Climate change and nuclear weapons are both man-made threats that put humanity’s very survival at risk. The two threats are also interconnected in ways that mutually exacerbate the risks and impacts to people and the planet, which is why they are also referred to as the ‘twin existential threats’
Continue reading “Young people face twin existential threats of nukes and climate change”
Baroness Jenny Jones was on the Met Police database for domestic extremists, while serving as an elected politician on the Metropolitan Police Authority, voting on their budget and holding them to account. The Observer story relates how “Government officials have drawn up deeply controversial proposals to broaden the definition of extremism to include anyone who “undermines” the country’s institutions and its values,”
Continue reading “Government plan to brand anyone ‘undermining’ UK as extremist”
Emergency Motion to conference
Jenny has put an emergency motion to conference in response to reports that the government will try again to scrap the anti-pollution rules for areas like the Norfolk Broads and Lake District. Please like it on the Green Party members emergency motion page, so it can be debated:
The Lords have passed a total of sixteen amendments to the Illegal Migration Bill, with strong backing from cross bench peers and the bishops. These amendments now go back to the commons, so this is your chance to lobby your MP to support these reforms.
This is an appeal to the Labour front bench: please talk to some constitutional lawyers urgently about my Fatal Motion, or even Gordon Brown, who produced such an expert report on reforming the second chamber. It appears that Emily Thornberry MP, Labour’s Shadow Attorney General hasn’t had the full picture explained to her. In a tweet the other day, she argued:
“Labour doesn’t vote in the House of Lords to kill a bill, that’s the Commons’ job. The constitutional position is the unelected Lords is a revising chamber only. If a precedent was set, the Tories could easily use their majority in the Lords to do the same to a Lab govt’s laws.”
Continue reading “An appeal to Labour’s frontbench: save parliamentary democracy”
We had three significant government defeats on amendments to the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill
Jenny’s long standing campaign to stop incineration and raise the alarm over CO2 emissions and local air pollution has been joined by Greenpeace. They have teamed up with Exinction rebellion and UK Without Incinerators to deleiver a 10 point action plan to the PM for a swift shift to a circular economy.
Noting social justice concerns, the action plan stresses that better measures to curb pollution from incinerators are urgently required. It points out that incinerators are “imposed on communities against their will, harming their air quality without their consent” and that these plants “are more likely to be built in poorer areas and in areas with higher racial and ethnic diversity”. Greenpeace data has shown that UK waste incinerators are three times as likely to be located in deprived areas.
Jenny met them at the Big One weekend of protests in London, saying that “Everyone deserves clean air”
A key green party demand is to stop more incinerators being built and for councils to withdraw from the long term contracts that have such a negative impact on recycling rates.
The government suffered four defeats on amendments to the Energy Bill in the Lords last night, including one championed by my Green Party collegue Natalie Bennett on community energy. These will now go back to MPs for them to consider and hopefully we will get a few shifts in the government’s position.
The first amendment adds a new clause imposing a duty on the Secretary of State to bring forward a plan within six months of the passage of the act for low carbon heat, energy efficient buildings and higher standards on new homes.
The second adds a new clause requiring the Secretary of State to bring forward regulations to prohibit the opening of new coal mines in England.
The third adds a requirement to have regard for the UK’s net zero emissions target into Ofgem’s general duties.
The fourth amendment requires the Secretary of state to bring forward regulations to require large energy suppliers to purchase electricity from low carbon community sites and provide annual reporting on the use of such schemes
After the success in the Lords of my Clean Air (Human Rights) Bill I’m very happy with the warm cross party support for my new Anti-corruption Bill (thank you Mr Starmer). When adopted it will reverse the damage done by over a decade of corporate lobbying and political donations to the Conservative Party.
The Lords has defeated the government a total of six times during the Public Order Report Stage.
Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb 