There is a Gaza Crisis Meeting at Pakistan Community Centre on Tuesday 6th January at 7.00pm.

The programme will be as follows:

7.00pm Arrivals

7.30pm Opening Remarks

7.45pm Statement from Labour

7.50pm Statement from Conservatives

7.55pm Statement from Libdems

8.00pm Statement from Greens

8.05pm Open to audience for Q&A

9.00pm Close Meeting

Some of you might be interested in a meeting that's due to take place at the Global Café on 19 January.

Cohousing Berkshire is a new group for people interested in the possibility of establishing a cohousing community in the county.

The essential concept of cohousing is a community made up of private homes but with shared space for occasional communal meals and other activities and some shared facilities. Although the main aim of cohousing is to make people feel less isolated, there's also a definite ecological benefit that comes along with it. Sharing resources automatically reduces environmental impact and cohousing communities naturally tend to attract people with a commitment to sustainable living.

To find out more visit www.cohousingberks.org.uk and, if you're free, go along to the Global Café at 7.45 on Monday 19 January.

Almeria 1974, this is the firat in a set of before and after pictures.


Almeria 1987, you can see some of the land by the coast getting covered in plastic greenhouses


Almeria 2004, all the available land is covered, to grow chmically intensive vegetables for the european market. Its bad for the soil, the workers live in terrible conditions, its bad for the environment. But supermarkets get to sell us cheap out of season produce, the real cost of cheap food.


Jeff on the roof


Gardens


Garden Love


Curvey Irrigation


Gardens view


Dryland Terrace


Agave


The Mills

Read a letter in The Guardian newspaper signed by Caroline and nearly 300 others.

EU must hold Israel to its agreements

Last night I went to my first pantomime. It was Dick Whittington at the Hexagon in Reading. My expectations were a very low, but I was pleasantly surprised. Like The Simpsons the pantomime operated on many levels - well maybe two, innuendo and child. I found myself laughing along, singing, and I even learned the actions to one song! It was interesting to see how they had tailored the production to make it relevant to local people - for example they picked on Tilehurst as a rubbish place in the Reading area. I am not even going to go into the way men were cast as women and women as men but I'm sure books have been written on this!

Next year the panto is Cinderella, I'll see you there.

Unfortunately I was not able to make it to the Gaza demo today - follow the link for Guardian coverage.

Israel's attack seems totally disproportionate, but no one is blameless. We need an immediate ceasefire, and a reinvigorated political process, as I fail to see how more violence will bring a lasting peace.

I hope our Green MEPs can bring the full weight of the EU to bear on this problem.

UPDATE: Caroline Lucas MEP, has called for the suspension of the EU's important 'association agreement' with Israel (basically, a trade agreement giving Israel preferential terms), because of Israel's grossly disproportionate action in Gaza. If Israel wants to trade with us on good terms, then Israel must be willing to cease fire now.

What an inauspicious start to the new year, it can only improve after this. Shortly after I blogged about a call for peace, along comes another destructive war in Israel.

One thing that seems to be new is the media is reporting that Israels attack is a response to the rocket attacks of the last few years. It is a disproportionate response and no excuse, but at least the media is making the link.

Israeli air strikes on Gaza have now continued for five days. More Hamas rockets have landed in Israel. Palestinian officials say 391 Palestinians have died in the Israeli air strikes; while four Israelis have been killed by rockets fired from Gaza (under Hamas control).

I condemn the violence from both sides, it is a cycle that must one day be broken before there can be peace. When will they learn, violence will only cause more violence. The only way out of this mess is to talk, and to learn to trust each other. Lets stop this destruction, and hope for a peaceful new year.

Best wishes for 2009 to all readers of this blog.
Lets hope 2009 is a good year for the Greens.

I have just finished reading A History of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr. It covers the period from 1945 up until the present. At 600 pages it was a fairly weighty tome and took me a while to read. But having got to its end, I can report that it was both an educational and an enjoyable experience. I thought it is especially good because it didn't just cover politics but covered music, culture, arts etc. It also had colour photographs from some of the different moments in history covered by the book.

This followed on nicely from Churchill' s book A history of the English-speaking peoples. I have to confess though that I didn't read all the volumes but read the condensed version instead.

Letter to Foreign Secretary David Miliband about the need for EU action in relation to Israel and attacks on Gaza 2009

A similar letter has also been sent to the Czech Republic, as current holders of the EU Presidency, to Javier Solana (the EU’s High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy) and to the European Commission.

