Other issues – Page 31 – Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb

Podcast: Sian Berry and green achievements

Published on May 8, 2019June 4, 2019 by iwin1961

Elected greens always tend to punch above their weight. Whether it is a local council chamber, the London Assembly, or Parliament itself, a Green in the room will change the dynamic of most conversations. Sian Berry has a string of successes from her time as a member of Camden council and the London Assembly. This podcast (on Podbean) talks about some of the key changes Sian has achieved and gives a taste of what will happen in the 2020 Mayoral campaign. Continue reading “Podcast: Sian Berry and green achievements” →

A week in my life: Feb 2019

Published on March 27, 2019 by iwin1961

I recently wrote an article for the Parliamentary House Magazine describing a regular week in my working life – except, nothing is regular here at the moment. I left a debate on Lords’ Reform to go meet school children on their Climate Strike and to get the police to let them use a sound system. I did the BBCR4 review of the papers on Broadcasting House. Oh, and I had to apologise after I got annoyed in the Chamber about silly things being said about incinerating plastic and referred to Conservative Lord Ridley as that ‘fellow over there’.

JJ diary article Feb 2019

Trade Bill – Green win protects current standards

Published on March 19, 2019May 10, 2019 by iwin1961

The government are due to amend the Trade Bill today to protect existing standards for animal welfare, workers rights and the environment in future trade agreements. They have submitted a slightly tweaked version of the amendment put forward by Green Party Baroness Jones. Continue reading “Trade Bill – Green win protects current standards” →

Read about my work in my latest newsletter

Published on March 19, 2019 by jonesjb

Read my latest newsletter here

Read previous issues here

Trade Bill update

Published on March 7, 2019March 19, 2019 by iwin1961

My amendment on the Trade Bill was debated this week, with support from Labour and Lib Dems. It contains the current protections for the standards we have. But the Government seems reluctant to accept it, even though the Prime Minister herself has said that she doesn’t want to weaken existing standards in future trade agreements. At the moment it would be possible for Ministers to use statutory instruments to change the rules on this, but my amendment would guarantee these minimum standards were kept for rolling over all the trade deals that we currently have as a result of EU membership.

Continue reading “Trade Bill update” →

Meeting with Minister on Trade Bill changes

Published on February 28, 2019March 19, 2019 by iwin1961

I had a meeting this week with Trade Minister Baroness Fairhead to discuss my amendment to the Trade Bill which aims to make our existing standards the foundation of all new trade agreements. Despite the number of advisors in the meeting on the government side, no one could give any reason why my amendment was bad in law or in principle. From what Ministers say in public, we are all in agreement about not using trade deals to lower standards. The main disagreement is over whether we need this principle enshrined in law. Continue reading “Meeting with Minister on Trade Bill changes” →

Nearly 2000 air pollution ‘hotspots’

Published on February 27, 2019March 19, 2019 by iwin1961

A data audit by Friends of the Earth has revealed the 1,845 sites across the UK that have breached the annual Air Quality Objective for Nitrogen Dioxide (NO₂) levels, which is set to protect health. High levels of NO₂ can cause a flare up of asthma or symptoms such as coughing and difficulty breathing. A leading cause of NO₂ pollution is emissions from road traffic. Continue reading “Nearly 2000 air pollution ‘hotspots’” →

Latest podcast out

Published on February 20, 2019March 19, 2019 by jonesjb

In episode 7 of Jen’s Green Jam I interview fellow peer Chris Holmes, winner of 9 Gold medals! We talk about his part in bringing us the incredibly successful 2012 London Paralympics plus why diversity in the workplace is important and how we can help achieve it.

Enabling Talent – listen now on Podbean and PlayerFM

Why I oppose ‘no deal’ Brexit

Published on February 15, 2019 by iwin1961

“I voted with Labour and Lib Dem peers (plus a few Conservatives) for a motion that ruled out the diaster of a ‘no deal’ Brexit. As well as the obvious impacts on food supply, businesses and people’s lives, there is a huge backlog of legislation that the government is failing to get through.

It is staggering that by the 29th March we have to deal with: 6 major Bills; 9 statutes; 600 statutory instruments; 120,000 EU statutes to transfer in UK law; produce a schedule for WTO; and 5,000+ WTO product lines to be agreed by 163 WTO countries. The only sensible option is to rule out a no deal.”

Farming and climate change

Published on February 14, 2019May 8, 2019 by iwin1961

Following a recent meeting with the National Farmers Union (NFU) I asked the government what they were doing to reduce the 10% of the UK’s greenhouse gases that come from the agriculture sector. There are quite a few initiatives being taken, but none on the scale needed to make a significant impact, according to the Climate Change Commission. The draft Agriculture Bill offers a rare chance to change the system of financial incentives to give a boost to public goods, such as reducing climate change and rewilding the countryside. Continue reading “Farming and climate change” →