Political

So desperate were the local Conservatives and Liberal Democrats that they spent over 12K each fighting for power in this election. I've no doubt that this put both local parties into debt - something they both vowed to bring the country out of. The Green's here in West Berkshire spent the least on electioneering and as the parliamentary candidate for the Green Party in Newbury, Adrian Hollister said, "I am proud of what was achieved with such frugal funding"

Overall the Tories will have spent a good deal of money per vote, plus of course the interest on the loans issued to them and other debts to be paid. I'm guessing when everything is tallied up, they will have spent about a £1 per vote - about the same as everyone else. This shows how much reform needs to happen on our current election system. Pounds sterling should not equal votes. People should be able to feel free to vote for what is right; for what in their heart they believe in; and not what some marketeer or media source has told them.

In response to the Chancellor’s Emergency Budget announcement today, Green Cllr Amy Kennedy said:

“We are gravely concerned to see so many wide-ranging cuts to public spending. The effects of today’s announcement will have a massive impact on local government and communities, as we warned a few weeks ago.

“The enforced freeze on council tax is a crude attempt by central government to shift the blame for soon-to-be disappearing public services onto local government. Not only is the Government desperate to avoid criticism for their own ruthless economic policy, but they’re limiting the flexibility for local councils such as Brighton & Hove to be able to manage fairly the cuts the Government is demanding.

“The public sector pay freeze which will affect many at the city council, which on the face of it may seem reasonable to some, will in fact amount to a pay-cut to some of those on lower incomes once inflation is taken into account.”(1)


Adrian Hollister from the Green Party in Newbury agreed and said, "We are now at a point where everyone working in public sector is holding their breath for the pending cuts. Public sector employees here in West Berkshire are expecting to see job cuts and they are expecting to see services cut leaving them to hope and charity.

"The ConDem local government we have in West Berkshire will I'm sure keep up the pretence of being 'two parties' but in reality their leaders sleep in one bed and the Liberal Democrats must be ashamed that they have sold out their morals for a few years in power. How they are going to justify cuts in local services I just don't know - the Lib Dem's told the public during the election that they would protect people, they would represent families, they would represent the poor and build communities. Clearly they do not.

"I am not sure the people of West Berkshire have quite realised what monster they have voted in, but it is clear from today that the poorest and the 'middle class' are going to pay back the debt largely caused by the greedy rich few. I wouldn't mind betting rich Tory boy Richard Benyon is laughing all the way to the bank."



Notes

1) For example, the £250 year-on-year increase for an individual on £16,000 per annum actually only amounts to a 1.5% pay increase whilst inflation is expected to be between1.6-2%.

Given the current fascination by the ConDem government for cutting out consultants, I just wonder if special advisor's who are just political consultants should be included in the cull? Every department seems to have droves of them wandering around with no fixed agenda (sic). I note in the recent question to the minister in charge of DEFRA, her bag boy Richard Benyon replied with some basic stats, but interestingly the special advisor seems to have been excluded from the pay grades.

I'm guessing this is because they are not full time civil servant, nor a full time politician, so they must be a consultant.

If we are to have a fair system and all consultants are on the ConDem hit list then special advisor's should be top of the list. If they are consultants earning special pay grades then their wages should be published just like everyone else.

So, ConDems, I call on you to openly publish the cost of special advisor's and be open and fair around their cuts from all pay grades.

What a great article in this weeks Newbury Weekly News - the headline in their elections 2010 section is 'Disillusioned Lib Dem voters told the future isn't orange, it's green'.

Also from today's media round up, you can see that Richard Benyon secures a minor position in government.

Finally, Brightwalton fete appeared on page 6 of the Newbury Weekly News with a great picture of the maypole dancers.

Article from the Green Party web site:

Yesterday evening's announcement of a deal between the Tories and the Lib Dems should be a wake-up call to Lib Dem supporters, said Britain's Greens this morning - and the Greens issued a "big, open, and comprehensive offer" to Liberal Democrat members and voters to come and join the Greens and campaign for real democratic change, real action to tackle poverty, and real action on climate change.

The offer was made jointly by the Green Party of England and Wales and the Scottish Green Party.

Caroline Lucas MP, leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, said:

"The Lib Dems have shown themselves to be not so much a party of change as a party of changing its mind.

"The Lib Dems have made themselves known as a party of dirty tricks in election campaigns. But now, Nick Clegg has carried out the biggest Lib Dem dirty trick so far, betraying all those people who voted Lib Dem because they honestly thought it would bring about electoral reform."

Patrick Harvie MSP said:

"This is an extraordinary decision by the Lib Dem leadership, and thousands of their activists and voters will feel heavily betrayed today.

