tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276429092024-03-07T21:28:09.979+00:00Croydon, Sutton and Surrey GreensAn unofficial Croydon, Sutton and Surrey Green Party blog by Shasha Khan. Having lived in Croydon most of my life, I now live in Reigate and Banstead.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger847125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27642909.post-75209657570765812382023-03-20T18:30:00.006+00:002023-03-20T18:31:37.551+00:00Norbury Park Memorial Walk (26/02/23) to remember Bob Steel and Peter Hickson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUVvJkwiqTG779BXyV7Js-zlFPmQA2SIEaV1480m6F1cEzhbu5O08fEtJWKQgu0GI_7QkvXYLHB4AIUuVrpFmXMu9Q9QPzKuZdsN3Df3KtYkm2fyVGZtpu8Z30OGNWOsAKdfjqL_z1zPKfvFhk7pnVSy9ZdZUV91nr3VPQ1NoNEyJSW0aj0w/s5202/Sutton%20and%20Croydon%20Green%20Party%20Memorial%20Walk%20260223%2018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="5202" data-original-width="3464" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUVvJkwiqTG779BXyV7Js-zlFPmQA2SIEaV1480m6F1cEzhbu5O08fEtJWKQgu0GI_7QkvXYLHB4AIUuVrpFmXMu9Q9QPzKuZdsN3Df3KtYkm2fyVGZtpu8Z30OGNWOsAKdfjqL_z1zPKfvFhk7pnVSy9ZdZUV91nr3VPQ1NoNEyJSW0aj0w/s320/Sutton%20and%20Croydon%20Green%20Party%20Memorial%20Walk%20260223%2018.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beau walk through woods</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1EYjzXFBwC1WmYpJ8s_fX4rBRaBaoZ0YZMI0ZCrFO0BguiHy1Si70VRYl3UH2J5URlzozeXqVh2EhDMBpFSa1lhDJ60dRHDd73t2u2VJqdBq45_sBsZ5JAvy_uqgVNefUlMt4FuVHR_oStPwmn2ysw0n-H-zzhtSjTbDjPvhDF_Siay1PgA/s5202/Sutton%20and%20Croydon%20Green%20Party%20Memorial%20Walk%20260223%2029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3464" data-original-width="5202" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1EYjzXFBwC1WmYpJ8s_fX4rBRaBaoZ0YZMI0ZCrFO0BguiHy1Si70VRYl3UH2J5URlzozeXqVh2EhDMBpFSa1lhDJ60dRHDd73t2u2VJqdBq45_sBsZ5JAvy_uqgVNefUlMt4FuVHR_oStPwmn2ysw0n-H-zzhtSjTbDjPvhDF_Siay1PgA/s320/Sutton%20and%20Croydon%20Green%20Party%20Memorial%20Walk%20260223%2029.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pausing at the coffee van</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUfUBHajuuJTUYTzPIocxZwOSztSrTp7NrsIc4r4YhovQ_qh9TuxRgFVgxK55ja1l0jyXOjSOQrxzSIf_n0s_Ksvw8djzilnhSemQgP4Dp1fxBP97SCLXYSs-CNoV_JUZTW-TQYLdsapZD5sy5h3sDOadSC5BpZCEjwOWUQJFZ_F1KAXTGBA/s5202/Sutton%20and%20Croydon%20Green%20Party%20Memorial%20Walk%20260223%2030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3464" data-original-width="5202" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUfUBHajuuJTUYTzPIocxZwOSztSrTp7NrsIc4r4YhovQ_qh9TuxRgFVgxK55ja1l0jyXOjSOQrxzSIf_n0s_Ksvw8djzilnhSemQgP4Dp1fxBP97SCLXYSs-CNoV_JUZTW-TQYLdsapZD5sy5h3sDOadSC5BpZCEjwOWUQJFZ_F1KAXTGBA/s320/Sutton%20and%20Croydon%20Green%20Party%20Memorial%20Walk%20260223%2030.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Graham reads a poem for Bob Steel</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRICLoryj5_T4O6bVF0-bdzfDwheuqkdUI0kERCmBOE-xwNrHE0erof4V2tHl2BLdB00TTKAB12TNctaiIUXn1Gv3g156A4NCJMSiVOtNxEqiEqo4G3fnjXGCvzecQKvO5uaCX-8_jer9U1QjEbO2w1lYujN1R-2waORL1566ONKm2c63AeQ/s5202/Sutton%20and%20Croydon%20Green%20Party%20Memorial%20Walk%20260223%2031.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3464" data-original-width="5202" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRICLoryj5_T4O6bVF0-bdzfDwheuqkdUI0kERCmBOE-xwNrHE0erof4V2tHl2BLdB00TTKAB12TNctaiIUXn1Gv3g156A4NCJMSiVOtNxEqiEqo4G3fnjXGCvzecQKvO5uaCX-8_jer9U1QjEbO2w1lYujN1R-2waORL1566ONKm2c63AeQ/s320/Sutton%20and%20Croydon%20Green%20Party%20Memorial%20Walk%20260223%2031.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A circle at the viewpoint</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaV-ONmi7Oo3lv4E_JEbqXqfBLV8t4pkiN5m8BC4WCByAOaBl301vN-bWCqU1tX2lrRGCEyHNkpRHYpa8_A_KIHAFDx7kP3p_8TZp5-ydf0rmhQ5l1RhFOf0wHfKudIoQp2SmT2Bw4OkiA0mqQkmxUuACbnwtZx-yuEmGsRug7IYw1dPjhNg/s5202/Sutton%20and%20Croydon%20Green%20Party%20Memorial%20Walk%20260223%2032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3464" data-original-width="5202" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaV-ONmi7Oo3lv4E_JEbqXqfBLV8t4pkiN5m8BC4WCByAOaBl301vN-bWCqU1tX2lrRGCEyHNkpRHYpa8_A_KIHAFDx7kP3p_8TZp5-ydf0rmhQ5l1RhFOf0wHfKudIoQp2SmT2Bw4OkiA0mqQkmxUuACbnwtZx-yuEmGsRug7IYw1dPjhNg/s320/Sutton%20and%20Croydon%20Green%20Party%20Memorial%20Walk%20260223%2032.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Petals ready</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpK9Bunx_kbZ2URq4Q3Xsvot_vSkuP3Oj5LeA7Ior09KrPFQsLmB5DvmmExe6BWcq2C9obyg4n1P8UNJ-e42T5JajigDY7trh__LrOe2jF2i5y1L8Bu7Yw90523L3_0v4-Q58b5nFV4nyI-_Z122-HCw9zom7NlZjpnp0xMdWLl0EqZZeGdg/s5202/Sutton%20and%20Croydon%20Green%20Party%20Memorial%20Walk%20260223%2033.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3464" data-original-width="5202" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpK9Bunx_kbZ2URq4Q3Xsvot_vSkuP3Oj5LeA7Ior09KrPFQsLmB5DvmmExe6BWcq2C9obyg4n1P8UNJ-e42T5JajigDY7trh__LrOe2jF2i5y1L8Bu7Yw90523L3_0v4-Q58b5nFV4nyI-_Z122-HCw9zom7NlZjpnp0xMdWLl0EqZZeGdg/s320/Sutton%20and%20Croydon%20Green%20Party%20Memorial%20Walk%20260223%2033.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Speech for Peter Hickson</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg77tMSP_HzzBfNiIK1U_8_jnzVAi59Az2axRhVXTXgp_skaVFCXZxwkm2CVKt_5PIn9et4OuRfo2OR8qub-V9-J3ZrZVmlQ2OkIrp8L3y-Rx3ITOY7IszZQAk0bcUEh5NkNuNLWi5Fpd_sCumgFHyHnG73pCCk4nybZbKXCcHJEGUmqbb6Bw/s3264/20230226_132700%5B8266%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1836" data-original-width="3264" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg77tMSP_HzzBfNiIK1U_8_jnzVAi59Az2axRhVXTXgp_skaVFCXZxwkm2CVKt_5PIn9et4OuRfo2OR8qub-V9-J3ZrZVmlQ2OkIrp8L3y-Rx3ITOY7IszZQAk0bcUEh5NkNuNLWi5Fpd_sCumgFHyHnG73pCCk4nybZbKXCcHJEGUmqbb6Bw/s320/20230226_132700%5B8266%5D.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Petals thrown in memory</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7TeQQ6oyRsYCGUfco4WIKjveS9Z8S0nOozEYSDIawfydHm-eWyVe3VlH8QyMZSzM_w9W2VECfwlLzKLLXXpRhTfzxA8umRmtwfnuqFFNpawFRmR4S8U_piymPKm5EO0tXxtrPU0z1Jg95P27QXme3nzaa8w5BgCnry36rKCe0a6qFh408PA/s3264/20230226_124144%5B8267%5D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1836" data-original-width="3264" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7TeQQ6oyRsYCGUfco4WIKjveS9Z8S0nOozEYSDIawfydHm-eWyVe3VlH8QyMZSzM_w9W2VECfwlLzKLLXXpRhTfzxA8umRmtwfnuqFFNpawFRmR4S8U_piymPKm5EO0tXxtrPU0z1Jg95P27QXme3nzaa8w5BgCnry36rKCe0a6qFh408PA/s320/20230226_124144%5B8267%5D.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Horse queues for coffee</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></div><br />--------------------------------------------------
Tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/croydon" rel="tag">croydon</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/greenparty" rel="tag">greenparty</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27642909.post-83263769889649557312022-10-20T11:59:00.009+01:002022-10-23T13:51:01.548+01:00Grace Onions - Rest in Power<div><span face=""Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-size: 15px;"><p>I received a text from Grace Onions' husband in late September that Grace had died. I had heard that she was battling with cancer. It's very sad news.</p><p>I didn't make it in person to the funeral but I was able to watch the live stream. The funeral was properly a celebration of a wonderful person who has been taken from us at the age of just 56.</p><p>Grace will be always remembered for her environmental campaigning. She was the embodiment of a committed campaigner. </p><p>The celebrant at the funeral talked about Grace being long time supporter of Dignity In Dying. I didn't know about here involvement in this campaign. Then as fate would have it, she ended up fighting for the campaign from a lived experience. There is an article in the <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2022/07/06/i-campaigned-for-assisted-suicide-before-my-terminal-cancer-16953348/">Metro newspaper about this.</a></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivjoTAipIKq9iBZjxcZpOEI5MV6PIgsEg2cu18YatnEfpQe5sZQ6QafJkCqL04YIQKgKi7v942p5U-shx2SNqXa6KR18XeOF9NvabGOvqhY6gXMLDbGgLcTSLEOQJ2IlUb5L8uHMiBs_uMEeM5jRSA7lMJo7ZHWJnXJ7fw0z8gNfdbkoeRdA/s640/12187649_10153710907652152_7171991953234629911_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivjoTAipIKq9iBZjxcZpOEI5MV6PIgsEg2cu18YatnEfpQe5sZQ6QafJkCqL04YIQKgKi7v942p5U-shx2SNqXa6KR18XeOF9NvabGOvqhY6gXMLDbGgLcTSLEOQJ2IlUb5L8uHMiBs_uMEeM5jRSA7lMJo7ZHWJnXJ7fw0z8gNfdbkoeRdA/w400-h300/12187649_10153710907652152_7171991953234629911_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Green Party activists in 2014. Grace in yellow.</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>If you were involved in any of the environmental groups in Croydon in the early noughties, it wouldn't be long before you came across the name Grace Onions. Probably via an email group. I have to admit when I saw her email address I wondered whether Onions was her actual surname! Maybe she was a horticulturist who had penchant for onions! </p><p>When I first met her, I think at a Friends of the Earth Christmas do, I just felt I was talking to someone who was absolutely focussed on the cause. I asked her if she was interested in standing as a Green Party candidate in her home ward of Waddon. She didn't take much persuading. </p><p>The other thing I picked up on when I first met Grace was her accent. Fellow Green member, Chris Sciberras, later told me Grace described it as a Caledonian accent. </p><p>Her close friend Ann said a few words at the funeral. She recalled that when she had her children, Grace was pretty much the first person to go to see her and the new-borns. I had similar experience too. When our first child was born, Grace got in touch to come and see us all. I think apart from family, she was was first to congratulate us in person!</p><p>Whenever there was a demonstration, Grace was always there, usually with a newly made placard. At the funeral the celebrant reminded us all there was even one about bras! On that day she was highlighting a shortage of bras in a far off country devastated by war. </p><p>Unsurprisingly, Grace was also active with XR. In April 2021 I got a message from her saying that she was going to do a sit-down protest in the street - on her own. I've still got the message:</p><blockquote><i>So tomorrow, I'm actually going to do this, although am extremely nervous. If you would like to support (photos on social media) or avoid, I will be sitting down in the road, on my own, to raise awareness of the climate and ecological emergency at the entrance to Selsdon Road (B275) by the post office at 11am.</i></blockquote></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span face=""Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-size: 15px;">There was coverage in <a href="https://insidecroydon.com/2021/05/01/climate-crisis-protest-brings-selsdon-road-traffic-to-a-halt/">Inside Croydon</a> about her protest.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span face=""Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-size: 15px;">Take It To The Limit by The Eagles was played at the funeral. Grace certainly took it to the limit with her campaigning. Rest in power Grace.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;">My thoughts are with the her two daughters and husband.</p><div></div> <iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tJkW0Clsvrk" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27642909.post-14744116119180157032022-07-30T11:46:00.003+01:002022-09-14T11:14:10.606+01:00Muriel Passmore<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi39XanTdexi1GHU5Ph-Yk83_11ITDuCdN5Xsl_tCie0VzkZr7t7vBC1Mw2M_CMqE-Jt1smdVEfPg7F0sEhuRVk2Hrja3QrWiJpUPTf4d4Dtbg5CGmbFo2n5J9AezyBekvi573Bh5otF-rvwg2CPdpq8AicPls1xY3YfL8jqSOPq4vpJQ6Tzg/s960/295482519_582374510291916_2683348999083510178_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi39XanTdexi1GHU5Ph-Yk83_11ITDuCdN5Xsl_tCie0VzkZr7t7vBC1Mw2M_CMqE-Jt1smdVEfPg7F0sEhuRVk2Hrja3QrWiJpUPTf4d4Dtbg5CGmbFo2n5J9AezyBekvi573Bh5otF-rvwg2CPdpq8AicPls1xY3YfL8jqSOPq4vpJQ6Tzg/s320/295482519_582374510291916_2683348999083510178_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDCn1SbIfzWzGVCPgD47oKMYnj-efqa0KEepnZ7EyMOuyKHc7MXmZTr3Pu1D_K8xVC3qZz0xCQzyur7VI0G4xXu61BstnkAwhfX9dXmi7KAEBUnbit81HX_VQDb9U6S7R2yWIEeU0rbEJvHo9sxr9uDm3UP_7Fp472dOl0vC1NJaKJPKPNOw/s960/13221547_10206356515247087_2024574211583611340_n.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="641" data-original-width="960" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDCn1SbIfzWzGVCPgD47oKMYnj-efqa0KEepnZ7EyMOuyKHc7MXmZTr3Pu1D_K8xVC3qZz0xCQzyur7VI0G4xXu61BstnkAwhfX9dXmi7KAEBUnbit81HX_VQDb9U6S7R2yWIEeU0rbEJvHo9sxr9uDm3UP_7Fp472dOl0vC1NJaKJPKPNOw/s320/13221547_10206356515247087_2024574211583611340_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div>This week I heard the sad news that Muriel Passmore had passed away. I exchanged messages with her sister-in-law Jackie. </div><div><br /></div><div>Muriel was a key environmentalist in Croydon in the early noughties. She was an active member of Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and the Green Party. </div><div><br /></div><div>In 2010 she was part of the full slate of Green candidates in Croydon. She polled 507 votes in her home ward of Croham. </div><div><br /></div><div>I messaged Jackie that I remembered Muriel being a kind and gentle person, someone who was evidently ahead of the curve on green issues. Jackie replied, "She was passionate about what she believed in and as you say ahead of her time. She was recycling years ago."</div><div><br /></div><div>Rest in Peace Muriel.</div><div><br /></div><div>Continued: 14.09.2022</div><div><br /></div><div>Organised by <span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Aishah Mehmood, </span>Croydon Peace Tree is now in its 10th year.</div><div><br /></div><div>Muriel used to put messages on the tree. Here is a selection:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidV3icvv8Uo7ySBDeHMyXjrnbTEgSpvpuJO6RDEz2urjJkv3csigaEJy-TVjhpHqmp72aQ1NjgAI4Yr8F5WhmdhKjUjrgvgN71nVqZNZAsf9qlRHmHT7dV84AAx33yUa2ySMYJJ6dPsmAC7iq5sVXu2RsGF6Jytm-lWKn2TpOfZNb5fHd0Sg/s1085/IMG_20220914_105927.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1085" data-original-width="1080" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidV3icvv8Uo7ySBDeHMyXjrnbTEgSpvpuJO6RDEz2urjJkv3csigaEJy-TVjhpHqmp72aQ1NjgAI4Yr8F5WhmdhKjUjrgvgN71nVqZNZAsf9qlRHmHT7dV84AAx33yUa2ySMYJJ6dPsmAC7iq5sVXu2RsGF6Jytm-lWKn2TpOfZNb5fHd0Sg/s320/IMG_20220914_105927.jpg" width="319" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi04Q6KrgNTQaNa3xi3nRPNUYMOLMMLaJWKKgSRAyhJb9NVOa8QcJMXHwhRWYm8p60oxGiTE7Rsn6jY6i5dq3dCjvNfNQI5AnwlQWpUT9VHIR9QO3nM0txqa0tYa4NTBepYX7UrvB4WIkq2pjTS7w6EAUhAyn8OG8eUsPtP8CVWa42Eh5rD1A/s1080/IMG_20220914_110024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="538" data-original-width="1080" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi04Q6KrgNTQaNa3xi3nRPNUYMOLMMLaJWKKgSRAyhJb9NVOa8QcJMXHwhRWYm8p60oxGiTE7Rsn6jY6i5dq3dCjvNfNQI5AnwlQWpUT9VHIR9QO3nM0txqa0tYa4NTBepYX7UrvB4WIkq2pjTS7w6EAUhAyn8OG8eUsPtP8CVWa42Eh5rD1A/s320/IMG_20220914_110024.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq3aDJj9VAbbs2XWjQQqNloAaW5hDhfknAxsD95eIZ1FaqELCU7oKWwQOihfkzXWvMHGQA6lsFCTwkMawywkS_X59tkP4JaGuAAjvIbd8uqHf0RmrUy9nkXEb49zvXsdi1fGNYtIffG83MCX7F8qVDljnSiNTxRJzdJFjXSpHz3HKj2eOXXw/s1080/IMG_20220914_110010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="837" data-original-width="1080" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq3aDJj9VAbbs2XWjQQqNloAaW5hDhfknAxsD95eIZ1FaqELCU7oKWwQOihfkzXWvMHGQA6lsFCTwkMawywkS_X59tkP4JaGuAAjvIbd8uqHf0RmrUy9nkXEb49zvXsdi1fGNYtIffG83MCX7F8qVDljnSiNTxRJzdJFjXSpHz3HKj2eOXXw/s320/IMG_20220914_110010.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipQN_lOdbQqjo9Z1pG1hOkBBavA3x4YAK41UT7T7TMEi9JjfHRY9ccizZTTfY8CS6drDaxZtMvDkJNyp0yr46qoA_epNaFFiEjQk9JDBzhp-k-cz5oQmJbenwxLzUA1hCp4zKIsm8oKnLz2lBl09PXCJtkWBR7-pP_dgH1lxD5mXojVQph8w/s1080/IMG_20220914_105958.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="443" data-original-width="1080" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipQN_lOdbQqjo9Z1pG1hOkBBavA3x4YAK41UT7T7TMEi9JjfHRY9ccizZTTfY8CS6drDaxZtMvDkJNyp0yr46qoA_epNaFFiEjQk9JDBzhp-k-cz5oQmJbenwxLzUA1hCp4zKIsm8oKnLz2lBl09PXCJtkWBR7-pP_dgH1lxD5mXojVQph8w/s320/IMG_20220914_105958.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlAOlgFu2rVDkb18nBiDLIdi9rCIndXOSQYp81vJe_DM9CIW8PZ-wlBRVOR7pMaRaNnSm1OmxGAQQ2PKzwzwI7gSIA7ZaXbMg5uuEl8xgmV3Q6g9gxakt-zT0fUcgV9gwfLqLzwNg2tSv7tiZ9RY_UTZEBXm8SXRivPFFQbph4XVAopptGnw/s1080/IMG_20220914_105939.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="1080" height="113" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlAOlgFu2rVDkb18nBiDLIdi9rCIndXOSQYp81vJe_DM9CIW8PZ-wlBRVOR7pMaRaNnSm1OmxGAQQ2PKzwzwI7gSIA7ZaXbMg5uuEl8xgmV3Q6g9gxakt-zT0fUcgV9gwfLqLzwNg2tSv7tiZ9RY_UTZEBXm8SXRivPFFQbph4XVAopptGnw/s320/IMG_20220914_105939.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>-------------------------------------------------- <div>Tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/croydon" rel="tag">croydon</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/greenparty" rel="tag">greenparty</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27642909.post-24485614004355655572022-05-31T16:54:00.004+01:002022-05-31T17:06:54.388+01:00The best results, ever!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDjfu6P0KE8aKSK8JOIH6hSrgm1O67sFMrupNPzjWWkP8cHNAB4ir4B1DHFU8Iwcm2eIcperPdEokmDh6xKpx_0jPRJ_nkbpkw33XZklvwxnIie-gJjpoylY6PAQwtrSWKK9FWvYK1ae9EYpD4JdCuCQeShaNv5LVc_BH6jh2QbUvQe1y82A/s3264/20220531_152634.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1836" data-original-width="3264" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDjfu6P0KE8aKSK8JOIH6hSrgm1O67sFMrupNPzjWWkP8cHNAB4ir4B1DHFU8Iwcm2eIcperPdEokmDh6xKpx_0jPRJ_nkbpkw33XZklvwxnIie-gJjpoylY6PAQwtrSWKK9FWvYK1ae9EYpD4JdCuCQeShaNv5LVc_BH6jh2QbUvQe1y82A/w400-h225/20220531_152634.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Finally got a moment to type up what happened in the local elections.</div><div><br /></div><div>Personally, the elections on 5th May were going to be interesting because areas that I have a strong connection with could - if all went to plan - could return their first Green councillor.</div><div><br /></div><div>In Croydon, Ria Patel, Esther Sutton and Peter Underwood had been working all year round to make the breakthrough in <b>Fairfield</b> ward, and in <b>Horley East and Salfords</b>, Victoria Chester was hoping to add her name to the seven green councillors already on Reigate and Banstead council.</div><div><br /></div><div>This year I stood in my home ward of Chipstead, Woodmansterne and Kingswood:</div><div><br /></div><div>Result:</div><div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">425 EALES Labour</div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">530 KHAN Green</div><div dir="auto" style="background-color: #f0f2f5; color: #050505; font-family: "Segoe UI Historic", "Segoe UI", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">1562 PARNELL Conservative</div></div><div><br /></div><div>Last year I had stood in Horley East and Salfords and fell 340 votes short. During the campaign, Victoria Chester - a long standing Horley resident - came and helped during the campaign. We knocked on doors together. Just a year earlier she was <a href="https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/meet-green-party-local-election-23787960" target="_blank">"totally disengaged with politics."</a> This time around, she won through the selection process and was aiming for victory.</div><div><br /></div><div>Having been mega-active in Croydon from 2003-2015 I knew how unforgiving the first past the post system is in those densely populated wards. </div><div><br /></div><div>On 6th May I saw this amazing result on the Reigate and Banstead council website :</div><div><br /></div><div><ul class="du-ward-body" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: content-box; font-family: "PT Sans Narrow", sans-serif; font-size: 20.4px; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; line-height: normal; list-style: none; margin: 0px 18.6px; min-width: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 31px; vertical-align: baseline;"><li class="du-candidate du-pt-lab" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: content-box; color: inherit; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: normal; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.7em; min-width: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"></li><li class="du-candidate du-pt-grn" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: content-box; color: inherit; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: normal; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.7em; min-width: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="du-name" color="inherit" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: content-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-width: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />Victoria Louise Chester</span><span class="du-party" color="inherit" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: content-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-width: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 0.3em; vertical-align: baseline;">(GRN)</span><span class="du-votes" color="inherit" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: content-box; float: right; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.78em; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-width: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1,049</span><span class="du-bar-holder" color="inherit" style="background: rgb(70, 70, 70); border-radius: 1em; border: 0px; box-sizing: content-box; clear: both; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: 0.6em; line-height: normal; margin: 2px 0px 0px; min-width: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 520.8px;"><span class="du-bar" color="inherit" style="background: rgb(106, 176, 35); border-radius: 1em; border: 0px; box-sizing: content-box; clear: both; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: 0.6em; line-height: normal; margin: 2px 0px 0px; min-width: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 520.8px;"></span></span></li><li class="du-candidate du-pt-con" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: content-box; color: inherit; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: normal; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.7em; min-width: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="du-pt-icon" color="inherit" style="background: rgb(0, 152, 217); border-radius: 1em; border: 2px solid rgb(0, 123, 174); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: 0.8em; line-height: normal; margin: 0.23em 0.8em 0px 0px; min-width: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 0.8em;"></span><span class="du-name" color="inherit" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: content-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-width: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Robert David Marr</span><span class="du-party" color="inherit" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: content-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-width: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 0.3em; vertical-align: baseline;">(CON)</span><span class="du-votes" color="inherit" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: content-box; float: right; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.78em; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-width: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1,025</span><span class="du-bar-holder" color="inherit" style="background: rgb(70, 70, 70); border-radius: 1em; border: 0px; box-sizing: content-box; clear: both; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: 0.6em; line-height: normal; margin: 2px 0px 0px; min-width: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 520.8px;"><span class="du-bar" color="inherit" style="background: rgb(0, 152, 217); border-radius: 1em; border: 0px; box-sizing: content-box; clear: both; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: 0.6em; line-height: normal; margin: 2px 0px 0px; min-width: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 508.875px;"></span></span></li><li class="du-candidate du-pt-lab" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: content-box; color: inherit; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: normal; list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.7em; min-width: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="du-pt-icon" color="inherit" style="background: rgb(218, 21, 0); border-radius: 1em; border: 2px solid rgb(152, 14, 37); box-sizing: content-box; display: block; float: left; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: 0.8em; line-height: normal; margin: 0.23em 0.8em 0px 0px; min-width: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 0.8em;"></span><span class="du-name" color="inherit" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: content-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: bold; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-width: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Tom Latter</span><span class="du-party" color="inherit" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: content-box; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.7em; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-width: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 0.3em; vertical-align: baseline;">(LAB)</span><span class="du-votes" color="inherit" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: content-box; float: right; font-family: inherit; font-size: 0.78em; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-width: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">444</span><span class="du-bar-holder" color="inherit" style="background: rgb(70, 70, 70); border-radius: 1em; border: 0px; box-sizing: content-box; clear: both; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; height: 0.6em; line-height: normal; margin: 2px 0px 0px; min-width: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 520.8px;"></span></li></ul></div><div><br /></div>I received a text from Victoria Chester:<div><br /></div><div><blockquote><span style="color: #38761d;">OMG, I'm in total shock! And I need to go to work now!! Thanks for everything, will message later. π</span></blockquote><div><br /></div>On 7th May I got a text from Croydon Green, Martyn Post. He was explaining how the whole count was poorly organised - mainly because the Mayoral election was taking place at the same time.</div><div><br /></div><div>His text read:</div><div><br /></div><div><blockquote><span style="color: #38761d;">But watch out in Fairfield on Sunday night.....box counts at verification put it close between Lab and Grn. It actually caught me by surprise how it was going. </span></blockquote><p> </p><p>On Sunday evening I got a text from Croydon Green Tracey Hague:</p><p></p><blockquote><span style="color: #38761d;">Ria and Esther have made history</span> πππππ</blockquote><p></p><p><br /></p><p>Eventually the results came trough a full 69 hours after polls closed:</p><p>Ria Patel (Green) 925 elected</p><p>Robert Clark (Labour) 923 elected</p><p>Esther Sutton (Green) 913 elected</p><p>Peter Underwood (Green) 890</p><p>Jose Joseph (Labour) 883</p><p><br /></p><p>I exchanged texts with Esther, reminding her that back in 2009, I talked to her about joining the Green Party! I also exchanged texts with Bernice Golberg - who for many years did so much for Croydon Green Party.</p><p>I also received messages via Twitter and Facebook saying "how much we all owed to people like you who spent years building Croydon Green Party" </p><p>WHAT A RESULT! I feel so proud for Ria, Esther and Victoria. Tough on Peter, as he didn't make the clean sweep.</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/may/06/greens-local-election-results-2022-gains" target="_blank">Across the country Green councillors won seats in the most unexpected areas. </a></p></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27642909.post-60515505030006634782022-04-28T14:31:00.003+01:002022-04-28T14:31:38.992+01:00For Chipstead, Kingswood and Woodmansterne.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLr1oTu60kEExrqbupTp522LMLl8Odo7MFmNC3R5QymtS4LjTs6bu5SDfqyXw1edL1Kth9OC0ZBk85jsJL0F4j0_YB3-mX7v25pL4Gnqhv6BaxlGUUGAir1lpzjp_eNcJDbDVq8jCyVsBZo2P16TcI8tQ_ihW40-XVK5VTg6SH2o6AoMgG9Q/s1138/screenshot.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="542" data-original-width="1138" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLr1oTu60kEExrqbupTp522LMLl8Odo7MFmNC3R5QymtS4LjTs6bu5SDfqyXw1edL1Kth9OC0ZBk85jsJL0F4j0_YB3-mX7v25pL4Gnqhv6BaxlGUUGAir1lpzjp_eNcJDbDVq8jCyVsBZo2P16TcI8tQ_ihW40-XVK5VTg6SH2o6AoMgG9Q/w400-h190/screenshot.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal"><u>Overdevelopment</u></p><p class="MsoNormal">When looking at posts on <i>Next Door, </i>I sense that residents in Chipstead, Kingswood and Woodmansterne are very keen to avoid senseless infill development which gradually changes the appearance of an area.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Green
Party councillors in Reigate and Banstead Council sit on various committees of the Local Authority and
try to shape policy implementation in a fairer and more sustainable direction. Greens sit on Planning Committee for instance where we are keen to avoid
overdevelopment - protecting the green belt but also the green character of
many areas is a core value. However, Greens recognise this often means there is
infilling such as back garden schemes which over time changes an area's
character and quality, as has been happening at places like Nork.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Greens are also forced to navigate Government imposed targets for housing numbers
(which are based on out of date statistics) in the Local Plan whilst at the
same time pushing hard for for truly affordable homes ie Council Housing or
socially rented provision across our Borough. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As Greens have to work with the policies set out in the Local Plan we cannot
reject things outright but we do ensure that where for instance back garden
sites are proposed for development these are very carefully scrutinised -
layout and design notably density, loss of trees and biodiversity, building
lines and so forth - to avoid overbearing and cramped development impacting on
the community. We favour the concept of the 20 minute neighbourhood too (now in
the NPPF) to encourage access to local amenities on foot and by bike ie other
than the car. Avoiding unnecessarily high density infill schemes in such
accessible areas is important since existing minimum standards would otherwise
require high parking provision, or worse, generate off street parking and
potential neighbour conflict. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><u>Roads</u></p><p class="MsoNormal">I live on a road which suffers from potholes. Potholes need to be fixed properly and that means not waiting until the whole road needs resurfacing. I will make sure broken streetlamps, blocked drains and flytipping also get sorted.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><u>Addressing the cost-of-living and climate crises</u> </p><p class="MsoNormal">More help to insulate homes is a simple win/win policy here.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><u>Democratic deficit</u></p><p class="MsoNormal">Conservative councillors represent our ward within a Conservative dominated council, where the Greens are the leading opposition party. More Green councillors can give residents principled opposition, and hold the Conservative Council to account.</p>-------------------------------------------------- Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27642909.post-86623084313569581262022-02-01T17:35:00.000+00:002022-02-01T17:35:12.070+00:00Sutton Council now joins residents in opposing the incinerator<div><a href="https://www.sutton.gov.uk/-/sutton-council-opposes-viridor-s-plans-to-increase-waste-activity-in-beddington">Sutton Council opposes Viridor's plans to increase waste activity in Beddington - Sutton Council</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>I had to do a double take when the link above was circulated: <b>Sutton Council opposes Viridor.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>It is thought the new owners of Viridor, <a href="https://resource.co/article/viridor-acquired-kkr-42-billion">KKR</a>, want to increase the level of waste by 10 percent, in addition to the 15 per cent granted last year. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://insidecroydon.com/2022/01/21/sutton-steamy-councillor-wakes-up-to-boroughs-burning-issue/">Inside Croydon did a good piece on this</a> - there's even an old photo of me! </div><div><br /></div><div>Sutton Guardian have also covered the issue. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhu6kzmiOTy4MAt32rO8XgDO_sBtLwoYG3Y4V7gdD5DXdntiHCHad1TNUg6C8rPRPm9XEvm1d0r4PZSsISWTW6KizB-XbPuk5HySHyo-JLLbfJQ8GoiDqIHRTyA9bhhn_-rEYxojD6U4OUaaaKuxyPb4Y4V_dUC9I4uwON4rsXPWKrtUu6VGg=s3264" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1836" data-original-width="3264" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhu6kzmiOTy4MAt32rO8XgDO_sBtLwoYG3Y4V7gdD5DXdntiHCHad1TNUg6C8rPRPm9XEvm1d0r4PZSsISWTW6KizB-XbPuk5HySHyo-JLLbfJQ8GoiDqIHRTyA9bhhn_-rEYxojD6U4OUaaaKuxyPb4Y4V_dUC9I4uwON4rsXPWKrtUu6VGg=w400-h225" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Sutton Guardian</td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>It seems <a href="https://insidecroydon.com/2022/01/28/dombey-in-crisis-as-two-more-libdem-councillors-quit/">Councillor Abellan has now resigned</a>. Before he handed in his notice, I was copied in to a letter Cllr Nick Mattey sent to him:</div><div><p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">Dear
Councillor Abellan.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I
have to admit that dealing with the barrage of lies that spew from the mouths
of Sutton Liberal Democrats is not just nauseating but stressful as well.
