Author: jonesjb

My petition to defend rights and democracy

Published on by jonesjb

Only a few weeks ago the Government lost a vote in the Lords on the Public Order Bill to change the interpretation of “serious disruption” of other people’s day-to-day activities to mean “anything more than minor” and now the government are now trying to reinsert this change via secondary legislation which has less Parliamentary scrutiny and can’t be amended in any way. Baroness Jenny Jones has tabled a fatal motion to stop their proposal from becoming law.

Continue reading “My petition to defend rights and democracy” →

Illegal Migration Bill Second Reading

Published on by jonesjb

This is a Government of divide and rule: they attack the leftie lawyers and judges who uphold the law, and they attack environmentalists for their common-sense demands of ensuring a safe, secure future for planet and people. Above all, they attack the immigrants, the foreigners, because they hope it will win them votes.

This Bill is not the solution to any problem, it is illegal, impractical, expensive, cruel and undemocratic

Continue reading “Illegal Migration Bill Second Reading” →

Shark Fin Fishing

Published on by jonesjb

The issue of shark-fins encapsulates the human problem that we have in our relationship to our planet. There is an attitude among a vast majority of people—particularly in this House—that the planet is there for us: it is there for us to rape and pillage, to use as and when we need. As a Green, I can see that simply is not true. The majority of people think that this whole world is at our disposal—animal, vegetable, mineral—and I argue that it is our lifeline. It is our home, and we ought to be looking after it better. Humans have been around, more or less in the form that we are at the moment, for about 100,000 years. In evolutionary terms, that is like being tiny little toddlers, and our behaviour is often like toddlers; we are greedy, we grab and we do not follow common sense. We certainly do not seem to understand that earth is our support system. Continue reading “Shark Fin Fishing” →

Not even baby steps

Published on by jonesjb

In this budget the Chancellor has taken absolutely no steps on the path to a green economy. Green growth is an oxymoron. The minute you grow anything, you have to degrow in a different area. Green growth is possible but not if you do not cut somewhere else. Every time we grow the economy, we take a bite out of the planet’s resources. In the words of Professor Jason Hickel, author of ‘Less is More’ –

“Decarbonization with growth is like trying to run down an escalator that is accelerating upwards” Continue reading “Not even baby steps” →

Picket lines

Published on by jonesjb

On Spring Budget Day, amid the cost of living crisis and climate emergency, I did a tour of nearby picket lines staffed by teachers, civil servants and journalists and was interviewed by ITV about local BBC radio station cuts. I didn’t get to the picket lines staffed by junior doctors, university or tube staff but I support them too and condemn the Government’s Strikes Bill as a Slavery Bill Continue reading “Picket lines” →