"Many explicitly campaigned as the best way to keep the Tories out of power, as a party of radical change and a party of principle, and they have now been completely let down by Nick Clegg and his top team. These members and supporters did not work hard over the last weeks and months to see their party become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Tories.

"We would therefore like to make a big, open and comprehensive offer to Lib Dem supporters to come now and talk to the Greens instead. Many former Lib Dem members have already found a long-term home with the Greens, including former Lib Dem councillors. Thousands of Lib Dems will be unable to stomach this decision to put David Cameron's Tories into power, and it's time for them to consider coming home to the Greens.

Harvie continued: "On several crucial points, we have significant common ground, ground that the Tories will never concede through this Westminster stitch-up. We back true constitutional reform, not only proportional representation but also fixed-term Parliaments, a written constitution, votes at 16, limits on corporate donations to political parties, and a whole host of other measures dear to Lib Dem activists' hearts. We support a fairer taxation system too, where those on the highest incomes start to pay their fair share, something the Tories' donors will never permit them to consider. On the environment, we've stood up against a litany of climate-wrecking projects, including those which were approved by Lib Dem ministers in Scotland to the dismay of their members. We're the only political party offering an economic policy which is consistent with environmental politics.

"With the election of Caroline Lucas as the UK's first Green MP, we've shown that radical Green politics can also win popular support at all levels. We are also a truly democratic party, our members set policy in public at conference, and we can be relied on not to sell out. Above all we would never deliver power to the Tories, a party still alien and unacceptable to most Scots. This Lib Dem/Tory deal is the final confirmation that those wanting change will always be shut out by the three big parties at Westminster, and today's decision will be the death-knell for the Lib Dems here in Scotland."

ends.

Adrian Hollister added, "Local news have been following the story that David Rendel is strongly opposed to the pact between the Lib Dems and Tories. I can understand why. In Newbury the Liberal Democrat vote has always been a 'protest against the Tory' vote. This has been betrayed and by linking two parties with such fundamentally different views I can't help thinking that the Lib Dems will have lost the trust of the majority of voters."

You can follow the David Rendel anti-pact story here: http://www.newburysound.co.uk/rendel-on-coalition-i-5863.php

"Can't Win Here" - words that Lib Dem's have been saying and publishing here in West Berkshire for quite some time. They are of course referencing New Labour and the rest (including us Greens). "Your vote will be wasted" - how many times have I heard that - there are, of course, only two political parties in Newbury (according to the Lib Dems) ... Tory old boys or Lib Dems. Both in opposition to each other, both with different morals, both with different ethics.

What irony now that the Lib Dem's are sleeping with the devil.

All those protest votes against the Tories that went to the Lib Dems 'because no one else could win' have been waisted. You have been lied to by the Liberal Democrats - a vote for them is a vote for the Tories - don't be conned by the Liberal Democrats any longer - they don't care about people, communities, our society, and our futures. They are only in it for power.

So, don't waste your vote again on the unpredictable, unreliable and unethical Liberal Democrats - they will sell their souls for a moment of glory.

Move to better and co-operative politics, with ethics, community and our environment at it's centre - move to the Green Party.

Well in Newbury Adrian Hollister won just under 500 votes in a system that promotes and encourages a two party system. We did this with no budget but a whole bunch of enthusiasm. Thanks to my election agent Pam Cooper who did so much work it amazes me she manages to fit in her family and keep smiling!

I doubt that the votes cast are a true representation of the views of the public at large in Newbury - they were told over and over again that only the Tory's or Lib Dems could win in Newbury - and the votes reflected that. If a real PR system were to be introduced I am sure that the voting pattern would be much more realistic (something that the Greens have seen through out the rest of Europe).

This makes Caroline Lucas' win in Brighton Pavilion much more impressive. Against all the odds and against the expectations of the national media, Caroline pulled a stunning win out of the bag. This will help to show that there are more than just three political parties out there; demonstrate that the Green Party is more than tree's and human rights; and show that Green politics are about people, communities and quality of life.

In Newbury, the Lib Dems were clearly damaged by their anti-democratic / negative campaigning - the 'no one else can win here but con/lib dem' may even prove to be right if the Lib Dems make a deal with the Tory old boys tonight. I wonder how many Lib Dem voters will be disheartened that their protest vote against the Tories will be wasted in a Tory/Lib Dem pact.

So, thanks again to Pam Cooper and all of my supporters out there! It's been really good hearing all your words of support. Thanks also to the other candidates for standing up for what they think is right.

Adrian Hollister

During the two Christian hustings it's is clear that people are concerned about the impact of globalisation and free trade both on the poverty in the 3rd world and on our own greedy need consumption to make us happy (buying things clearly do not make us happy).