So much so that my GP has advised me to distance myself from anything to do
with Sutton council. Having to confront people who are incapable of telling the
truth .when you have spent your life avoiding such people takes its toll.
Nevertheless, I feel compelled to write to you regarding Viridors decision to
dump Sutton Council with its deluded aspirations to go carbon neutral and get
on with the serious business of burning as much waste as possible. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">From
Viridor's point of View, Sutton Liberal Democrats are now surplus to
requirements. Gone are the days when they would make sure that their
charity made donations to churches connected with the Liberal Democrats.
Gone are the times they would donate Β£100,000 to help the fledgling
SDEN make its first tentative steps on its way to insolvency. Gone
are the times when Viridor would go hand in hand to fight Shasha Khans judicial
review, that alleged conflict of interest. That was the JR where Viridor
and Sutton council forgot to tell the judge that as soon as planning permission
for the incinerator was approved Β£275,000 would be on its way to Holy Trinity
church.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">By
withholding this information Sutton and Viridor got their desired
incinerator and Sutton Council was able to screw Β£5000 out of Shasha
Khan. What a victory, taking money from a family man who was just doing
his bit for the environment? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
The Incinerator is like a malignant
tumor that is growing out of control. From it emanates millions of
carcinogenic particulates that then start cancers in innocent residents.
.Residents hoped their council would protect them from harm. Instead, Sutton
Council has created a cancer hub in Beddington that simultaneously pushes
millions of tonnes of Green House Gases into the atmosphere.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Please
do not reply that the incinerator only emits steam, if this was the case why
would it require a permit from the EA. ?<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Please
do not reply that it's better than landfill, the only reason Beddington had a
landfill is that the Liberal Democrat approved it.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In
fact, 51% of the material burnt in incinerators is plastic and if plastic is
landfilled it emits no GHCs it is inert.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">
What you and the rest of your Liberal Democrat Incinerator
apologists fail to understand is that Viridor has seen eight years of
reverential praise for their incinerator from the Liberal Democrats.
Sutton Liberal Democrats are forbidden to call the incinerator an incinerator
just in case anyone might discover its true purpose. This groveling support for
incineration has emboldened Viridor. Sutton is regarded as a soft
touch. They will be soon burning 500,000 tonnes a year. They know
Sutton Liberal Democrats can never sto0p them, after all, councilor McCoy says
Incinerators improve air quality. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> You
can read more lies put out by Sutton Liberal Democrats in 2013 to
support Viridor in the attached file .. Many of these leaflets were
lovingly delivered by members of the congregations of the All Saints
church Hackbridge and Holy Trinity church. Wallington, They hoped a
combined total of nearly Β£500,000 would come to their churches from Viridor's
Charity, and miraculously it did. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The
Β£500,000 of taxpayer's money Viridor donated, has brought great
prosperity to Viridor. Viridor knew that the 275,000 tonnes a year to be
incinerated claimed in the leaflet by the Lib Dems was false. Why should they
intervene to correct it? When you have councilors who are prepared to lie to
help your business it's best to stay quiet.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Can
you remind me? when has Viridor told you that Sutton can go carbon
neutral? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As
Councillor Zucheska has said I am one of the most obnoxious people she has ever
met, somehow having strict regard for the truth in Lib Dem parlance equates to
being obnoxious. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Kind
regards<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Nick
Mattey <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> <o:p></o:p></p></div><div><br /></div>-------------------------------------------------- <div>Tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/croydon" rel="tag">croydon</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/greenparty" rel="tag">greenparty</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27642909.post-5529637174907321162022-01-12T13:59:00.004+00:002022-01-12T14:19:30.767+00:00Correspondence with Crispin Blunt MP<div style="text-align: center;"><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center; text-decoration-line: underline;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg9H-PrJIGXmmKrKHVhPCcrB4jUuR-zs7-RqdlkXk_zjkP7ZXoLFdNs0WssXfHgORsFPx8CiOkeL36AcjBHUs2laeccc1x5E_iK1i49uRdVBMKZZH2mzgEKvrKOzEyC6bcLfDBjY3YqVNPBXh8QfMPdxiz4Di3BM0c1xwkrcdsnoeXmvNGtOQ=s2000" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="1500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg9H-PrJIGXmmKrKHVhPCcrB4jUuR-zs7-RqdlkXk_zjkP7ZXoLFdNs0WssXfHgORsFPx8CiOkeL36AcjBHUs2laeccc1x5E_iK1i49uRdVBMKZZH2mzgEKvrKOzEyC6bcLfDBjY3YqVNPBXh8QfMPdxiz4Di3BM0c1xwkrcdsnoeXmvNGtOQ=s320" width="240" /></a></div><br />Crispin Blunt MP ( image downloaded from Wikipedia)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;"><u><b><br /></b></u></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;"><u><b><br /></b></u></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;"><u><b>The Simple Question</b></u></span></div><div><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">From: Shasha Khan</span><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">Sent: 9 December 2021 20:39</span><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">To: BLUNT MP, Crispin</span><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">Subject: 1 simple question:</span><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">Dear Mr Blunt.</span><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">Can you please give me a hypothetical example of something the Prime Minister may do that causes you write to the Chairman of the 1922 committee calling for a leadership challenge?</span><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span style="background-color: white;"><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="color: #363636;"><span style="font-size: 13.3333px;">The reason I ask is, I realise that Mr. Johnson is unrivalled in his capacity as a vehicle for winning elections. I have no doubt other parties would jump at the chance to have him as leader, but winning elections isn't everything. Honesty, integrity, trustworthiness shouldn't be completely thrown under the bus in order to win elections.</span></span></span><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">Kind regards</span><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">Shasha</span></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>The Response</u></b></div><div><span> </span><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">On Fri, Dec 17, 2021 at 2:49 PM Crispin Blunt MP </span><u style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;"></u><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">> wrote:</span><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">Dear Mr Khan,</span><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">Thank you for your email, and I agree that integrity, honesty and trustworthiness are of the utmost importance.</span><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">I understand the anger that you and other constituents felt at recent events such as allegations over a Party at Downing Street. Many of us have made enormous personal sacrifices throughout the pandemic and it is deeply uncomfortable to think that the people responsible for setting the rules may not have been following those rules. It is of vital importance that those making the rules are seen to be respecting them if the legitimacy of public policy is to be upheld.</span><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">I welcome that the Prime Minister apologised for the offence caused and the impression it gave. Furthermore, he confirmed that he was not present at this party, and directed the Cabinet Secretary to investigate this matter, establish the facts, and report back as soon as possible. I have been reassured that if it is found that Covid rules were broken, then there will be disciplinary action for those involved.</span><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">Yours sincerely,</span><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">Crispin Blunt</span><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><u>The Reply</u></b></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">From: Shasha Khan</span><u style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;"></u><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">Sent: 17 December 2021 16:12</span><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">To: BLUNT MP, Crispin</span><u style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;"></u><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">Subject: Re: 1 simple question: (Case Ref: CB17568)</span><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">Dear Mr Blunt,</span><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">I appreciate your reply but I wanted a hypothetical example of something the Prime Minister may do that causes you to write to the Chairman of the 1922 committee calling for a leadership challenge?</span><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">With the absence of an example, and your focus on the allegations of a "Party at Downing Street", am I to assume that the "Party at Downing Street", something you mentioned in your answer and something I didn't refer to you in my question is the point of no return?</span><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">Or, is the question unfair to ask? Please advise if this is the case.</span><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">Yours sincerely</span><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><br style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px;" /><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;">Shasha Khan</span></div><div><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span></div><div><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;"><b><u>The Additional Response</u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="gE iv gt" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; cursor: auto; font-family: Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 0.875rem; padding: 20px 0px 0px;"><table cellpadding="0" class="cf gJ" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; border-collapse: collapse; display: block; font-size: 0.875rem; letter-spacing: 0.2px; margin-top: 0px; width: auto;"><tbody style="display: block;"><tr class="acZ" style="display: flex; height: auto;"><td class="gF gK" style="display: block; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; max-height: 20px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap; width: 537.775px;"><table cellpadding="0" class="cf ix" style="border-collapse: collapse; table-layout: fixed; width: 537.775px;"><tbody><tr><td class="c2" style="display: flex; margin: 0px;"><h3 class="iw" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: auto; color: #5f6368; font-size: 0.75rem; font-weight: inherit; letter-spacing: 0.3px; line-height: 20px; margin: inherit; max-width: calc(100% - 8px); overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><span class="qu" role="gridcell" tabindex="-1" translate="no"><span class="gD" data-hovercard-id="crispinbluntmp@parliament.uk" data-hovercard-owner-id="112" email="crispinbluntmp@parliament.uk" name="Crispin Blunt MP" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; color: #202124; display: inline; font-size: 0.875rem; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.2px; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top;"><span style="position: relative; vertical-align: top;">Crispin Blunt MP</span></span></span></h3></td></tr></tbody></table></td><td class="gH bAk" style="align-items: center; color: #222222; display: block; margin: 0px; max-height: 20px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><div class="gK" style="align-items: center; display: flex; padding: 0px;"><span alt="Jan 9, 2022, 8:10 PM" class="g3" id=":2do" role="gridcell" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: auto; color: #5f6368; display: block; font-size: 0.75rem; letter-spacing: 0.3px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; vertical-align: top;" tabindex="-1" title="Jan 9, 2022, 8:10 PM">Jan 9, 2022, </span></div></td><td class="gH" style="align-items: center; color: #222222; display: flex; margin: 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"></td><td class="gH acX bAm" rowspan="2" style="align-items: center; color: #222222; display: block; margin: 0px; max-height: 20px; text-align: right; vertical-align: top; white-space: nowrap;"><div aria-label="Reply" class="T-I J-J5-Ji T-I-Js-IF aaq T-I-ax7 L3" data-tooltip="Reply" role="button" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; align-items: center; background: transparent; border-radius: 2px 0px 0px 2px; border: none; box-shadow: none; color: #444444; cursor: pointer; display: inline-flex; font-size: 0.875rem; height: 20px; justify-content: center; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 20px; min-width: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; user-select: none; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><img alt="" class="hB T-I-J3" role="button" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 20px; background: url("https://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/material/system/2x/reply_black_20dp.png") center center / 20px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 20px; margin: 0px; opacity: 0.54; padding: 0px; transition: opacity 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1) 0s; vertical-align: middle; width: 20px;" /></div><div aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" aria-label="More" class="T-I J-J5-Ji T-I-Js-Gs aap T-I-awG T-I-ax7 L3" data-tooltip="More" id=":2ch" role="button" style="-webkit-user-drag: none; align-items: center; background: transparent; border-radius: 0px 2px 2px 0px; border: none; box-shadow: none; color: #444444; cursor: pointer; display: inline-flex; font-size: 0.875rem; height: 20px; justify-content: center; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 20px; min-width: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: center; user-select: none; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><img alt="" class="hA T-I-J3" role="menu" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 20px; background: url("https://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/material/system/2x/more_vert_black_20dp.png") center center / 20px no-repeat; display: inline-block; height: 20px; margin: 0px; opacity: 0.54; padding: 0px; transition: opacity 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1) 0s; vertical-align: middle; width: 20px;" /></div></td></tr><tr class="acZ xD" style="display: flex; height: auto;"><td colspan="3" style="margin: 0px;"><table cellpadding="0" class="cf adz" style="border-collapse: collapse; table-layout: fixed; white-space: nowrap; width: 848px;"><tbody><tr><td class="ady" style="align-items: center; display: flex; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; text-overflow: ellipsis;"><div class="iw ajw" style="display: inline-block; max-width: 92%; overflow: hidden;"><span class="hb" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: auto; color: #5f6368; font-size: 0.75rem; letter-spacing: 0.3px; line-height: 20px; vertical-align: top;" translate="no">to <span class="g2" data-hovercard-id="shashakhan@googlemail.com" data-hovercard-owner-id="112" email="shashakhan@googlemail.com" name="me" style="vertical-align: top;">me</span></span></div><div aria-haspopup="true" aria-label="Show details" class="ajy" data-tooltip="Show details" id=":2cg" role="button" style="align-items: center; border: none; display: inline-flex; justify-content: center; margin-left: 4px; outline: none; position: relative; vertical-align: top; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><img alt="" class="ajz" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/images/cleardot.gif" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 50% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: 20px; background: url("https://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/material/system/2x/arrow_drop_down_black_20dp.png") center center / 20px no-repeat; border: none; cursor: pointer; display: flex; height: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 0px auto; opacity: 0.54; padding: 0px; position: relative; right: 0px; top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 20px;" /></div></td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table></div><div id=":2dk" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><div class="qQVYZb"></div><div class="utdU2e"></div><div class="lQs8Hd" jsaction="SN3rtf:rcuQ6b" jscontroller="i3Ohde"></div><div class="btm"></div></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><div class="aHl" style="margin-left: -38px;"></div><div id=":2cf" tabindex="-1"></div><div class="ii gt" id=":2dm" jslog="20277; u014N:xr6bB; 4:W251bGwsbnVsbCxbXV0." style="direction: ltr; font-size: 0.875rem; margin: 8px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;"><div class="a3s aiL" id=":2dl" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: 1.5; overflow: hidden;"><div id="m_9116828987371539704emailDiv" style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Dear Mr Khan,<br /><br />Thank you for your email before Christmas, and I hope you and your family had a good Christmas and New Year.<br /><br />I am not able to answer this hypothetical question. What I can say is that my colleagues and I continue to scrutinise the Government and Ministers to ensure that the strictest standards are upheld, and I have not refrained from speaking out or voting against Government policy in the past when I felt this was not the case or that Government policy would not benefit the public interest. I hope it will reassure you to know that I will continue to do so in future.<br /> <br />Yours sincerely,<br />Crispin Blunt</div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span face="HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial" style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-size: 13.3333px;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div>--------------------------------------------------
Tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/croydon" rel="tag">croydon</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/greenparty" rel="tag">greenparty</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27642909.post-28169487813561644462021-08-19T21:15:00.009+01:002021-08-24T18:33:21.086+01:00Bob Steel mix<div><ol>
<li><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Sidi Diabate and
Ensemble - Sori</p></li><li><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Fela Kuti β
Teacher Dont Teach Me Nonsense</p>
</li><li><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Spartacus -
Freedom First</p>
</li><li><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">The Specials β
Ghost Town</p>
</li><li><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Poetry for B.Jones
β Rolling Stones</p>
</li><li><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">I'm yours and I'm
hers β Rolling Stones</p>
</li><li><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Marc Bolan and
T.Rex β Children Of The Revolution</p>
</li><li><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Elvis Costello and
The Attractions β Oliver's Army</p>
</li><li><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Nena β 99
Luftballoons</p>
</li><li><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Woodstock β
Stage Announcements</p>
</li><li><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Cat Stevens β
Where Do The Children Play</p>
</li><li><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">The Who β Who
Are You</p>
</li><li><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Woodstock β
Stage Announcements</p>
</li><li><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Talking Heads β
Once In A Lifetime</p>
</li><li><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Bob Dylan β The
Times They Are A-Changin'</p>
</li><li><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Wings β Mull of
Kintyre</p>