Letter to The Guardian newspaper about Israeli attacks on Palestine, December 2008

 Email to the Foreign Secretary about plans to upgrade the EU’s relationship with Israel 2008

Response

Letter to the Foreign Office about abstaining from a UN Security Council vote condemning Israeli attacks on Gaza 2008

Response from the Foreign Office 2008

Letter to the European Commission about suspending the EU Israel Trade Agreement 2008

Letter to the European Commission about Fasayil primary school 2007

Response

Letter to the Foreign Office about the Palestinian youth football team 2007

Response       Follow up letter        Further response

Letter to the Foreign Office about Palestine 2007

 Response

Email to the Commission about international law in Lebanon and Israel 2006

Response

Letter to the European Commission about scientific research in Israel and Palestine 2006

Response

Letter to the European Commission about the detention of  Hussam Khader 2006

Response         Supplementary response

Letter to the Foreign Secretary about the EU-Israel Trade Agreement 2004

Letter to the European Commission about the EU-Israel Trade Agreement 2004

Response

Appeal in solidarity with Israeli ‘refuseniks’ 2004

This is an interesting Youtube video about media bias on Israel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03IaWigPWPo



Big Lies has examples, the 'siege of Gaza' stage managed as a media event with pictures of candles being used as electricity was cut off. But if you look the pictures taken indoors show curtains trying to block the sun shining through.

No one is suggesting that Isreal is being fair and balanced, but if the reporeting is biased then it makes the truth harder to find. It is so rare to find balanced account of the situation that when you do it is the exception. Those who make this case that the storey is not so simple, with one side innocent victims and the other the evil opressors, are then often accused of working for Israel!

Honest reporting calls itself pro Israel, so it is also going to have a bias. Wikipedia has some information about this. pm watch portrays the media as pro Israeli for example.

At a time of traditional festivities, I call on all to seek the truth in order to make progress. Its a season of goodwill, lets hope for a peacefull new year to all.

Not eating meat means there is no turkey on the table at xmas for me. So the question is what should I have instead? Being at home with my parents in Cheshire I've had a bit of time to cook over the last few days. Meals that turned out well are the Leek and Chestnut Purses - fancy name for a spring roll type of dish in a purse shape - and the Smoked Bean Curd Medallions with Shiitake and Walnut Stuffing - fancy name for burgers. Both would work well as an alternative xmas meal.

What are others having?

Local campaigners have raised concerns that a planning application for a controversial new factory which will handle nuclear materials and explosives is being pushed through on the quiet over the Christmas holiday period. Is this another example of burying bad news, made famous by New Labour as a tactic for sneaking controversial policies through before they can be noticed.

Reading campaigners have asked the two local MPs to intervene to request an extension to the public consultation period for a planning application for a new ‘Main Production Facility’ at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Burghfield. Best wishes to them for trying, I expect they will be busy with families and festivities during this period.

The planned new production facility would replace the current ageing nuclear warhead assembly / disassembly plant at Burghfield, and is an essential element of the government’s Nuclear Warhead Capability Sustainment Programme, aimed at ensuring that the Atomic Weapons Establishment is able to produce new nuclear weapons into the 2020s and beyond.

The planning application was submitted on 17th December 2008 and a period of just three weeks has been allowed for consultation – much of which is covered by the Christmas and New Year holiday period.

The Burghfield site has a history of flooding, and the proposed development is a major industrial plant handling radioactive materials, explosives, and hazardous chemicals. The safety and environmental risks associated with the new plant are significant, and so it is important that a decision is not rushed and that plenty of time is available to investigate these concerns.

Ella Marsh, secretary of Reading Peace Group, said: “Consulting on a complicated and controversial planning application like this over the holiday period is not acceptable, and I fear it shows that the Ministry of Defence is trying to avoid public scrutiny of plans to rebuild the Burghfield nuclear weapons factory.

“There are over 50 highly technical documents about the new development on the West Berkshire Planning application website, and it is laughable to think that even the most concerned local person has the time to wade through all these and then write a letter to the council over Christmas – a time when everyone has better things to do.

“The government has just announced a lengthy national programme of consultation over its plans to build new nuclear power stations. The planning process for the new reactors is scheduled to last for eighteen months and will be dealt with at the national level, yet plans for Berkshire’s nuclear weapons factory are being sneaked through on the quiet by a local planning committee which meets at the village hall.

“We think it is important that everyone who wants to has the opportunity to comment on this important application – whether they are for it or against it – and so we’ve asked our local MPs to intervene and tell the authorities to show some common sense.”

