City Council leader

On a recent visit to Brighton I picked up a copy of the local free paper. The front page story was about a house on Chester Terrace that had remained empty for 32 years.

The striking thing about the piece - at least for me - was the comment made by the elected member on Brighton City Council:

City council leader, the Green Party's Bill Randell said....

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Tags croydon, greenparty

Green MP Caroline Lucas asks the PM a question!

The election of the first Green Party MP, Caroline Lucas, is inevitably going to lead to a whole series of parliamentary 'firsts' for the Green Party. One of the more historical moments took place last week when Caroline asked the first question by a Green Party MP at Prime Minister's Questions. Probably to the surprise of sizeable swathe of the electorate - who still regard us as a single issue party - THE QUESTION HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ENVIRONMENT!

Transcript (copied/pasted from Number 10 web site):

Caroline Lucas (Brighton, Pavilion) (Green): Homecoming parades for our very brave soldiers in Afghanistan are incredibly important, but so is an exit strategy from Afghanistan. Given the growing agreement that there is no military solution to the crisis there and that the head of the Army himself has said that we should start talking to the Taliban soon, would the Prime Minister not agree that we should start talking now, so that we can save more lives on all sides and bring our troops home?

The Prime Minister: May I first of all welcome the hon. Lady to the House? Winning her seat was an incredible achievement for her party, and I know that she will make a huge contribution during this Parliament.

We discussed Afghanistan at quite some length in the House yesterday. Of course there is no purely military solution; very few insurgencies are ended by purely military means. But I think it is important to continue with the strategy this year of the military surge, to put pressure on the Taliban-and, of course, there should be a political track. But as I said yesterday in the House, we have to recognise that there is a difference between the Taliban linked to al-Qaeda, who want to do so much harm not just in Afghanistan but across our continent as well, and those people who have been caught up in an insurgency for other reasons. Should there be reconciliation and reintegration? Yes, of course; there is, and we can go further. But I think that the things that the hon. Lady is talking about would not be advisable.

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Tags croydon, greenparty

MEP's Pension sleaze: Open Europe says, "Give credit to the likes of Caroline Lucas"

Last Friday's 'Five Live's Drive' show (link below) hosted by Peter Allen and Anita Anand had an ear catching story on MEP pension entitlements. It caught my attention because Green MEP Caroline Lucas was cited as an MEP that had declined to take up the offer of an additional voluntary pension.

MEP's throughout Europe are entitled to the equivalent pension entitlements as MP's in their respective national parliaments. This is funded by the European tax payer.

However, they are also entitled to a second voluntary pension which is again funded by the European tax payer. For every one £1 contributed by the MEP, the EU contributes an additional £2. Unbelievably, the £1 that the MEP puts in can be claimed on expenses. This whole sorry situation has come to the fore because thanks to "casino style investments", there is a deficit in the scheme which, you've guessed it, will be covered by the European taxpayer. Sigh.

The Open Europe press release notes that tracking down the MEP's who are profiting from this pension hasn't been easy as the list is a "closely guarded secret". Unsurprisingly the two Green MEP's are not on the list - and WELL DONE TO THEM - but interestingly, MEP's from the Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem parties are on the list. Even UKIP, the party that moans about every British pound the UK taxpayer gives over to the EU is on the list. Shame on all the other political parties.

79 per cent of British MEP's have signed up to this morally unacceptable pension scheme. I am not surprised that the two GREEN MEP's are not on the list. Green politicians are ethically and morally minded. They tend to come from a campaigning background and enter politics to "make change". Jean Lambert was (and still is) a notable peace campaigner and Caroline Lucas worked for Oxfam.

I looked up Caroline's web site and found the following paragraph:

Additional Pension Scheme

British MEPs are members of the same pension scheme as our national MPs at present. There is also an additional pension scheme set up in the EP which Members may opt to join, but Caroline has chosen not to join this on principle, as she regards it as a misuse of EU taxpayers’ money. When the new Members’ Statute becomes operational in 2009, this will include a pension entitlement and it is likely that the existing additional pension scheme will close to new Members.

and Jean has the following paragraph on her web site

Additional Pension Scheme

British MEPs are members of the same pension scheme as our national MPs at present. There is also an additional pension scheme set up in the EP which Members may opt to join, but I have chosen not to join it. When the new Members’ Statute becomes operational in 2009, this will include a pension entitlement and it is likely that the existing additional pension scheme will close to new Members.

Greens are not part of this newly developed political class. Our principles are always consistent: a fair ans just society, peaceful solutions to conflict and genuine stewardship of the planet for future generations. Those voters that are looking for conviction politicians to represent them need not look any further than the Green Party.

Link to the 'Drive' show on Five Live forward to 1 hr 50mins into the programme.

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Tags croydon, greenparty