</li></ol><div>Mix can be heard here: https://www.mixcloud.com/DJCosySlippers/bob-steel-rip-mix/</div>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Above are the tracks I picked from Bob Steel's vinyl for a mix I've just done today. The link will expire in 7 days : https://we.tl/t-A7oIVXV8Tx</p><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcnLVhq7lrf_8jyqKkCfC7xdcg0DjGhUQV7-dWJBRitlxVhatnifq85FhgCCILjH2Wkci21yViYOCQUPp7iqiic77ep_DhPVLH99ZR89PVyJm3L2OaaomdnEedSQQkHUsVfPHf/s2048/20210819_211821.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1152" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcnLVhq7lrf_8jyqKkCfC7xdcg0DjGhUQV7-dWJBRitlxVhatnifq85FhgCCILjH2Wkci21yViYOCQUPp7iqiic77ep_DhPVLH99ZR89PVyJm3L2OaaomdnEedSQQkHUsVfPHf/s320/20210819_211821.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><br /><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p></div><div>-------------------------------------------------
Tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/croydon" rel="tag">croydon</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/greenparty" rel="tag">greenparty</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27642909.post-88337422434017320172021-05-18T13:01:00.003+01:002021-05-19T10:51:38.737+01:007 pictures that tell the story of the 6th of May election.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgugLqyyK6RMdUbCwW9WEd4G4Fil3shVGb-rD09-AtYMyhl1owngFTaz4thK4x2mAegcRJmRg2tly9loWIR1DhMZ3AEiBFK6awDMudvaE_WfZ3RLybyj_x9jfv8yC339vZddicy/s2048/20210505_170437.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgugLqyyK6RMdUbCwW9WEd4G4Fil3shVGb-rD09-AtYMyhl1owngFTaz4thK4x2mAegcRJmRg2tly9loWIR1DhMZ3AEiBFK6awDMudvaE_WfZ3RLybyj_x9jfv8yC339vZddicy/w400-h225/20210505_170437.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #04ff00;">PICTURE 1</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLp4nl6akyPt1GO9Xxa-usa9qbn_eu-MvmAbbGQvJ2G-zNwpTrQMPhisnjwfpo0-A-_pUzL_jWRKXM5Zz3yrK85RYOLA1gr9FwlZrWUSXxYBZGjo6SXeo12uP93oMS4qVgkmpf/s2048/20210506_142245.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLp4nl6akyPt1GO9Xxa-usa9qbn_eu-MvmAbbGQvJ2G-zNwpTrQMPhisnjwfpo0-A-_pUzL_jWRKXM5Zz3yrK85RYOLA1gr9FwlZrWUSXxYBZGjo6SXeo12uP93oMS4qVgkmpf/w400-h225/20210506_142245.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #800180;">PICTURE 2</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbz9szDplRJbPGzSHzy8AZjgKbd5v_B-IuKY6OjyzqmC0qQVS3Ky5zENd0q6qwYmm4If81sUXYzGwpIUNm8wKOSUKLrf5JzKZw_GzSl_StG3a5935Ai2CcUDF-_khzKHaS5LnX/s2048/20210505_200605.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbz9szDplRJbPGzSHzy8AZjgKbd5v_B-IuKY6OjyzqmC0qQVS3Ky5zENd0q6qwYmm4If81sUXYzGwpIUNm8wKOSUKLrf5JzKZw_GzSl_StG3a5935Ai2CcUDF-_khzKHaS5LnX/w400-h225/20210505_200605.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">PICTURE 3</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzbWkFxn1dlOEjv3qujERfNh5ergXTPQZD09ykx5eSsmvyDfVVjNZbNM2un26OffBY74ucH8niSMTaKrGTV27zdWwb2HUphzBQnE_uN1p-25N8cJHwGP2kUU4HnAx_EHG0qMZn/s1040/IMG-20210508-WA0001.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: #01ffff;"><img border="0" data-original-height="546" data-original-width="1040" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzbWkFxn1dlOEjv3qujERfNh5ergXTPQZD09ykx5eSsmvyDfVVjNZbNM2un26OffBY74ucH8niSMTaKrGTV27zdWwb2HUphzBQnE_uN1p-25N8cJHwGP2kUU4HnAx_EHG0qMZn/w400-h210/IMG-20210508-WA0001.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #01ffff;">PICTURE 4</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjwiL0otyzKXN6BQTDu6jVXBcibVbkNzbc0c_Aee5S4mHgVXzFxLgIgBvvVjSO53lkTm09r_zFh-7iPz8RoWFKUL7p1LSkI3WO1O4WSXLuBiOPPJxxdlxcoJrI4PfLH_f59Yo4/s2048/20210416_221836.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjwiL0otyzKXN6BQTDu6jVXBcibVbkNzbc0c_Aee5S4mHgVXzFxLgIgBvvVjSO53lkTm09r_zFh-7iPz8RoWFKUL7p1LSkI3WO1O4WSXLuBiOPPJxxdlxcoJrI4PfLH_f59Yo4/w400-h225/20210416_221836.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #ffa400;">PICTURE 5</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA-q2enn1V0dOY-ODWAfkYH5W3P5pjadmmQyPhIsq7UtPOk4741-nz-BIFomiKttpdnscF4OO8yX-WCdJXrFHmo44LsCVSJdEjmRa2OufJ0IOGIscSy_28ZjsybXMaRDlNWBJ7/s1172/20210513_204552.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="623" data-original-width="1172" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA-q2enn1V0dOY-ODWAfkYH5W3P5pjadmmQyPhIsq7UtPOk4741-nz-BIFomiKttpdnscF4OO8yX-WCdJXrFHmo44LsCVSJdEjmRa2OufJ0IOGIscSy_28ZjsybXMaRDlNWBJ7/w400-h213/20210513_204552.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: red;">PICTURE 6</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN2hzlYFMA-jyNiJB529eIbbuO-_JCtpZkVObmoexEkzj9H3y22lQqHr1DdIO0830dO3YIOGcWqHsPf1GvCYU10OMFXBQ_jyjD4fTheeyTs3CCRTSOkCmvF3DqKz4O9RW4yLhJ/s1566/20210506_142526.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="739" data-original-width="1566" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN2hzlYFMA-jyNiJB529eIbbuO-_JCtpZkVObmoexEkzj9H3y22lQqHr1DdIO0830dO3YIOGcWqHsPf1GvCYU10OMFXBQ_jyjD4fTheeyTs3CCRTSOkCmvF3DqKz4O9RW4yLhJ/w400-h189/20210506_142526.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #274e13;">PICTURE 7</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;">PICTURE 6</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Firstly, the result: As there was a by election at the same time, there were two council seats up for grabs in the Reigate and Banstead Council ward of Horley East and Salfords. 334 votes from getting elected. Its the closest I've ever been to actually being elected.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the Surrey county division of Horley East, the result was:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Jordan Woonton Beech (elected)<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Conservative</span><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>2,034</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Tom Turner<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="color: red;">Labour</span><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>820</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Shasha Khan<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><span style="color: #04ff00;">Green Party</span><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>716</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Electorate 10,490</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Number of issued ballot papers 3,612</div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #ffa400;">PICTURE 5 </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #ffa400;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I really had a fantastic time knocking on doors and getting to know Horley and Salfords. The area covers the full width of the political spectrum, including a nationalistic vote. One of the Horley Conservative candidates was proudly wearing a full Union Jack outfit on his leaflet. At the Count, the same candidate - who duly got elected - and his cohorts, were wearing rosettes with the traditional <a href="https://frostsrosettes.com/product/conservative-rosettes/" target="_blank">Conservative logo altered</a> to reflect their fondness for the nation, although maybe not one nation. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In 2019, UKIP stood in this seat. This time around there was no UKIP candidate. What seems to have happened here, and all across the country, is the UKIP vote has diffused into the Conservative column. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #274e13;">PICTURE 7</span><span style="color: #fcff01;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #fcff01;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I must thank everyone that helped in the effort. It was an amazing campaign. Special thanks to local members Victoria, David, Joe and Will. Amazingly, one of our members lives right by the Salfords Village Hall polling station! Is it possible to take a photo with a Green Party poster and a Polling Station sign in the same shot?!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #04ff00;">PICTURE 1</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #04ff00;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I met some wonderful people who were desperate for a Green councillor to get elected, including Penelope who went as far as promoting me on Facebook in a big way and putting a poster up. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Given Horley's proximity to Gatwick airport, I met several people who worked in the airline industry. One furloughed long haul pilot said he was voting Green and pointed out that when he was piloting his jumbo, he would look to conserve fuel as much as possible. Fair play to him! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #01ffff;">PICTURE 4</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Green wave that was seen across the country was also experienced in East Surrey. All the target candidates won or kept their seats. Huge congratulations to them all. Full details <a href="http://redhillgreens.org.uk/2021/05/election-wins-2021/" target="_blank">here</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;">PICTURE 3</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #2b00fe;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The county elections and the borough elections were on the same day this year. My borough ward overlapped the county target division of Earlswood and Reigate South, specifically in an an estate known as the Copsleighs. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Hence, I was particularly pleased when the Copsleigh residents, who voted at Salfords Village Hall polling station, were rewarded with a new Green county councillor, the excellent Catherine Baart. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On the eve of the election, I spotted a rainbow right over the village hall. It delivered a pot of gold!</div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #800180;">PICTURE 2</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #800180;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We mustn't forget we were still in the middle of global pandemic. Voters turned up to to polling stations with masks on, and candidates sat outside polling stations with masks on too! Its the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=---ytDIIb1E">sign of the times</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><br />Tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/croydon" rel="tag">croydon</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/greenparty" rel="tag">greenparty</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27642909.post-9307405246859213002021-04-19T10:54:00.001+01:002021-04-19T11:07:00.821+01:00Just have a think!<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBGADir2fTXJVtq3hsH8pp10FEiRbKaJaPr9eWDpDZ4L8mfW9EFBAxRepwBXA-1HolNmoZkXfGI_xcWlw7T466AY62rUOPDkDrlOPIBrRfu0iN8Nv4NY_nhz37mGMiJD1aKg-V/s2048/20210416_151450.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBGADir2fTXJVtq3hsH8pp10FEiRbKaJaPr9eWDpDZ4L8mfW9EFBAxRepwBXA-1HolNmoZkXfGI_xcWlw7T466AY62rUOPDkDrlOPIBrRfu0iN8Nv4NY_nhz37mGMiJD1aKg-V/s320/20210416_151450.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">with David Borlace</td></tr></tbody></table><div><br /></div><div>Aside from the planned and successful Action Days, I've been meeting up with local Horley members to deliver leaflets. Last weekend I met up with David Borlace. He has a very interesting day job which he explained while we were pounding the streets around Smallfield Road.</div><div><br /></div><div>David had worked in retail for the last 20 years. Then about four years ago he had life-changing experience: He read a book called <i><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/aug/21/farewell-to-ice-peter-wadhams-review-climate-change">A Farewell to Ice by Peter Wadhams</a>. </i>In the book, Wadhams reports on the melting Arctic sea ice and the catastrophic consequences of this continued occurrence.</div><div><br /></div><div>The book inspired David to start producing some occasional videos and publishing them on You Tube. Then when the pandemic hit last year, David was furloughed. The setback actually allowed David to devote more time to his channel, entitled <i><b>Just have a think</b></i>. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7iazrwLr030" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe> <div><br /></div><div>The videos have become very popular. He has now got nearly 750,000 subscribers from all over the world, and thousands paying subscribers through Patreon. This has meant he is in a position to quit his day job and focus on his skill and passion. </div><div><br /></div><div>I'm grateful for David to come help out in the campaign.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div> -------------------------------------------------- </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27642909.post-87967795276691679092021-03-03T12:18:00.001+00:002021-03-03T12:18:24.449+00:00Local party meeting 2nd March.<div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXgi7-_j8R2F8rzKdzRm-Go0t3B5gEE-0lQJ5NmpQ5lYSpFj_aXq50wOSWPXWImD_JPuj0YDTUwA_QddqSeDAsqgXwiuFwqdTnPvkFLYb2ptRym8y0QXoRqFvj-aNtqwGbDSc3/s1742/20210303_114422.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="949" data-original-width="1742" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXgi7-_j8R2F8rzKdzRm-Go0t3B5gEE-0lQJ5NmpQ5lYSpFj_aXq50wOSWPXWImD_JPuj0YDTUwA_QddqSeDAsqgXwiuFwqdTnPvkFLYb2ptRym8y0QXoRqFvj-aNtqwGbDSc3/s320/20210303_114422.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Local party meeting</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /></div><div>Living on the border of Surrey, it is tricky to attend our local East Surrey Green Party meetings but Zoom meetings are a different!</div><div><br /></div><div>Last night I attended the latest meeting, run via zoom, and found out the latest information about the local elections coming up in Surrey and Regiate and Banstead.</div><div><br /></div><div>I had wondered whether local authority nomination papers, to stand for council, would be altered given we are in the middle of a pandemic. Usually ten signatures are required, last night I found out this had been reduced to just two. </div><div><br /></div><div>The councillors in the group informed the meeting about local issues. It was fascinating to hear the latest news.</div><div><br /></div><div>One of the issues that came up was a proposal for Reigate and Banstead Council to enter into a joint venture to build a business park in Horley. The Council has loaned Β£11m to a company that it wholly owns to purchase the land for the business park, which happens to be on a flood plain. Greens naturally oppose this. More details here:<a href="https://www.facebook.com/KeepHorleyGreen/?__cft__[0]=AZVIEOnOpe7RDBMhoE2jlpao1JOpwMiS16PXtRZt3GTWyHdC1YCGTTgEVmAxIW_ymQNsbp0sRxj_BQJhya5cTxZK6cMpUvZX8asi-l_fCdZASKu4tGagzbPivPlTgcfmuhfbcWeRzI7nAxXSR7tAFmhj&__tn__=-UC%2CP-R"> Keep Horley Green</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27642909.post-32127622524546951252020-12-01T10:42:00.002+00:002020-12-01T10:42:42.833+00:00Bob Steel press cuttings, photos and leaflets.<div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqk6SbcZBEtvkAdY6w7ivzNUudet_tGqUEYJ_ojJ7FIG3QhMwe2eR7Z7nSkuB4dCx6NbBp2_RZ04b21PlAIPRBTeT7zarmQwfi3EcxcNLrWZkLfhYO0scsStZhhOsJur2VS49J/s1600/BS1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqk6SbcZBEtvkAdY6w7ivzNUudet_tGqUEYJ_ojJ7FIG3QhMwe2eR7Z7nSkuB4dCx6NbBp2_RZ04b21PlAIPRBTeT7zarmQwfi3EcxcNLrWZkLfhYO0scsStZhhOsJur2VS49J/w480-h640/BS1.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/croydon" rel="tag">croydon</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/greenparty" rel="tag">greenparty</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27642909.post-25984340642845246142020-11-29T12:27:00.003+00:002020-11-29T12:27:43.144+00:00Rob Steel by Gay McDonagh<div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQQg71JzlXLVQ5O5HZty7NJCK_2SxtTQ8tNMu768r5eBRY0KlLEf-Sw7ku4deZu36kLsIKD1-AU-UZj_Zu3Yzc29t4Rx0rphQRy5x0qzD8z82IkiOO_flN4rw-vFqeKn0AU3fq/s336/Rob.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="307" data-original-width="336" height="365" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQQg71JzlXLVQ5O5HZty7NJCK_2SxtTQ8tNMu768r5eBRY0KlLEf-Sw7ku4deZu36kLsIKD1-AU-UZj_Zu3Yzc29t4Rx0rphQRy5x0qzD8z82IkiOO_flN4rw-vFqeKn0AU3fq/w400-h365/Rob.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>ROB (or
BOB) STEEL, 31/01/55 β 11/08/20</b></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />Although this is an
obituary for Rob, it is written for local Green Party members and
from the standpoint of Robβs place in the party. To a certain
extent it therefore reads like a history of the party and its
constituent members over the years. However, I hope that readers
feel that this approach adds to Robβs story with the Green Party
and helps us appreciate some of the contexts in which Rob spent so
much time and energy.</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">In 1979, Rob, as a
young local Geography teacher in his mid-twenties, joined a handful
of local visionaries to found the Sutton Ecology Party, as the Green
Party was called at the time. As ever, the party comprised a small
number of dedicated and radical individuals who had a wide and
lasting influence in the local community. Amongst the number was a
Quaker man in his 70s called Richard Allen whom Rob greatly admired
for his clarity of thinking and dynamism. Rob himself threw himself
into his new-found political party immediately and stood for election
for both the borough council and for parliament as soon as the
opportunities arose. As a result of the local Ecology Party
campaigning for the 1983 General Election, there was an upsurge in
membership in the area and I was present at a stimulating follow-up
meeting of about 30 people in the upstairs room at the Sun pub,
Carshalton, where we met Rob and many others who were to become
ardent members of this still minor political party. For me it was
the start of many years of working closely with Rob and the others,
acting as their local election agent as well as being involved in
much other general party activity.</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Rob was already a key
figure in the party in the early 80s. He had endless energy to put
his increasing understanding of environmental politics into action in
the fledgling political party. One lasting amusing memory in the
early days was the regular waste newspaper collection which the local
group carried out every 2 weeks around a set of a few streets in
Wallington. It involved a leaflet drop a couple of days prior to the
collection, two people to drive up to Dulwich to pick up the βEco
Vanβ, about the size of an old Post Office van, and whoever was
available to go round on foot picking up the piles of papers left on
doorsteps for us and chucking them in the van. A brave volunteer
would get up at 6 the next morning to drive this ramshackle van to a
recycling site in Croydon and hopefully receive about Β£30 for it
after it had been weighed. They would then have to drive the van
back to its home in Dulwich. As this was before the days of any
paper recycling by the council, this was quite a revolutionary action
on our part β fulfilling our environmental concerns, as well as
bringing us some well-needed cash for our funds. Rob always worked
flat out at this, but his enthusiasm persuaded many of us to join in
the mad venture! Some of the stalwarts at this time were Graham
Garner, James Deane (not an American actor!), George Dow and Nick
Greaves, whose mammoth ancient photocopier churned out endless
members newsletters, along with the ones that would inevitably catch
fire in the process! (Remember all those envelopes and stamps too?)</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">The Council Elections
rolled by over the years, with the local Liberal Democrats gaining an
ever stronger hold on the local council and claiming to be the
greenest London council (they had now started their own newspaper
recycling!). This was welcomed by some local environmentalists and
members of Friends of the Earth, including those working for the
fledgling Centre for Environmental Initiatives, set up by Vera
Elliott and later to be called Ecolocal, but Rob kept the Ecology
Party members well informed, so that we consistently challenged the
Lib Dem environmental claims. He delighted in quoting the
considerable number of examples of anti-environment and contradictory
actions and policies by various Lib Dem authorities, as well as on
the part of the almost permanent Lib Dem MP in Carshalton and
Wallington, Tom Brake. However, even Rob struggled to convince some
of our members, like Phil Mouncey!</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Among the party members
by this time were the charismatic Silvia Scaffardi (co-founder of
NCCL, now Liberty), Peter and Josie Hickson, Karin Andrews and Sue
Riddlestone, Director of the new local organisation, Bioregional. At
one of the local meetings we had a persuasive speaker from the Vegan
Society, which prompted at least Jim Duffy to switch to a vegan
lifestyle, now so common with environmentalists. Neil Hornsby brought
his civil servant expertise and successfully persuaded London
Transport to adopt his idea of βjogging ticketsβ for commuters
under another name. Heather Jarrett and her partner Bruce gave
stalwart service locally, and by now some of Robβs ex-students from
Wallington Boys School were joining the cause, as did Simon Dixon,
proof that Rob had been spreading his views in the classroom!</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">And all the while,
Thatcher and her successors would come back into power at every
General Election and there would be wailing and gnashing of teeth
amongst our little party (as well as amongst many others of course!)