Notes
1. The planning application for the new Main Production Facility at the Atomic Weapons Establishment Burghfield has been submitted by the Ministry of Defence on behalf of AWE plc, and the decision on whether to grant it will be made by West Berkshire Council. Details of the application can be found on West Berkshire Council’s Planning Applications website at
http://publicaccess.westberks.gov.uk/PublicAccess/tdc/dcapplication/application_detailview.aspx?caseno=KBZ526RD08D00

2. In October Channel Four News revealed that AWE had covered up the impact of serious flooding in July 2007 which, according to the company, had ‘nearly overwhelmed’ the Burghfield site, and had prevented any live nuclear work on warheads taking place for nine months.

3. The Main Production Facility will cost hundreds of millions of pounds and will be constructed between 2009 - 2015, a period when the Chancellor of the Exchequer has said that taxes will rise and spending on public services will be cut as a result of the credit crunch.

www.cnduk.org
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=0010aA3qJJ8tIhTj9A_pCsRGAPm8nQo8U_wC9sdgiWQ-8SvV_iqlmOUnAQs2eOTCzBjK4zBJo3t9l9jROtTL3k69rssaCEZgfOtet1w4n0k3sI=

www.tridentploughshares.org
www.nuclearinfo.org

Also the US firm Jacobs is trying buy into Atomic Weapons Establishment, which will do nothing to promote security but plenty to promote profits. US firm Jacobs, already a major contractor at AWE, announced its intentions on Wednesday the 17th December. If the deal is confirmed, AWE ML would fall into two-thirds American ownership. The other partners comprising AWE ML are US arms giant Lockheed Martin and British firm Serco.

Daniel Viesnik from Trident Ploughshares said, “Jacobs is making a grave error choosing to invest in AWE. Trident Ploughshares reserves the right to take nonviolent direct action against the company for its role in aiding and abetting crimes against humanity and other breaches of international law and treaties due to its involvement with Trident nuclear weapons. The current multi-billion pound expansion of AWE Aldermaston represents a material breach of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and a criminal waste of taxpayers' money. All parties responsible will be held to account. Defence Secretary John Hutton must order the immediate suspension of all work relating to the maintenance and development of nuclear warheads, or face the consequences.”


1. Trident Ploughshares is a campaign to disarm the UK Trident nuclear weapons system in a nonviolent, open, peaceful and fully accountable manner.

http://www.tridentploughshares.org



2. Details of announcement by Jacobs :

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/jacobs-agrees-to-acquire-share-in-awe-management-limited,659703.shtml

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Jacobs-Agrees-Acquire-Share-AWE/story.aspx?guid={8AE973B9-8D5A-42F5-97E0-7EAAF2D5643F}

http://au.sys-con.com/node/781492

http://www.stockhouse.com/News/USReleasesDetail.aspx?n=7159803


3. On Friday 12th December, members and supporters of a Trident Ploughshares affinity group called the Muriel Lesters visited Jacob ’s Marble Arch office in London, delivering a seasonal message and asking the company to suspend all involvement in AWE and nuclear weapons production. Dressed in white overalls marked “weapons inspector” and festive hats and costumes, the group also visited the London offices of Lockheed Martin and Fluor - the latter being the other firm that was bidding for a stake in AWE ML. They distributed leaflets to workers and passers-by and sang popular festive tunes with specially modified lyrics.



Full report, press release, pictures and short video here:

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/12/415279.html



4. During UN disarmament week in October, hundreds of members and supporters of Trident Ploughshares, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and related groups caused major disruption to AWE Aldermaston by blockading the site for several hours in what was one of the largest direct actions at the base for a decade. Thirty-three arrests were made.



More details here: http://blockawe.blogspot.com

I've been reading Nathaniels Nutmeg by Giles Milton, an account of trade and exploration by Europeans in Asia and the Americas in the 17th century. Its full of interesting stories, some a bit grizzly. In one particularly notable chapter Henry Hudson searched North America in 1609 looking for a route to Asia. Its quite a depressing read, 'realising the Indians were powerless to defend themselves ...they rowed ashore, drove the 'savages' from their homes...'etc. Natives were viewed as treacherous, approaching canoes were often fired upon, kindness returned by theft.

Another episode details the torture and execution of English merchants by the Dutch in Amboyna, in order to extract confessions to conspiracy. It is a horrible reminder of the not so distant past, but a lesson that still hasn't been learned. People will confess to anything under those circumstances so the 'evidence' is worthless.

The conclusion of the book is the swap between colonial powers of Manhatten for a small spice island (Run) with the Dutch in the Pacific, the treaty of Breda. It occurs after periodic wars between the two countries, and this made peace between them. Needless to say the local residents weren't consulted or considered.