There are clear strong theme for the 'right to life' and the right to a good quality of life both here and throughout the world. Richard Benyon was proud that he didn't support equal rights for all in our society (with his anti-gay votes reference
http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpid=1727&dmp=826) and he steered clear of his pro-weapons exporting stance whilst claiming he supports all forms of right to life. UKIP also came out strongly against the LGBT community claiming that there was 'something wrong with them'. The Green Party has very strong human rights policies and stance which I hope was recognised by all.

I had very strong support for Green Party environmental policies as well, clearly the others struggled: Richard Benyon failed to make a cohesive 'green wash' argument (how can you support globalisation and free trade and say that localisation and fair trade are the way to go!); David Redndel was also on the fence with environmental issues such as nuclear power and weapons.

There were also areas where Green Party policy is not compatible with the various Christian views - our support for carefully monitored and managed euthanasia; pro-choice stance for abortion; and our policies to ensure we have an 'inclusive' society (not one for example that supports closed faith schools or closed moral religious teachings). But the feedback I had from people was that although they were not in agreement they were pleased that I had clearly brought up the differences and was
prepared to listen to them and their argument.

We had 7 people from the last event pledging to vote for Adrian Hollister (Green Party) and wishing us all the best.

Why is it that "as a matter of interest you are the only prospective candidate who has bothered to reply" is typical of a whole bunch of emails that I'm getting every day. I know that when standing for election you get a large number of emails and a lot of post too; so why don't the other candidates take the time to respond to the people asking questions? I try to answer every email I get, with my views and I don't just respond to the ones I agree with - I suspect the other's are just not responding to questions that they don't have 'good news' stories for or agree with. Another example perhaps of having to listen to what the politician does not say rather than what they do say (for example there is still no sign up from the other PPC's for or against either Friends of the Earth or CND's campaigns).

I've also noticed that some of the other PPC's seem to be asking for an address to write to - doesn't this defeat the whole object of email? a quick mechanism to ask and reply to questions. It seems the rest of our PPC's are of a generation where the electronic world (the world of business, the majority and our immediate future) is lost to them (and their vast staff).

I had a great time Saturday afternoon in Newbury doing a 'meet Adrian Hollister the Green Party PPC' session in Newbury. The main theme discussed was around the leadership debate (and why the Green Party was not represented); the impact of balanced parliament was raised many times – with people made more uncertain by the negative comments driven by the Tories. The interesting irony was that people were discussing Nick Clegg as someone they would vote for, but in West Berks they are also fed up with the bickering between Tory's and Lib Dems.

I had a good chat to Adam Osmond MYP around young people issues, the lack of funding to actually do anything and the limited drive from the local authorities. I discussed with him the £1bn of extra funding proposed by the Green Party and my own personal
thoughts abound providing a part-time salary for MYP members to ensure that they are not overcommitted with several jobs and to ensure that their role in the community is recognised.

We also discussed his main concerns for young people – the burden of the student fee's (the Green party have committed to abolish student tuition fee's); housing – how do young people get onto the property ladder (Green Party have committed to provide affordable and sustainable homes); and finding new jobs (Green Party would create 1 million new jobs through investment in green technology).

Clearly I'm recognised for my blogging, twittering and so on; and in my followers are a number of people from the opposition parties. This is great - it's always an opportunity for me to convince them that the Green Party has the best, the most sustainable and the most ethical policies.

So it was of great amusement to find the Lib Dem stooge in my Twitter list madly emailing last nights post "Just sped through Kintbury at 102 mph!" I assume without thinking about it, he went around madly telling anyone that would listen that "Adrian Hollister, Green Party representative admitting to outrageous speeding".

A bit too quick off the mark I think and with the realisation dawning on the Lib Dem crowd that this was on a train; they are now in a desperate spin cycle to turn it into a local speeding issue. How embarrassing for them and how embarrassing for their stooge - they were caught red handed digging for and spreading dirt that didn't actually exist.

Let's keep it simple stooges - try to win it on your policies.

Meet the Candidate

Come and meet ADRIAN HOLLISTER your Green party parliamentary candidate for Newbury

Saturday 17th April. 2-4pm. The stone building (Up stairs), The Wharf, Newbury
(In the Central Library car park, next to the canal.)

An informal meeting - just a short speech followed by questions and a chat over coffee.

Met up with the people from Newbury Sound yesterday - what a great bunch of people! There is a link on their site to the election coverage and a section on Adrian Hollister with a short sound clip. Do I really sound like that - gulp!

Newbury Weekly News also has entries for each of the candidates. You can find a bit on Adrian Hollister here.

If you find other local media links out there please forward to me: Adrian Hollister (adrian@westberksgreens.org.uk) - thanks!