and Rob would sift through the details of the Green Party results
here and all around the country, declaring that there was no hope for
this country and we should all go round to his house and have lots of
ale!</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">In the early 1990s we
had a young television journalist by the name of John Cornford join
us. His experience and skills with the media of the time were a
great boost to the local party, as exemplified by our campaign
against a British Rail tree cutting extravaganza in Carshalton in
1992. John and Rob led some of the party to trespass peacefully onto
the railway line from a garden in Denmark Road and most importantly
got the London television news reporters to film the event and
interview John and Rob for us to proudly watch at home that night!</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">By the turn of the
millennium the Sutton Party was reaching out to Croydon Green Party
members who had no active party, and we attracted a small but
powerful core of members, including Bernice Golberg, Shasha Khan and
Martyn Post (the latter of mass leafletting fame!), who went on to
get the Croydon Party properly established. While there were a lot of
separate issues for the Croydon and Sutton Parties, we were soon
collaborating again, because our councils, together with Merton and
Kingston, had announced in 2008 that they were forming a waste
partnership. βNo, they werenβt going to build an incinerator;
they were going to consider various options, one of which may be a
pyrolysis waste processorβ, we were told. The rest of the story is
more or less history, as the saying goes. Rob managed to play an
active part in the anti-incinerator campaign, in spite of taking on
some long term supply teaching posts in various parts of the country.
He worked with Dr Stan Prokop, who first informed us of the issue,
with his own ex-student Peter Alfrey who had specialist knowledge of
birds and the ecology of the Beddington Farmlands and with several
others of our own highly motivated party members. Rob, as ever,
threw himself into writing well researched and detailed submissions
for the Green Party against the council planning application.</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">While Rob often gave
solid and comprehensive presentations at many election hustings
alongside his opponents, his forte definitely lay with his writing.
First there was his letter-writing on behalf of the party, whether to
local newspapers (of which there were up to 3 at one point!) or
national. For many years this involved writing very quickly and then
of course getting the letter into an envelope to post it in time to
catch the appropriate editorial deadline. He had a bulging file of
cuttings of letters which had been printed in various papers. Then
there was his leaflet-writing for the numerous election campaigns run
by the local party. Hardly had an election been called than Rob had
composed a first draft for a leaflet and usually the first discussion
of his drafts would involve asking him to βtone it down a bitβ!
But he usually managed a great balance between getting serious
information across and appealing to βthe massesβ in the Sutton
wards and constituencies. Then, after the party had carefully
calculated what our funds (and leafletters) would enable us to
produce, Rob would wave opposition leaflets at us and insist that we
needed to put out another leaflet to put the voters right on this or
that issue and he would βlob in some doshβ for it. So just when
we thought we had done all our leafletting, he was lining up the next
lot of boxes!</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">When Rob got married
and moved to his new home in Wiltshire about 6 years ago, it was a
dramatic change for the local Green Party. He had been so central to
its functioning for almost 40 years! By keeping on his lovely quirky
Tower Cottage in Carshalton and lured back by his longstanding
connections to The Hope real ale pub, as well as with the aid of IT
and electronic communication, Rob managed to keep up to a certain
extent with the activities of the local party. Any good organisation
tries not to get into a situation where any of their members become
indispensable, and both Sutton and Croydon parties are continually
moving forward with new blood, but that is not to deny the absolutely
vital part Rob played in the party for all those years and the huge
gap he now leaves. Whether we knew Rob since his early days in the
party or just met him more recently on a brief visit back to the
area, or some time in between, our parties collectively mourn the
sad, sad loss of such a dynamic and influential party member. May we
all learn something from and be inspired by his enormous contribution
to the party.
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a name="Bookmark"></a>Our
heartfelt condolences go to Robβs wife, Jacqui.</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br />
</p>
<p class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">By Gay McDonagh, Sutton
Green Party member, September 2020</p></div><div><br /></div>-------------------------------------------------- <div>Tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/croydon" rel="tag">croydon</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/greenparty" rel="tag">greenparty</a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27642909.post-84049054184211293192020-11-22T22:25:00.010+00:002020-11-29T12:32:42.838+00:00Bob Steel - RIP<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxOWVHaHW-rry00h7NKAz4l4kQtfwsCzpTcWIAXb0M5NKriz_E-_WEGHyvIhUpHRwGRJWRkDYoN51bnJOycwmq8Zzq_37F8ZNSuvnfHWye4dpsmEOtYYUV35vPu5Rd500wsfxs/s1600/2012-08-27+17.59.32.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxOWVHaHW-rry00h7NKAz4l4kQtfwsCzpTcWIAXb0M5NKriz_E-_WEGHyvIhUpHRwGRJWRkDYoN51bnJOycwmq8Zzq_37F8ZNSuvnfHWye4dpsmEOtYYUV35vPu5Rd500wsfxs/w400-h300/2012-08-27+17.59.32.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carshalton Environmental Fair 2012<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibJk-_KioqDMPUCMUuZx5UvZkMQiLZLnVfxmkBJIlYDXGRUNDYIqHYNs4kznX_34hZMPgjE5TSDR9tFscPJzriz2_rXBVfk5wDkI1aSxYQA2ddF-a7-U5UvZYUf4CfSkIyBNHn/s622/2012-08-27+17.59.32.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="522" data-original-width="622" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibJk-_KioqDMPUCMUuZx5UvZkMQiLZLnVfxmkBJIlYDXGRUNDYIqHYNs4kznX_34hZMPgjE5TSDR9tFscPJzriz2_rXBVfk5wDkI1aSxYQA2ddF-a7-U5UvZYUf4CfSkIyBNHn/w400-h336/2012-08-27+17.59.32.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bob Steel and me</td></tr></tbody></table><br />It seems that every other post seems to be a memorial to a local member passing. And so, it is with great sadness I do this again and write about the death of Bob Steel. <div><br /></div><div>Bob, also known as Rob, was the former Chair of Sutton and Croydon Green Green Party.<div><br /></div><div>He died in mid-August at his home in Wiltshire. Local members last month planned to meet for a socially distanced walk on 22nd November (today) to remember him. </div><div><br /></div><div>However, owing to the new lockdown, this has not been possible. It seems appropriate to write about him today. Gay McDonagh, second from right [see pic], has written<a href="http://croydongreens.blogspot.com/2020/11/rob-steel-by-gay-mcdonagh.html"> a beautiful Green Party-centric obituary about Bob which I'll post later.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>The photo in the post was taken at the Carshalton Environmental Fair. I've got my first child in a baby carrier. Bob once said to me that having children marks the end of activism. He was right! Since 2012, I haven't been as active!! </div><div><br /></div><div>Bob had a number of convictions, STEELISMS, if you will, that were founded on life experiences and knowledge. I will try and remember some of them here because they were all pretty accurate.</div><div><br /></div><div>When I joined the Green Party in 2002, there was no active Croydon party. Instead it was conjoined to the Sutton Green Party. I think the first voice I heard when joining the Green Party was Bob Steel's landline answerphone message. The greeting listed organisations he was Chair/Organiser. From memory, these were the regional CAMRA group, a walking group, as well as the local Green Party. He had his finger in many inter-connected pies.</div><div><br /></div><div>He had <a href="https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/14340715.camras-new-pub-walks-guide-includes-saltaire-bingley-ilkley-and-beyond/">written books on real ale pubs and pub walks</a>. This was before real ale had become the essential hipster refreshment. He knew his real ale. It was through his influence I ventured from Heineken to Hophead. I remember mentioning to Bob I had bought a few cans of Tangle Foot - my gateway ale. He wasn't impressed and pointed out that it would be good for the slugs. Whatever knowledge deficiencies I possessed on beers was easily surpassed by the subject of gardening. His comment just went over my head!</div><div><br /></div><div>On one occasion, we went for lunch in Brighton during Green Party conference. I remember wandering the streets with Bob for while in order for him to find the ideal pub. He pretty much knew every CAMRA pub in the country. I think it might have been my first Green Party conference. It was new and exciting for me, but for Bob it was almost the polar opposite. I remember him trying to get across to me what Green Party conferences were like in the 80s. Imagine enlightened people from all over the country coming together to discuss a new ideology. "Green Party conferences are just not the same [STEELISM]". </div><div><br /></div><div>Bob was a fast walker - which is useful if you like pub walks. In 2004 I won the selection process to become the GLA candidate for Croydon and Sutton. I remember him encouraging me to put my name forward when I asked him for his thoughts about standing. He came over from Carshalton to leaflet in my campaigns in Croydon on a number of occasions, usually cycling over or borrowing Gay's car. On one particular morning it was freezing cold but the sun was out. It was just about bearable for me. I assumed everyone preferred hot weather, but not Bob. He was in his element. He was not a big fan of warm weather. "The best weather is cold and sunny [STEELISM]."</div><div><br /></div><div>When not talking about Green Party stuff, we could easily be sidetracked by football, especially non-league football. He was a well known Carshalton Athletic fan. From about 2006 onwards I had started watching Croydon Athletic so there was some crossover. He loved Carshalton Athletic. He loved the rivalry with Sutton United who he referred to as the Scummers. Croydon were always at least one division below Carshalton but then for one season, Croydon benefitted from a "Sugar Daddy" [STEELISM] - a wealthy benefactor - and The Rams caught up with The Robins, which meant for once, and for only once, we were at the same match. By then Carshalton had invested in an artificial pitch, something Bob was dead set against - not a surprise given he was a purist when it came to football. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10157548364528441&id=79186288440">I've spotted that The Robins are aware of his passing</a>.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyse4OWZ0FPLBlf2bN9KQbPJ_INnohaGeJqhsT5AlnSPEoO8AFj4kB5gyDkPoGPwLVtiwHzkSDw9Fuf3OcruGb_zPEtx1UWngjR1Kq9tL0i1LxB2lm_WWWkATRBTeKgsBGJeFt/s826/Untitled.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="465" data-original-width="826" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyse4OWZ0FPLBlf2bN9KQbPJ_INnohaGeJqhsT5AlnSPEoO8AFj4kB5gyDkPoGPwLVtiwHzkSDw9Fuf3OcruGb_zPEtx1UWngjR1Kq9tL0i1LxB2lm_WWWkATRBTeKgsBGJeFt/w400-h225/Untitled.png" width="400" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Bob was an excellent chess player as well. I play too. Sadly, the opportunity to play each other was limited again to one occasion. For my 40th birthday I hosted a chess tournament for my friends. Weird I know. A couple of genuine chess players couldn't make it, including Bob, so I organised another tournament a few months later. Bob thrashed us all.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtzqLLhcCIZo74NO2YPD8v2XnEqPHIBdgBSV9Aq7jmsoDu41WjFbdIKrQXmr5w534aeRX343tFNh1x5TUTSMlrX9fBZkbAkhomS3Rja-1YL-pOHw8l_hRGUUKxPjdoreKF-Zkk/s2048/416499_10151799461320434_1486007254_o+%25281%2529.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtzqLLhcCIZo74NO2YPD8v2XnEqPHIBdgBSV9Aq7jmsoDu41WjFbdIKrQXmr5w534aeRX343tFNh1x5TUTSMlrX9fBZkbAkhomS3Rja-1YL-pOHw8l_hRGUUKxPjdoreKF-Zkk/s320/416499_10151799461320434_1486007254_o+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>I think Bob played one of the top boards at Southampton University when he was a student. He once mentioned winning a crucial match with a pretty combination of moves that resulted in his university team winning the <a href="http://www.sotonchessleague.org.uk/Division/1">Southampton League</a>. I remember observing to him that chess players tended to vote Green. It was an idea that had not escaped him, "Chess players are like Green voters, they think things through. [STEELISM]"</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>By the time I had joined the Green Party, Bob had already done many years of hard service, including targeting Carshalton Central ward. In my early years, I was bright eyed and bushy tailed. I believed it was possible for Greens to win council seats under the first past the post system in Croydon and Sutton, and couldn't understand why Bob - the Chair - didn't feel as enthusiastic as I did. It was only after doing my years of hard service do I appreciate one of Bob's other STEELISMs, "Slow down Shasha, you're in this for the long haul." Greens <i>can</i> get elected under the first past the post but one has to bust a gut to do it, but then many bust a gut and don't make it. Through hindsight it may be better to play for the long haul.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sadly, Bob's haul has been cut short. He has touched the lives of many people, including me. He was always there whenever I needed advice, be it on the wording of a letter, a press release, or even electoral strategy. A man of great intellect has left us, may he rest in peace.</div><div><br /></div><div>Bob is survived by his wife and stepdaughter.</div><div><br /></div><div>--------------------------------------------------
Tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/croydon" rel="tag">croydon</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/greenparty" rel="tag">greenparty</a></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27642909.post-29287805768199964152020-09-14T22:25:00.000+01:002020-09-14T22:25:07.319+01:00Extinction Rebellion protest against the incinerator.<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tiKtd3m-teI" width="560"></iframe>
<div><br /></div><div>I joined <a href="https://youtu.be/tiKtd3m-teI">XR protesters at Beddington Park </a>on Saturday 29th August to protest against the incinerator. The mood was positive, There is legal challenge proceeding on the UK's exclusion of incinerators from the carbon emissions target.</div><div><br /></div><div>It was good catch up with old faces and new ones at a very well attended event. <a href="https://insidecroydon.com/2020/08/30/xr-protest-demands-the-closure-of-beddington-incinerator/">Inside Croydon has done a piece on it.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>There were a number of XR protests around this time. I got talking to one of the local XR campaigners who explained they have to keep representation at Sutton Police Station as many protesters in Central London are arrested and sent all over London, including Sutton, in any available police cells. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27642909.post-38998954338659319372020-07-28T08:48:00.008+01:002020-07-28T09:04:47.797+01:00LBC call I tweeted about<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZx42JcBKRXP7rHVBlWLwts7VwRkl4A4knHaaahJGYq8XwPAllmCXYT1s6IHMbPxrm5TUHPV3MRwwJu-fwiA5pmI-kffKPVXYxa9Oc3JwcWHn9m3mZ_cO4buYoZ1k10GSarDr5/s200/ISezGQag_200x200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZx42JcBKRXP7rHVBlWLwts7VwRkl4A4knHaaahJGYq8XwPAllmCXYT1s6IHMbPxrm5TUHPV3MRwwJu-fwiA5pmI-kffKPVXYxa9Oc3JwcWHn9m3mZ_cO4buYoZ1k10GSarDr5/w200-h200/ISezGQag_200x200.jpg" title="Ian Payne" width="200" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>When listening to LBC last night I tweeted:</div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Did <a href="https://twitter.com/LBC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LBC</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ianpaynesport?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ianpaynesport</a> just homogenise black people? Maybe he did it error. Sheridan had a point.</p>β Shasha Khan (@GreenKnight2010) <a href="https://twitter.com/GreenKnight2010/status/1287878384396021760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 27, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<div>I needed to replay the segment on the LBC Catch Up feature on the App to confirm my tweet.</div><div><br /></div><div>The subject was:</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Why are young men of Asian origin almost twice as likely to receive fines for breaking lockdown rules as white men of the same age?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Sheridan from Dagenham rang to say that he found the presenter Ian Payne (pic) irritating for his failure to understand a different perspective. He compared raves in Manchester and parties in London, and also the beaches of Bournemouth to make his point.</div><div><br /></div><div>Sheridan, a black male, pointed out the facts speak for themselves: [to paraphrase] If <b><i>we</i> </b>are disproportionately stopped and searched in normal times, then we are more likely to be stopped for breaking lockdown rules.</div><div><br /></div><div>I stress the word <i style="font-weight: bold;">we </i>because Payne then replied to Sheridan,</div><div><br /></div><div>"Then its not <b><i>your</i></b> fault at all." </div><div><br /></div><div>An aghast, Sheridan then responded,</div><div><br /></div><div>"What, what, do <b><i>you</i></b> claim responsibility for the actions of every white person?" </div><div><br /></div><div>"No I don't."</div><div><br /></div><div>"Then why should I?" [repeated 3 times]</div><div><br /></div><div>There are couple of other exchanges and then Sheridan summarised,</div><div><br /></div><div>"I think the fact that you can treat every white person as an individual and you treat black people as we are all one <b><u>homogenous</u></b>, and we can all be branded with one brush, I think that speaks to your own bias, right there, to be honest."</div><div><br /></div><div>I think Payne realised he may have displayed some unconscious bias during this call as he referred to Sheridan a couple of times in a defensive way after he cut him off.</div><div><br /></div>--------------------------------------------------