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nathaniels-Nutmeg-Courage-Changed-History/dp/0340696761

Apologies about the recent lack of blogging, I've been in Spain for a few weeks with Sunseed. It really is a lovely place, full of enthusiastic people developing green ways to live, and I'm proud to be chair of trustees of such a charity.

I shall be posting more about my trip, and other things I've been up to shortly.

The Congestion charge in Manchester has been dropped after losing a vote last week. The Independent newspaper's economics editor says bravo, that its was a 'scam' invented by Ken Livingstone to raise money by targeting drivers. Does he not realise that traffic has been steadily rising for years, so to do nothing is to see increased gridlock? And the cost of motoring has actually not been increasing by as much as the cost of using public transport.

The people of Manchester voted against something that would have seen a big improvement to their transport, with new tram lines and faster buses. In London it proved popular after it was implemented. Most voters are car drivers, but many users of public transport are not, children's voices were not heard here. Car drivers are a powerful lobby group, if they get their way there would be no parking charges or road tax, the rest of us would have to subsidise their carbon heavy lifestyle.

The car lobby is lead by motoring organisations like the AA and RAC who take drivers money to rescue them from breakdowns and use it to promote road building. I would recommend looking at an alternative such as the ethical transport association, who also provide breakdown cover while promoting more sustainable transport, eta. If you do join and drive through Spain though, beware stickers that say ETA, it has a very different meaning there.

In Reading an independent transport commission lead by Sir Brian Briscoe decided to 'urgently consider' road pricing. Most local politicians would be against it so we wait and see. Anything is an improvement on the previous Labour party position which was all for a one way system that would have cost a fortune, done little for congestion and nothing to reduce emissions. The report can be seen
here

'The report’s recommendations include greater attention to pedestrian and cycling facilities, new park and ride sites in neighbouring council areas to serve Reading centre, and a programme to improve bus services’ frequency and reliability, and improved ticketing options to encourage bus use.'

But the Commission concludes that both the economy and environment in Reading will suffer if there is not greater capacity for north-south movements, and more effective management of road space in peak hours. So much for the chance of sustainable transport, its the pro car lot that are in charge as usual.

The Commission did however propose that Reading, and neighbouring Councils, examines the case for road pricing -charging for the use of certain parts of the road system at particularly congested times. Unfortunately the London congestion charge is not the model for Reading and the report envisages the use of resident, shopper and other discounts or exemptions to ensure that charging focuses on those using Reading roads as part of the national network, and only at peak times. So it wants to encourage more traffic. But there is still some hope, but don't hold your breath, especially near a polluted road.

Thanks to Paul for point me towards this on recycling:

"Medway, Peterborough and Reading councils had the worst figures, with each failing to recycle more than 10% of what was collected."

Is this just one of the curses of rolling doorstep recycling out across the borough? I suspect not. I think that far more could be done in terms of education. As a start I'll try to put something in our ward newsletter about what can be recycled.

Of course as I've said before if we were to focus more on waste reduction, this would mean fewer recycling problems.

Being self-employed I have no work Christmas party to go to. Fortunately this week I was invited to the Pakistani Community Centre Christmas party. There were loads of people from many local communities in attendance, people gave short but interesting speeches - about religon, Pakistan and xmas - and this was followed by a very tasty meal and music.

At this time of year people sometimes ask me about how to have a Green Christmas. The best advice I have - which is recycled from fellow Green Derek Wall - is "consumer less, share more and enjoy life".

Merry Christmas and happy New Year.

Letter to the European Commission about the Pigs Review Directive 2008        

Response

Letter to the European Commission about minimum welfare standards for the protection of pigs 200

Response from the Agriculture Commissioner

Response from the Consumer Protection Commissioner

17 December 2008 - The European Parliament today voted to adopt the climate package of legislation (1), based on the compromise first reading positions agreed last weekend. Following the vote, Green MEP for the South East Caroline Lucas said:

(more…)

I spoke during a debate in the Strasbourg plenary session yesterday to express my disappointment at the greenhouse gas emission allowance trading system as part of the EU’s Climate and Energy package. You can listen and watch by visiting http://www.europarl.europa.eu/wps-europarl-internet/faces/vod/player.jsp?date=20081216. The links to the Parliament video can be a little temperamental, but just make sure you click on 16 December plenary, then on ‘Greenhouse gas emission allowance trading system’ under ‘Subjects’ on the right hand side. Then, under ‘Speakers’, click on ‘Caroline Lucas’.