Council is running a primary school system ranked by Ofsted as in the bottom ten local education authorities in the country. Kent has 55% of children attending a good or outstanding primary school and Medway is actually worse with 54%. Why is this happening? First, it appears vacancies are not being filled quickly enough in Kent schools for financial reasons, putting existing staff under extreme pressure. Numbers of probationary teachers in their first year of teaching are believed to be very high in some schools, also placing heavy demands on experienced teachers.
Secondly, the combination of pay freeze and pensions policy may well be making teaching long-term unattractive (1). Teachers average 48.3 hours a week of work compared to the national average of 37, with 70% of teachers doing all night preparation on some occasions during the year because of workload (2).
"These conditions in Kent and Medway may well make would be teachers consider working in other areas, influencing teacher quality here in Kent. Solutions should include reducing class sizes from an average of 20 to 15, and better support for new teachers in their first year. Clearly, we cannot address major skills shortages in areas like engineering, for example, unless we start with improving teacher time spent with each pupil in our primary schools.
FURTHER INFORMATION: Steve Dawe, Press Officer, KENT GREEN PARTY, on 07747 036192 or 01732 355185. Contact address as above. Promoted by H.Dawe for Kent Green Party, both at 27 Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF. KENT GREEN NEWS, free ezine, is available by subscription at www.kentgreenparty.org
Notes:
1.      SEE: http://www.kentnut.org.uk/news.htm
2. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2159173/70-teachers-nighter-prepare-lessons-according-survey-teaching-magazine-concludes-hours-rest-us.html

A DAY OF ACTION IN LONDON FOR KENT AND MEDWAY

On Saturday 1st December Kent Green Party urges everyone to attend the Global Day of Action on Climate Change and on Fracking(1) including the annual National Climate March in London. Steve Dawe, Press Officer of Kent Green Party, explains why this is particularly important for our County:
"The coastline of Kent and Medway is very vulnerable to climate change. Rising sea level and storm surges are set to change our coastline considerably by 2100 (2). Predictions of a one metre sea level rise by 2100 were based on assumptions that we would curb greenhouse gas emissions. This has not happened globally, so sea level rise around Kent will be greater (3).
"Kent also faces the threat of hydraulic fracking to obtain shale gas. This practice is banned in South Africa, France, Switzerland and Bulgaria due to its effects upon water supplies and its association with earth tremors like the one in Lancashire which has led to suspension of this practice in the UK. But hydraulic fracking is supported by the current Environment Secretary and is proposed for Woodnesborough near Deal and Bidborough near Edenbridge, in Kent(4).
"Further exploitation of oil, gas and coal stocks must cease if dangerous climate change is going to be avoided, including stopping any use of shale gas in the UK.
"Kent Green Party encourage people concerned about climate change and fracking to assemble at Grosvenor Square in London at 12.00 noon on Saturday 1st December (5)."

ENDS c 251 words

FURTHER INFORMATION: Steve Dawe, Press Officer, KENT GREEN PARTY, on 07747 036192 or 01732 355185. Contact address as above. Promoted by H.Dawe for Kent Green Party, both at 27 Audley Avenue, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1XF. KENT GREEN NEWS, free ezine, is available by subscription at www.kentgreenparty.org
Notes:
1.      Hydraulic fracking involves pumping toxic chemicals into rock formations to help release what is referred to as Shale Gas. This adds to greenhouse gas emissions as methane gas is often lost into the environment in this process. Just as problematic is the concern that water supplies are contaminated by the practice. The US development of this technique has led to falls in property values, contamination of water supplies to the extent that households need to be supplied with water by trucks and the repeated release of methane into the environment. Vermont has banned fracking and extensive campaigns exist in other parts of the USA.
2.      Organisations recently expressing concern that climate change is accelerating, with worse implications for coastlines, extreme weather events and overall climatic conditions include:  the International Energy Agency; the United Nations Environment Programme; the World Wide Fund for Nature; the European Environment Agency.
3.      Maps showing the effects of different levels of sea level increase upon Kent are available from stevedawe@gn.apc.org as prepared by Dr Geoff Meaden and colleagues.
4.      Both suspended at present, due to concerns after earth tremors created by Fracking in Lancashire.
5.      Organised by Campaign against Climate Change  www.campaigncc.org Get Fracktious, to oppose hydraulic fracking on 1st December at 12 noon at  Parliament or  Grosvenor Square, Saturday 1st December for the Climate March (midway through the Qatar Climate Talks - COP 18). The Campaign will be building a "fracking rig" outside Parliament to secure a definitive photo-op and to signal to government that fracking will not go ahead without massive resistance. AND will also be building a "Grosvenor Square Keystone pipeline" between the Canadian High Commission and the US embassy to signal our outrage at the continued exploitation of high-carbon tar sands.