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27642909.post-21503861036723934772020-06-21T10:27:00.000+01:002020-06-21T10:32:22.111+01:00Peter Hickson<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnC4A3sNtYBtTa80hEKYjY9xSjKX_TQyJzzVLfFV4WtFsWSnQdQ5r63zMBHdsBg31nWbHIt4sqyFMod6I7OAeVEMLC4FFspLZCYWi1ytkqOkTo-8eSn2GCUuFHirYjqiUlVUSX/s1600/IMG-20200617-WA0001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnC4A3sNtYBtTa80hEKYjY9xSjKX_TQyJzzVLfFV4WtFsWSnQdQ5r63zMBHdsBg31nWbHIt4sqyFMod6I7OAeVEMLC4FFspLZCYWi1ytkqOkTo-8eSn2GCUuFHirYjqiUlVUSX/s320/IMG-20200617-WA0001.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter Hickson</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">PETER HICKSON 11/11/35 to 4/6/20</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Peter joined the Green party around 1986 while working as a postman at Sutton sorting </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">office, and with his late wife Jose was an active and committed stalwart of the local Sutton </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">party until shortly before his death.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Peter was a passionate advocate for justice and a thorn in the side of his local MP with his </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">frequent handwritten letters. He worked tirelessly to promote and support both local </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">causes and international campaigns and was never afraid of controversy. He attended </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">numerous demonstrations in London for the Palestinian cause. He was an active member</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">of the local Amnesty International group, for whom he wrote many (again handwritten!) </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">letters. In more recent years he focussed particularly on NHS privatisation and the KOSH </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">campaign to keep the local St Helier Hospital. The front of his house was usually adorned </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">with banners and displays of his current issues, so he really got his messages across to </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">his neighbours!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Peter was also a very talented man with a variety of creative interests, turning his hand to </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">vernacular architecture, pottery, painting and drawing - including a range of hard hitting </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">posters and displays for our campaigns - and, maybe less successfully, the violin! Just </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">before he died, the local adult education college in Sutton put on an exhibition of a range </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">of his work, as they felt it merited wider attention.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Peterβs house was like entering a library-cum-museum, a bit reminiscent of a William </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Morris house, whom he greatly admired: There were shelves and shelves of books on a </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">huge variety of subjects, many of them really heavy political tomes - which scared off any </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">lightweights around! (And let it be remembered that Peter couldnβt read until about the age </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">of 10 when he was evacuated during the war.) Then there were his paintings and artifices </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">all round the walls, his βbarge paintedβ wooden kitchen cupboards, his doors with painted </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">figures β the list goes on!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">When Peter and Joseβs promising son, Shane, was tragically killed as a young man in a </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">road accident near where he lived in St Andrews, Peter responded by raising money to </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">plant trees in Scotland and made many lifelong friends and contacts with Shaneβs friends </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Peterβs death comes less than a year after he lost his wife Jose who had been poorly for </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">some time. He was just beginning to pick up his life again, cycling regularly (he never </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">drove a car) and doing his gym exercises in the local parks when the news of his cancer </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">came through quite recently. We extend our very best wishes and warm support to his </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">surviving daughter Angie as she comes to terms with her great loss. In saying goodbye to </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Peter, the local Green Party is saying goodbye to a man of great stature, whom some of </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">us have been very privileged to know.</span><br />
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Thanks to Gay McDonagh and Bob Steel for the words above. I was privileged to know him and remember being amazed by his library-cum-museum of a house. In the summer of 2009 I went to his house to pick up a new placard/poster display unit for our stall at the Thornton Heath Festival. Smartphones weren't so smart in 2009, but I did record some footage while there. See below:<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7Dapj5gFVoA" width="560"></iframe></span><br />
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He stood in local, London and general elections and was always campaigning, Here I've identified him at one of the Stop The Incinerator demos.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter and Jose</td></tr>
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Rest in Peace Peter.<br />
<span id="goog_1332851999"></span><span id="goog_1332852000"></span>--------------------------------------------------<br />
Tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/croydon" rel="tag">croydon</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/greenparty" rel="tag">greenparty</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27642909.post-52793171510702915782020-06-18T21:38:00.000+01:002020-06-20T18:09:18.373+01:00Was Winston Churchill a racist or war hero?<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TefPrrWvIe4" width="560"></iframe>
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<br />
Ken Livingstone and David Mellor used to present a show on LBC. <a href="https://youtu.be/TefPrrWvIe4">In this clip (which I saved from January 2016), Ken Livingstone </a>talks about how, "five million Bangladeshis starved to death over 18 months" during World War II. Moreover, he adds the deaths resulted from a decision to export rice from what was then Bengal (India) towards the war effort.<br />
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My jaw dropped when I heard this. I wasn't expecting a discussion on the Salisbury nerve agent attack to cite something that happened in Bangladesh around seventy years ago.<br />
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Ken Livingstone says at the end of the clip that, "Great leaders protect themselves and they don't give a damn about the lives of others."<br />
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Upon hearing the jaw-dropping revelation back in January 2016, I thought I would ask my dad if he knew anything about this. He was born in what is now Bangladesh in 1935.<br />
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His recollection of 1942-43 is indeed one of great poverty and starvation. There was a shortage of food in Rajshahi, a state in the north west. He remembers emaciated bodies lying on the street, close to death or dead The towns had more food than the villages. Everyone around him, literally everyone, was suffering, and owing to the lack of news, he assumed that everyone during the world war was suffering as they were. Until I told him, he was unaware that there was a reason why so many people were starving in Bangladesh.<br />
<br />
I had to investigate further. I bought a book which I started reading called <b>CHURCHILL'S SECRET WAR, The British Empire and the ravaging of India during World War II </b>by <b>Madhusree Mukerjee.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I had been meaning for sometime - well four years - to post about this. Over the last couple of weeks a greater awareness of <a href="https://inews.co.uk/news/winston-churchill-racist-pm-racism-accusations-london-statue-protest-explained-440668">Churchill's views and actions have come to light </a>because someone daubed the plinth of his statue during a Black Lives Matter protest.<br />
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Mukerjee's book is well researched and I when I started reading it four years ago, I marked out paragraphs of note (including the very first paragraph of the book - below):<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"No great portion of the world population was so effectively protected from the horrors and perils of the World War as were the peoples of Hindustan," Winston Churchill wrote in his 1950 history of the twentieth century's most lethal conflict. They were carried through the struggle on the shoulders of our small island. By Hindustan, or Land of the Hindus, Churchill meant India, which during the war was part of the British Empire.<br />
Britain's wartime prime minister did not discuss in his six-volume account the 1943 famine in the Eastern province of Bengal, which killed 1.5 million people by the official estimate and 3 million by most others. One primary cause of the famine was the extent to which Churchill and his advisers chose to use the resources of India to wage war against Germany and Japan, causing scarcity and inflation within the colony.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Hitler did not comprehend the extent to which the Indian freedom movement, along with other developments of the twentieth century, had weakened imperial controls over the colony. The days of formal empires were numbered- and, ironically, the conflict he initiated would deal the fatal blow. To commandeer Indian manufactures and produce for the war, His Majesty's Government would have to deploy <b>inflationary monetary policies </b>in preference to straightforward confiscation of the colony's products or revenues.</blockquote>
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Mukerjee states, a cyclone in 1942 had caused pressure on food stocks but this was nullified by a bumper harvest the following year. Those who want to brush Churchill's involvement under the carpet, usually use the cyclone argument as the reason for the famine.<br />
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In truth, a combination of factors resulted in the famine in 1943. Here are some I picked out from Mukerjee's book:<br />
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Firstly, prior to the war, India's much vaunted railway system had left the Indian government heavily in debt to the UK. The terms of the repayment for the railway would have been comparable to WONGA. This left India vulnerable to fluctuations.<br />
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Secondly, there was a scorched policy to stop Japanese progression from Burma. The Japanese would be denied food and transport if they invaded India. Military authorities had requisitioned all trucks and cars in southern and eastern Bengal, and boats and steamers, the principal method of moving the harvested rice crop from surplus regions to those with shortages, were destroyed.<br />
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Thirdly, what harvested rice crop that existed in Bengal had to be sent to other parts of the empire, namely Ceylon, Arabia and South Africa, all of which were better supplied with grain India. There was also a requirement to feed the troops in India. Ninety five percent of the total wheat requested by India to avert a disaster was not delivered. Mukerjee points out that only one quarter of the wheat promised to Bengal by the Government of India actually arrived and most of that remained in Calcutta for the priority classes. Interestingly, Mukerjee points out that the Indian government chose not to explain why it was unable to supply the wheat and instead insisted the province had more than enough rice. This may explain why my dad said, it was assumed during the war everyone was suffering in this way, with little focus on why? My dad's account here is fascinating. He does remember relatives, including his uncles, finding work as Food Inspectors at the time. These inspectors were responsible for the limited stocks - which were stored in 'go downs' - and distribution.<br />
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Fourthly, an offer of aid in the form of wheat from Canada was refused. India Office files which should have had information on this during the 1944 famine commission which was conducted in secret were missing.<br />
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So, was he a war hero and a racist?<br />
<br />
Could it be that if Churchill had a lower opinion - to put it mildly - of Indians, he would have little compunction in taking decisions that caused the deaths of possibly a million people. He famously once said, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/not-his-finest-hour-the-dark-side-of-winston-churchill-2118317.html">"I hate Indians. They are beastly people with a beastly religion."</a> I would argue he was probably a war hero and a racist.<br />
<br />
One final area to clear up is the number of deaths. Mukerjee's final chapter states:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The population of Bengal in January 1943 was 61.8 million. The mortality rate that year was 6.5 per cent which gives a total of 4 million deaths in 1943. From this figure must be subtracted 2.5 million baseline deaths. That gives 1.5 million for the famine toll in 1943. Doubling this figure, because death registrations were roughly symmetric around December 1943, provides a famine total of around 3 million......... One thing is clear, the figure of 3 million does not include all fatalities from shortages of food because deaths from malnutrition were occurring even in so-called normal tears. If for comparison we were to use the death rate of 2.1 per cent that was the norm for India (rather than Bengal) in 1942, the famine toll would be 5.4 million.</blockquote>
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--------------------------------------------------Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27642909.post-19858269584907739822020-05-28T22:22:00.002+01:002020-06-17T16:35:29.841+01:00Dominic Cummings<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiypL_Yf_zEH8fcrrJfBn8pvXRqtflr40cQ8-GKWlFP7IB5tCcj-pJSf8v5C12NP6wlqOpfb4vkJyWF_E3FmGDYOaNXoo0f4ptSGau9WFxKZx4XJ0sAwGCSaGlFwnLOX-KanVZN/s1600/EYuOgnfWAAIwpM-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="454" data-original-width="654" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiypL_Yf_zEH8fcrrJfBn8pvXRqtflr40cQ8-GKWlFP7IB5tCcj-pJSf8v5C12NP6wlqOpfb4vkJyWF_E3FmGDYOaNXoo0f4ptSGau9WFxKZx4XJ0sAwGCSaGlFwnLOX-KanVZN/s320/EYuOgnfWAAIwpM-.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picture from: <a href="https://twitter.com/WillBlackWriter/status/1264260846487822337/photo/1">https://twitter.com/WillBlackWriter/status/1264260846487822337/photo/1</a></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #363636; font-family: , "helvetica" , "arial"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: , "helvetica" , "arial"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: , "helvetica" , "arial"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "times" , serif;">I sent the email below to my MP. I received a reply - copied and pasted below.</span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Dear Mr Blunt</span></span><br />
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
<span style="color: #38761d;">As yet I don't believe you have called for Mr Cummings resignation. </span></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
<span style="color: #38761d;">It is arguably ACCEPTABLE to defend a colleague. This and the power of patronage ensures the Prime Minister will get his way</span></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
<span style="color: #38761d;">However, defending someone flouting the guidance is potentially going to have a detrimental impact on the governments message. People will just say guidance can be ignored if your "instinct" tells you to do so. This will cost lives.</span></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
<span style="color: #38761d;">Please call for his resignation. Even the Daily Mail is calling for Mr Cummings to be sacked.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="auto" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
<span style="color: #38761d;">Yours sincerely </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">S Khan </span></div>
</blockquote>
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<span style="color: #363636; font-family: , "helvetica" , "arial"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "times" , serif;">Dear Shasha</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: , "helvetica" , "arial"; font-size: 13.3333px;">, </span><br />
