Carshalton Environmental Fair

Gordon Ross: Green Party GLA candidate for Croydon and Sutton in front of the GP stall at the excellent Carshalton Environmental Fair.


I took along a selection of placards and posters for our stall at the Fair, including this humorous adaptation of the Lib Dem logo that I picked up at the Tuition Fees demo in London. Given that Carshalton is in the London borough of Sutton, and Sutton is a Lib Dem council, I thought it might be an amusing way to stimulate discussion, especially as we were allocated a pitch beside the Lib Dem stall. We pinned it to the top of the gazebo. A few minutes later a representative from the Love For All, Hatred for None stall, a very worthwhile campaign conducted by the Ahmadi muslims, came over to speak to us. He explained that the 'Lib Dems Lying Here' sign was out of kilter with the ethos of the fair, "You the Green Party have a positive message, we [pointing to his stall] have a positive message. This sign feels wrong." He had a point. So after chatting to a colleague we took the sign the down.

A little while later, I had a brief conversation with the rep. He told me his name was Nasser Butt. I asked him who he voted for?! He replied that today was a not a day to talk about politics. Fair enough!

Towards the end of the day I bumped into him again. He asked me how long I had been in the Green Party. My curiosity got the better of me and I asked him if he was a member of a political party. After initially circumventing the question, he told me he was a member of the Lib Dems, and that he been a Lib Dem General Election candidate in Tooting last year and Mole Valley in 2005!!!!

I came home and googled him and found out that Nasser Butt had also been a councillor in Sutton!!


Banker by Folie Ordinaire

Loads of good bands at the Fair including the fabulous Zero Carbon Band, which features a couple of Green Party members. However, my favourite on the day was Folie Ordinaire. The funky lead singer gave me a business card after their gig. They've got an excellent song called Banker:

"Banker! We're gonna get you one day. Banker! How can you sleep at night?"
--------------------------------------------------
Tags croydon, greenparty