We have the time and the expertise to scrutinise things, and that is what we should be allowed to get on with. Jenny spoke in the chamber as the government suffered a further three defeats Continue reading “Trade Bill ‘Ping Pong’ – Lords pass a further three amendments after Commons strips out all previous amendments”
I hope this legislation will make it easier and more straightforward for people to get legal protections against an abusive partner or ex-partner. Continue reading “Domestic Abuse Bill Committee Stage Day 3”
The Green Party recognises that, in the majority of cases, the limited use of drugs for recreational purposes is not harmful; it actually has the potential to improve well-being and even enhance human relationships and creativity. However, most harmful drug use is underpinned by poverty, isolation, mental or physical illness and psychological trauma—in these cases, harmful drug use can cause a vicious circle. This Bill will have a gaping hole if it does not properly address the complex relationships between domestic abuse and harmful drug use... Continue reading “Domestic Abuse Bill”
Dear MP
Please retain the Lords amendments to the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS) Bill when it returns to the Commons.
Continue reading “A letter to your MP re the Spy Cops (CHIS) Bill”
Jenny Jones: “Labour must dramatically change its position in the next few days on this bill or else it will be complicit in future acts of state oppression”
Green Party peer Jenny Jones has submitted a fatal amendment to the Covert Human Intelligence Sources Bill which will be voted on in the Lords on Thursday during the legislations Third Reading. She has urged Labour MPs and peers not to vote for the spycops bill as it goes through its final stage in the coming week.
We should be taking a much deeper, longer-term look at reforming the whole of land taxes in this country. This is perhaps not the moment—but if not now, when?
Continue reading “Business rates, public toilets and land tax”
Probably the most dangerous legislation I’ve seen in my lifetime is back in the Lords today for amendment and despite the determined efforts of Shami Chakrabarti, until now Labour peers have mostly sat on their hands. On Monday, Labour abstained on the big vote of replacing blanket immunity for Covert Human Intelligence Sources with the existing system of a public interest test and legal defence. The government has promoted this Bill as merely putting the status quo into law, but this Bill goes way beyond that. Laws passed by Parliament and developed over time through case law, can now be by-passed by over 500 senior police officers who can authorise officers, civilian employees and criminals to commit crimes, with immunity.
20: After Clause 2, insert the following new Clause –
“Ratification of international trade agreements
(1) An international trade agreement may not be ratified unless it enables the United Kingdom to require imports to meet standards that are equivalent to the principal standards laid down by primary and subordinate legislation in the United Kingdom regarding food safety, the environment and animal welfare.
Continue reading “The Trade Bill Report Stage – My Amendment”Can the Minister confirm two things: first, that reform of leasehold means moving towards commonhold, and secondly, that the reforms will exempt community land trusts, which use this system in a very productive way?
Answering for HMG, Lord Greenhalgh said: I will not make such a statement today in the House but a statement will be made very shortly. Community land trusts are a separate policy matter. I agree with the noble Baroness that community land trusts are a way forward—not always the right way but one way to use land for the benefit of a particular community.
Read the whole debate on Hansard
I will be voting with my Green Party colleagues against the Trade Agreement this government has negotiated with the EU. I resent the loss of democracy in the way that Parliament is being expected to rubber stamp a deal with minimum scrutiny and no ability to amend, nor even seriously question Ministers. This is not the UK Parliament taking back control, it is a power grab by the executive and we must renegotiate the terms of the agreement, once a general election has given the public their say. I reject the minimal guarantees on standards for the environment and the loss of freedom of movement. Our young people will miss the advantages of travel and study with the Erasmus scheme. And we have all gained an additional set of expenses for health insurance and other costs every time we take a trip across the English Channel.
I voted for Brexit, but I cannot vote for this disastrous deal that leaves British people far worse off. Instead of creating 50,000 jobs to deal with the growing crisis of the climate emergency, this government has created 50,000 custom agents to check over the estimated 211 million extra forms that exporters will need. Above all, I am not prepared to vote for lower environmental standards and less rigorous enforcement of them. This government have the numbers to pass their deal, but this is nowhere near the best deal and I won’t legitimise what our Government has negotiated by voting for it.