<span style="color: #363636; font-family: , "helvetica" , "arial"; font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><br />Thank you for your recent email regarding the Prime Ministerβs adviser, Mr Dominic Cummings. I have now received over 500 email enquiries on the matter in addition to a large number of calls and posts on my social media accounts. I am reading all the correspondence, but it is not possible for me to reply in a timely way individually to each communication as I would normally do. Instead, I have tried below to respond to the points made and to provide you with a full understanding of my view on this issue as your Member of Parliament, having reflected on the points of view and questions put to me in all the correspondence.<br /><br />The pandemic and the strategy to manage its threat means we are all living through a new experience. This explosion of correspondence, unprecedented in my 23 years in Parliament, over one long weekend on the actions of a non-elected adviser, which are open to interpretation both sympathetic and condemnatory, itself indicates we are in times strange to all of us. My reaction has been to reflect on the factors that have led to this situation and your decision to take the trouble to communicate your view to me.<br /><br />There are real pressures created by the measures required to control this virus, as well as the tragic outcomes for many of those directly infected and their families. The harm this virus is doing is outside this generation of humanityβs experience. All of us have had to endure at least massive change and inconvenience, most of us disruption to family and professional life, and the frustrations from the restrictions become more onerous to bear each succeeding day. The correspondence has reinforced this for me in reading about a mother restricting herself to only see her 9 month old baby twice in this period, familiesβ extreme anxiety about isolated elderly relatives managing their frailties and the probable terminal risk this virus poses to them. Then there is the anxiety about the future that, as this virus retreats, the world will then need to face and work through the societal and economic consequences it leaves behind.<br /><br />In the UK, these Covid-19 factors are being laid upon the character of our recent politics. A culture of growing polarisation and intolerance for the otherβs point of view and, certainly it appears to me, an alarming unwillingness to properly understand why others might have a different perspective, but instead too often to put the most malicious interpretation on othersβ motives.<br /><br />Ironically this great national collective effort to combat this virusβ threat to us all was emerging as an opportunity to bring us together as we all made our contribution in different ways and this would help bear down on this wider polarisation in our politics. The tragedy of the Cummings affair is that like a virus itself, it demonstrates that this polarisation, intolerance and lack of generosity of spirit remains deep in the British body of politics.<br /><br />That this polarisation has infected the consideration of the merits of the actions of an ill Cummings family could hardly be clearer. In the critical public commentary there has been scant consideration by most, if not all, of the merits of the human judgments of parents trying to serve their family best, consistent with protecting the rest of us, which is the object of the policy on which he helped advise at the most senior level. We have even had a dozen or so bishops threatening to withdraw collaboration with the Government on this pandemic based on this issue alone without having heard the detailed context of Dominic Cummings decisions for his family. In this context one can understand why we saw the unprecedented business of an official giving a full explanation of his personal conduct and submitting to questions on it in the garden of No 10.<br /><br />My views on the merits changed listening to Mr Cummings during Mondayβs press conference. Once I understood that the opportunity to self-isolate as a family unit, within close distance of immediate relatives on an isolated farm, who were perfectly placed to pick up their child caring responsibilities if the virus overtook them, the uninterrupted car journey, even if long, makes complete sense. Of course, this would be a situation available to strikingly few people, but his actions were wholly consistent with the interests of his family and critically the rest of us as well. The familyβs 260 miles journey, in a car, was less dangerous to the public than travelling any distance on public transport. He was fortunate enough to have the ideal situation of an empty house, with both sister and parent in adjacent houses ready to provide for his family should they be needed. It was also reasonable for him to collect the other two members of his household from hospital, again in a car without coming into contact with the public. I also accept the reasons for a test drive before driving back the 260 miles, 15 days after his first symptoms which is in line with self-isolation guidance. We can send up the eyesight test issue in isolation but checking whether one would have the strength and endurance to make that long return car journey whilst in recovery from Covid-19, struck me as appropriate and responsible.<br /><br />The context of his decisions and consideration of their merits also needed to exclude the rumour and innuendo surrounding them. For example, the speculation about a further outing on 19th April based on allegations by two unidentified witnesses, has been strongly denied by Mr Cummings and a formal statement from No 10 confirming this. Reports of the Durham policeβs conversation with Mr Cummingsβ father were also proven inaccurate when the Constabulary withdrew the suggestion that they gave him βspecific adviceβ about the correct actions to be taken during the coronavirus outbreak to remain in accordance with lockdown guidelines, implying the Police believed they had been broken.<br /><br />These are the reasons I believe it would be wrong to fire Mr Cummings on the merits of this episode. I understand and personally applaud the Prime Ministerβs decision to stand by his man at this time. I was struck by hearing the recent words of the new Labour leader about his duty of care to officials of the Labour Party, to whom he guaranteed due process under his leadership. These are standards that place truth over image and perception. Our default position should be to support them. It is a brave thing to do in my profession as the whole truth and nothing but the truth can very rarely carry the day in a 24 hour news cycle. The difficult experience politicians in a democracy must manage is that a conclusion based on a balance of arguments is then betrayed by truths that support a competing interpretation. It then depends on how you balance up the arguments and factors to bring you to your own conclusion. I much regret in todayβs politics it is often seen as some kind of gaffe to accept your opponentβs conclusion might have any merit at all. I would like this intolerance to reduce and for Covid-19 to help widen understanding and for us to look for the best in each other, not least whilst so many people are demonstrating their good values in the actions to defeat this virus.<br /><br />On the Cummings affair itβs also brave to stand by an unpopular figure as you start with peopleβs perceptions already tilted against you. I accept perceptions also play a role. It is claimed by a few of my colleagues and in effect by some of my correspondents, that in this emergency, perception trumps truth, because it is perception that will dictate public behaviour and thus how this looks, even if grossly distorted by the lens of a media seeking to sustain a different narrative should be the decisive factor. Depressingly that is often the conventional political response. Dispose of the difficulty even if unfair. Indeed, that is the normal fate of serving politicians but Mr Cummings is not a politician and the Prime Minister has chosen to take the higher and more difficult path of discharging his duty to truth and due process to his Chief Advisor. I believe that decision deserves my support, even though that will not satisfy many of my correspondents.<br /><br />I hope this long reply has at least managed to explain why I have come to this conclusion and even if you strongly disagree, that you might respect the conclusion just as I understand why you have felt so motivated by the experience of this one small family trying to manage its situation as best as they can within the context of the Covid-19 emergency that you have raised it with me.<br /><br />Yours sincerely,</span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<img alt="" class="CToWUd" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEgcjUXkEvVjapGX6wfFLMiyswVXwTPu6Rc78WdKtimsEFJ23uf2wqZzEout8yj_YqdVsKLlR-Vryrf6BN0jKI88mSxbjpUivRVAv90eSAyK8HtL7cmSpLahNkk1bOzgivRD92M7dfnTny4YdPy3VSq7NRCb3bWODKPwdBW3aK8R26qmQAK6OYLeQi5YbtUwsQqa6eD9hxi28w=s0-d-e1-ft" style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px; height: 58px; width: 183px;" /><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: , "helvetica" , "arial"; font-size: 13.3333px;">β― </span><br />
<img class="CToWUd" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/proxy/AVvXsEge2kwvzpAR5b4hj18FsHbsAoJ9F0jv_uj3qrWQe9d82u7HZ1xv4SBijkecied0SbAIR6W9sNBT2jh1vPdt1BnOkDUMGmilSRGAlCd7PvGyxVHGo4ak_bsrzR4CPd_qaaaHSfGMXN5YIJe24HCuqNKTZTbaJ0GwPVoY7xT7fPWJFrOq1VR6nTKU45iui3OhZkQHTWQLhQRxMQA=s0-d-e1-ft" style="color: #363636; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, Helvetica, Arial; font-size: 13.3333px; height: 32px; width: 28px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #363636; font-family: , "helvetica" , "arial"; font-size: 13.3333px;"> </span><br />
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<span style="color: #363636; font-family: , "helvetica" , "arial"; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "times" , serif;"><strong>Crispin Blunt MP</strong>β―<br /><strong>Member of Parliament for Reigate</strong>β― </span></span><br />
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Tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/croydon" rel="tag">croydon</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/greenparty" rel="tag">greenparty</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27642909.post-74723987124316812942019-11-20T06:32:00.000+00:002019-11-20T06:33:06.118+00:00Isle of Wight experience The outcome of the December 12th General Election is one that fills me with fear. Boris Johnson is between 8 and 12 percentage points ahead and on course for a majority. The one probable silver lining is Greens get their second MP.<br />
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Leading the race for that honour is Vix Lowthian on the Isle of Wight.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb566YJt5jUItGDPwknDkQ8APU3yFEMS-ogu6oCI-CBKkQj4WjsnPFNL7E27VyZVhLy7-Q20Itr156u1VyIePKSlmMTAfdVgenpZNMqmIEV_Oa0_r3PUYbaN6hlNJTAu-tFY7t/s1600/20191109_110134.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb566YJt5jUItGDPwknDkQ8APU3yFEMS-ogu6oCI-CBKkQj4WjsnPFNL7E27VyZVhLy7-Q20Itr156u1VyIePKSlmMTAfdVgenpZNMqmIEV_Oa0_r3PUYbaN6hlNJTAu-tFY7t/s320/20191109_110134.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Green Party stall in Ryde<br />
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</tbody></table>
Earlier this month we combined a weekend away with some campaigning. Vix is benefiting from the Lib Dems standing down - as part of the Rebel (Remain) Alliance.<br />
<br />
When we met she spoke of her frustration that the Labour candidate had not stood down either. Labour members need to think about 5 more years of Boris Johnson. They can't win in Isle of Wight but they can help the Greens.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7MGLfqsG4WJYGgD2qFX4b2xiWA1pg21GjKErZ6biJHbQbeHC3bZzF-Ib64EtUUBp1l5do0ZYNnSkV6jogMnFqAIaKGfZdVLnQstOqyLgdV0FEZjwjNky4g1Noz3BTh0hFo37Z/s1600/Screenshot_20191120-061631_Chrome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="677" data-original-width="1080" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7MGLfqsG4WJYGgD2qFX4b2xiWA1pg21GjKErZ6biJHbQbeHC3bZzF-Ib64EtUUBp1l5do0ZYNnSkV6jogMnFqAIaKGfZdVLnQstOqyLgdV0FEZjwjNky4g1Noz3BTh0hFo37Z/s320/Screenshot_20191120-061631_Chrome.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The European Elections show that there is a strong independent mindset among islanders. Let's hope that IOW goes Green.<br />
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Tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/croydon" rel="tag">croydon</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/greenparty" rel="tag">greenparty</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27642909.post-11956922386047383542019-07-24T22:03:00.000+01:002019-07-24T22:03:19.473+01:00BJ is PM todayBJ is PM today.<br />
If the EU doesn't re-open the Withdrawal Agreement and he fails to suspend parliament to leave without a "deal" (both of which I believe will happen) then Boris has to push the most radical right wing and populist policies possible to keep Brexit voters content in advance of the next General Election. His appointments indicate this. That way he'll nick some of those Brexit Party votes to stay in power.<br />
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Tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/croydon" rel="tag">croydon</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/greenparty" rel="tag">greenparty</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27642909.post-27082918567084437982019-05-15T21:57:00.001+01:002019-05-16T10:21:54.781+01:00Green Wave all across the country <ol class="stream-items js-navigable-stream" id="stream-items-id" style="background-color: #e6ecf0; color: #14171a; font-family: "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;">
<li class="js-stream-item stream-item stream-item
" data-item-id="1124386577998917632" data-item-type="tweet" data-suggestion-json="{"suggestion_details":{},"tweet_ids":"1124386577998917632","scribe_component":"tweet"}" id="stream-item-tweet-1124386577998917632" style="background: padding-box padding-box rgb(255, 255, 255); border-left: 1px solid rgb(230, 236, 240); border-right: 1px solid rgb(230, 236, 240); position: relative;"><div class="TweetTextSize TweetTextSize--normal js-tweet-text tweet-text" data-aria-label-part="0" lang="en" style="line-height: 20px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">
A couple of weeks back, I was lucky enough to be standing for election when the wave rushed through the country. A record number of councillors were elected locally and nationally. <a href="https://campaigns.greenparty.org.uk/local-election-results/">Greens jumped from 178 to a dizzying 362 councillors</a>. Regrettably, it was bad luck that this alliterative alignment of circumstances - namely Brexit bollocks and climate catastrophe - didn't occur when I was a target candidate in Croydon and Sutton!</div>
</li>
<li class="js-stream-item stream-item stream-item
" data-item-id="1124386577998917632" data-item-type="tweet" data-suggestion-json="{"suggestion_details":{},"tweet_ids":"1124386577998917632","scribe_component":"tweet"}" id="stream-item-tweet-1124386577998917632" style="background: padding-box padding-box rgb(255, 255, 255); border-left: 1px solid rgb(230, 236, 240); border-right: 1px solid rgb(230, 236, 240); position: relative;"><br /></li>
<li class="js-stream-item stream-item stream-item
" data-item-id="1124386577998917632" data-item-type="tweet" data-suggestion-json="{"suggestion_details":{},"tweet_ids":"1124386577998917632","scribe_component":"tweet"}" id="stream-item-tweet-1124386577998917632" style="background: padding-box padding-box rgb(255, 255, 255); border-left: 1px solid rgb(230, 236, 240); border-right: 1px solid rgb(230, 236, 240); position: relative;">The ward on Regiate and Banstead council I was standing in polled the following:</li>
</ol>
<div>
<span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "segoe ui" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
<ol class="stream-items js-navigable-stream" style="background-color: #e6ecf0; color: #14171a; font-family: "Segoe UI", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;">
<li class="js-stream-item stream-item stream-item
" data-item-id="1124386577998917632" data-item-type="tweet" data-suggestion-json="{"suggestion_details":{},"tweet_ids":"1124386577998917632","scribe_component":"tweet"}" id="stream-item-tweet-1124386577998917632" style="background: padding-box padding-box rgb(255, 255, 255); border-left: 1px solid rgb(230, 236, 240); border-right: 1px solid rgb(230, 236, 240); position: relative;"><div class="TweetTextSize TweetTextSize--normal js-tweet-text tweet-text" data-aria-label-part="0" lang="en" style="line-height: 20px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<b>Chipstead, Kingswood and Woodmansterne </b></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 383px;">
<colgroup><col style="mso-width-alt: 6509; mso-width-source: userset; width: 134pt;" width="178"></col>
<col style="mso-width-alt: 5156; mso-width-source: userset; width: 106pt;" width="141"></col>
<col style="width: 48pt;" width="64"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr height="22" style="height: 16.5pt;">
<td class="xl63" height="22" style="height: 16.5pt; width: 134pt;" width="178">Tim
Archer</td>
<td class="xl64" style="width: 106pt;" width="141"><span style="color: blue;">Conservative</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl64" style="width: 48pt;" width="64">1422</td>
</tr>
<tr height="22" style="height: 16.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="22" style="height: 16.5pt;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Simon Parnell</span></td>
<td class="xl64"><span style="color: blue;">Conservative</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl64">1277</td>
</tr>
<tr height="22" style="height: 16.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="22" style="height: 16.5pt;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Maria Neame</span></td>
<td class="xl64"><span style="color: blue;">Conservative</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl64">1207</td>
</tr>
<tr height="22" style="height: 16.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="22" style="height: 16.5pt;">Shasha Khan</td>
<td class="xl66"><span style="color: #38761d;">Green Party</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl66">642</td>
</tr>
<tr height="22" style="height: 16.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="22" style="height: 16.5pt;">Eileen Hannah</td>
<td class="xl67"><span style="color: yellow;">Liberal Democrat</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl67">545</td>
</tr>
<tr height="22" style="height: 16.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="22" style="height: 16.5pt;">Gerry Heaver</td>
<td class="xl68"><span style="color: #20124d;">UKIP</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl68">367</td>
</tr>
<tr height="22" style="height: 16.5pt;">
<td class="xl65" height="22" style="height: 16.5pt;">Ian Thirlwell</td>
<td class="xl69"><span style="color: #cc0000;">Labour</span></td>
<td align="right" class="xl69">357</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
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<li class="js-stream-item stream-item stream-item
" data-item-id="1124386577998917632" data-item-type="tweet" data-suggestion-json="{"suggestion_details":{},"tweet_ids":"1124386577998917632","scribe_component":"tweet"}" id="stream-item-tweet-1124386577998917632" style="background: padding-box padding-box rgb(255, 255, 255); border-left: 1px solid rgb(230, 236, 240); border-right: 1px solid rgb(230, 236, 240); position: relative;"><div class="TweetTextSize TweetTextSize--normal js-tweet-text tweet-text" data-aria-label-part="0" lang="en" style="line-height: 20px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">
Only the top three candidates were duly elected as councillors so I missed out, but the results were amazing. <a href="https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/reigate-banstead-local-election-results-16224274">Greens doubled the number of councillors on Reigate and Banstead to six to become the leading opposition party. The target seats were all comfortably won. The Tories dropped to 29 seats.</a></div>
</li>
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<span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "segoe ui" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZshLRuIU9fAUGc95ekEQxJOy_R-4FicLljEIBBOtAuiZglyZJtxZQDbF7bXk1UZS4jeQTRpgYCwzp267Q5WU7J1w7B5vZgYIj_1WZBgZP1WMHIrk4_ui6fd0XccVRiamiVCAY/s1600/20190503_140019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZshLRuIU9fAUGc95ekEQxJOy_R-4FicLljEIBBOtAuiZglyZJtxZQDbF7bXk1UZS4jeQTRpgYCwzp267Q5WU7J1w7B5vZgYIj_1WZBgZP1WMHIrk4_ui6fd0XccVRiamiVCAY/s320/20190503_140019.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alongside Green Councillor Jonathan Essex. Photo taken just outside the Count. At the time we were hopeful that all six target councillors were elected.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div>
<span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "segoe ui" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "segoe ui" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<li class="js-stream-item stream-item stream-item
" data-item-id="1124386577998917632" data-item-type="tweet" data-suggestion-json="{"suggestion_details":{},"tweet_ids":"1124386577998917632","scribe_component":"tweet"}" id="stream-item-tweet-1124386577998917632" style="background: padding-box padding-box rgb(255, 255, 255); border-left: 1px solid rgb(230, 236, 240); border-right: 1px solid rgb(230, 236, 240); position: relative;"><div class="TweetTextSize TweetTextSize--normal js-tweet-text tweet-text" data-aria-label-part="0" lang="en" style="line-height: 20px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">
My old campaign aide, Martyn Post, sent a succinct and precise explanation of the Green Wave in a Whats App message:</div>
</li>
</ol>
<span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "segoe ui" , "arial" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<ul><span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "segoe ui" , "arial" , sans-serif;">
<li><span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "segoe ui" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dissatisfaction with the two main parties (Brexit shambles)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "segoe ui" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Remainers turning out, with left leaning remainers choosing Green over Labour</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "segoe ui" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Good local camapigns with activists who joined during the green surge and stayed</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "segoe ui" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://rebellion.earth/">Extinction Rebellion </a>'s recent highlighting of climate change and need for action</span></span></li>
</span></ul>
<span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "segoe ui" , "arial" , sans-serif;">
</span>
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<div>
<span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "segoe ui" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;">I saw a tweet by London activist Benali Hamdache (copied and pasted below). His explanation covers five areas:</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #14171a; font-family: "segoe ui" , "arial" , sans-serif;">
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<li class="js-stream-item stream-item stream-item
" data-item-id="1124386577998917632" data-item-type="tweet" data-suggestion-json="{"suggestion_details":{},"tweet_ids":"1124386577998917632","scribe_component":"tweet"}" id="stream-item-tweet-1124386577998917632" style="background: padding-box padding-box rgb(255, 255, 255); border-left: 1px solid rgb(230, 236, 240); border-right: 1px solid rgb(230, 236, 240); position: relative;"><div class="TweetTextSize TweetTextSize--normal js-tweet-text tweet-text" data-aria-label-part="0" lang="en" style="line-height: 20px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">
<br /></div>
</li>
<li class="js-stream-item stream-item stream-item
" data-item-id="1124386577998917632" data-item-type="tweet" data-suggestion-json="{"suggestion_details":{},"tweet_ids":"1124386577998917632","scribe_component":"tweet"}" id="stream-item-tweet-1124386577998917632" style="background: padding-box padding-box rgb(255, 255, 255); border-left: 1px solid rgb(230, 236, 240); border-right: 1px solid rgb(230, 236, 240); position: relative;"><div class="tweet js-stream-tweet js-actionable-tweet js-profile-popup-actionable dismissible-content
original-tweet js-original-tweet
" data-conversation-id="1124383739222663168" data-disclosure-type="" data-follows-you="false" data-has-parent-tweet="true" data-is-reply-to="true" data-item-id="1124386577998917632" data-name="Benali Hamdache" data-permalink-path="/greenbenali/status/1124386577998917632" data-reply-to-users-json="[{"id_str":"262462205","screen_name":"greenbenali","name":"Benali Hamdache","emojified_name":{"text":"Benali Hamdache","emojified_text_as_html":"Benali Hamdache"}}]" data-screen-name="greenbenali" data-tweet-id="1124386577998917632" data-tweet-nonce="1124386577998917632-4b598708-6c85-4ca5-99c9-c7f3766ad578" data-tweet-stat-initialized="true" data-user-id="262462205" data-you-block="false" data-you-follow="false" style="background-color: #f5f8fa; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(230, 236, 240); cursor: pointer; min-height: 51px; padding: 9px 12px; position: relative;">
<div class="content" style="margin-left: 58px;">
<div class="js-tweet-text-container">
<div class="TweetTextSize TweetTextSize--normal js-tweet-text tweet-text" data-aria-label-part="0" lang="en" style="line-height: 20px; overflow-wrap: break-word; white-space: pre-wrap;">
5) We selected community champions
So many of our candidates have been active locally for years. Theyβve built networks. Theyβre well liked. Theyβre invested in where they live.</div>
</div>
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<span class="ProfileTweet-actionCount " style="display: inline-block; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-left: 6px; position: relative; vertical-align: text-bottom;"><span aria-hidden="true" class="ProfileTweet-actionCountForPresentation">2</span></span></button></div>
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<span class="ProfileTweet-actionCount" style="display: inline-block; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1; margin-left: 6px; position: relative; vertical-align: text-bottom;"><span aria-hidden="true" class="ProfileTweet-actionCountForPresentation">7</span></span></button></div>
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<a class="js-nav show-thread-link" href="https://twitter.com/greenbenali/status/1124386577998917632" style="background: transparent; color: #4a913c; text-decoration-line: none;">Show this thread</a></div>
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<li class="js-stream-item stream-item stream-item
" data-item-id="1124385633701699584" data-item-type="tweet" data-suggestion-json="{"suggestion_details":{},"tweet_ids":"1124385633701699584","scribe_component":"tweet"}" id="stream-item-tweet-1124385633701699584" style="background: padding-box padding-box rgb(255, 255, 255); border-left: 1px solid rgb(230, 236, 240); border-right: 1px solid rgb(230, 236, 240); position: relative;"><div class="tweet js-stream-tweet js-actionable-tweet js-profile-popup-actionable dismissible-content
original-tweet js-original-tweet
" data-conversation-id="1124383739222663168" data-disclosure-type="" data-follows-you="false" data-has-parent-tweet="true" data-is-reply-to="true" data-item-id="1124385633701699584" data-name="Benali Hamdache" data-permalink-path="/greenbenali/status/1124385633701699584" data-reply-to-users-json="[{"id_str":"262462205","screen_name":"greenbenali","name":"Benali Hamdache","emojified_name":{"text":"Benali Hamdache","emojified_text_as_html":"Benali Hamdache"}}]" data-screen-name="greenbenali" data-tweet-id="1124385633701699584" data-tweet-nonce="1124385633701699584-cd0aab0c-5b10-4933-843f-3d8d2a671785" data-tweet-stat-initialized="true" data-user-id="262462205" data-you-block="false" data-you-follow="false" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(230, 236, 240); cursor: pointer; min-height: 51px; padding: 9px 12px; position: relative;">
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<a class="account-group js-account-group js-action-profile js-user-profile-link js-nav" data-user-id="262462205" href="https://twitter.com/greenbenali" style="background: transparent; color: #14171a; display: inline-flex; flex-shrink: 1; margin-right: 5px; overflow: hidden; text-decoration-line: none;"><img alt="" class="avatar js-action-profile-avatar" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1079706416217292800/QVuIfavL_bigger.jpg" style="border-radius: 50%; border: 0px; float: left; height: 48px; margin-left: -58px; margin-top: 3px; position: absolute; width: 48px;" /><span class="FullNameGroup" style="display: flex; max-width: 100%;"><strong class="fullname show-popup-with-id u-textTruncate " data-aria-label-part="" style="max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: normal !important; overflow: hidden !important; text-overflow: ellipsis !important; white-space: nowrap !important; word-break: break-all;">Benali Hamdache</strong>β<span class="UserBadges" style="font-size: 0.9em;"></span><span class="UserNameBreak"> </span></span><span class="username u-dir u-textTruncate" data-aria-label-part="" dir="ltr" style="color: #657786; direction: ltr; max-width: 100%; overflow-wrap: normal; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; unicode-bidi: embed; white-space: nowrap;">@greenbenali</span></a><small class="time" style="color: #657786; font-size: 14px; margin-right: 5px; white-space: nowrap;"> <a class="tweet-timestamp js-permalink js-nav js-tooltip" data-conversation-id="1124383739222663168" href="https://twitter.com/greenbenali/status/1124385633701699584" style="background: transparent; color: #657786; text-decoration-line: none;" title="11:49 AM - 3 May 2019">May 3</a></small><br />
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4) Finally a spotlight
XR & the Peopleβs Vote have finally given the Greens air time. Weβve been able to capitalise on key issues that weβre authentic and trusted on.
Fair coverage during the Euros should do the same</div>
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3) it wasnβt all Brexit
Lots of wards Greens have won in are deprived or neglected. Greens have worked hard to connect with communities that felt poorly served by elected figures.
For lots of areas theyβve never had regular ward campaigns. Greens were there as local champions</div>
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2) The time was right
Brexit has shook loose party loyalty in a way never seen before. Remainers and Leavers weβre absolutely sick to death of the main two parties.
Greens used the time to actually engage with local communities and win voters over</div>
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1) The professionalisation of the Party is here.
Finally we have the membership, the experience and the funds to put together serious campaigns.
Our field staff team are excellent and deserve a lot of plaudits today</div>
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Tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/croydon" rel="tag">croydon</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/greenparty" rel="tag">greenparty</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27642909.post-64041491170886325522019-05-02T21:25:00.001+01:002019-05-02T21:25:49.297+01:00Candidate for Chipstead, Hooley and Woodmansterne <div style="direction: ltr; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
I received an email from Inside Croydon asking if I knew of any former Croydon candidates standing on the local elections. *London doesn't have any elections in 2019. I sent this reply:</div>
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Yes, I am one of those ex-Croydon now standing for Reigate and Banstead council. My home ward is Chipstead, Kingswood and Woodmansterne.<br /></div>
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I've lived in Woodmansterne - which has a railway station actually in Croydon - for three years now.<br /></div>
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Greens actually get elected in these areas! This is down to hard work and recognition for ther hard work. There are three Greens elected here in Redhill East (2) and Earlswood & Whitebushes(1) wards.<br /></div>
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I haven't had an opportunity to get out that much but the activists tell me canvassing returns suggest the Green vote stronger than ever.<br /></div>
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The local agent told me she expects turnout to be low as Conservative voters stay away because of Brexit. The local MP Crispin Blunt - a Leaver - took the unprecedented step of putting out a statement asking voters not to punish local Tory councillors because of Brexit. Local Tories have stopped canvassing because of the doorstep fury they have received over the issue.<br /></div>
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<a href="https://www.blunt4reigate.com/news/local-elections-2-may-eve-poll-statement" style="color: #0072c6;">https://www.blunt4reigate.com/news/local-elections-2-may-eve-poll-statement</a><br /></div>
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Green canvassers are still noting concern about affordable housing and Green Belt development on the doorstep, but also for the first time Climate Change is being mentioned as an issue. Extinction Rebellion, Greta Thunberg and David Attenborough have pushed the issue to the fore of voters minds.<br /></div>
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Given there are three councillors to be elected this time around, it will be interesting to see how the results pan out in my ward as the only party putting up three candidates are the unpopular Conservatives. Other parties such as Greens or UKIP could benefit from split votes.</div>
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Tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/croydon" rel="tag">croydon</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/greenparty" rel="tag">greenparty</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27642909.post-37704622167751026312019-03-23T12:03:00.001+00:002019-03-24T17:35:29.534+00:00WIll this all end in Civil War? It can't do.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today my family and I are going to the the Peoples Vote March in Central London. I am not paid up member of the 2nd referendum brigade because I am more concerned about how we heal the divisions that have become so starkly noticeable as a result of Brexit.<br />
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We went to the previous rally and I felt the mood was more disillusionment with Brexit, because if there was a referendum and a Remain type option won - it will only anger those that voted LEAVE in June 2016.<br />
<br />
I met, by chance, a consultant who works for financial institutions. Presently these institutions are looking for guidance on what is likely to happen with regard to Brexit. This senior individual noted many similarities with Trump in USA and Brexit in UK. I jested with the consultant that in years to come, maybe we will look back at this time whilst in the midst of a civil war, wondering why we didn't do more to bridge the two sides of the Brexit debate. To my surprise the consultant didn't dismiss civil war out of hand.<br />
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Surely we can't end up in a civil war. Civil unrest, maybe. Brexit headbangers are openly ringing up radio stations such as LBC and talking up civil unrest if Brexit doesn't happen in the particular way they want it to happen; On the Today Programme on yesterday, Nigel Farage used the word 'fight' with regard to defending Brexit when being interviewed by Mishal Husain; and countless MPs are being called traitor by Brexit headbangers outside the Houses of Parliament. Are these the the early signs of something more frightening. I keep hearing the army are on standby.<br />
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I was talking to an Egyptian friend of mine, he made the observation that civil unrest starts when a rally or march gets attacked by the opposite side. Could this happen today??<br />
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Interestingly, a Professor of Political Economy has noted similarities between the <a href="https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2018/03/09/brexit-has-the-semblance-of-a-new-english-civil-war/">Brexit divide and the English Civil War. </a>They are mainly geographical, but the semblance is apparent in other elements.<br />
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The above is all hypothetical, but sometimes I wonder how is this going to end?<br />
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Tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/croydon" rel="tag">croydon</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/greenparty" rel="tag">greenparty</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27642909.post-54707738186046649572018-10-15T18:26:00.001+01:002018-10-15T18:26:15.658+01:00Media just as much to blame for the Brexshit we're in.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Brexiters who are in the media or national politics are either stupid or pandering to their audience. So say I! Those who are radio presenters are essentially audio journalists, much like a reporter for the Daily Express. The readership of the Daily Express expects an anti-immigration slant OR pro-Brexit twist so the reporter writes a story to fit.<br />
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The same HAS to apply for radio presenters. They are in the numbers business. A commercial radio station is almost entirely interested in listening figures. No listeners = no advertising revenue.<br />
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I remember Iain Dale back in June 2016 maintaining a position of 'undecided' on the IN/OUT question. He finally backed Leave - at least publicly. At the time I thought this wasn't an action based on sound logic, unless one has calculated that for commercial reasons it would be better not to lose your audience.<br />
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So, when <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JdclVI9zq0">Danny Dyer famously blasted David Cameron</a> I scanned the debate with interest, especially when Iain Dale tried to make capital out of it. I might be wrong about Dale in my assertion but I doubt it. In he full exchange he tries add weight to 'idiotic tweet' jibe at me.<br />
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Take a look at @IainDale's Tweet:<a href="https://twitter.com/mrjamesob/status/1012688241861038081"> https://twitter.com/IainDale/status/1012685399666429953?s=09</a><br />
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Tags <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/croydon" rel="tag">croydon</a>, <a href="http://technorati.com/tag/greenparty" rel="tag">greenparty</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3