People's Republic of South Devon » MPs and Wannabes

Greens call for council properties to become the powerhouses of Exeter

PRSD — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:50:41 +0000

Exeter Green Party is calling on Exeter City Council to investigate immediately the potential for renewable electricity generation from city council owned premises and land. This, the Greens say, would reduce costs by providing free electricity, generate an income to help prevent cuts to services and help move Exeter towards becoming a low carbon city.

The call from the Greens follows the recent announcement from Energy Secretary, Chris Huhne, that councils would now be able to sell renewable electricity to the National grid.

The Green Party estimates that for every 100m² of photovoltaic solar panels erected on council owned land over £89,000 in income over a 25 year period could be made from generating electricity. The electricity could be used by the council or exported to the grid With initial set up costs of just £60,000 for a 100m² system and cost savings from free energy, the Greens argue that such a system represents a good return on investment. The party also says that low interest loans would be available for setting up the schemes.

The Greens estimate that there is huge potential through positioning solar panels on roof tops as well as ground-mounted solar panels on local authority land. Examples of buildings and land that could be used to generate electricity include the Corn Exchange, Exeter Business Centre and the Livestock Centre at Matford.

Andrew Bell, the Green Party candidate in Alphington, said that Alphington ward alone could become a powerhouse for the city as it contains both Exeter Business Centre and the Livestock Centre at Matford, both owned by Exeter City Council.

He told the PRSD: “The Livestock Centre alone has a huge surface area on its roof for solar panels. But there is also lots of space that could be used for ground mounted panels. What a great opportunity for the city council to generate green electricity, fund essential services and reduce the city’s carbon footprint. This is just another example of a win-win solution being put forward by the Green Party.”

(from a press release)

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Last few days to have your say in the Labour leadership

Luke Pollard — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 08:23:19 +0000

If you want to have a say in who will be Labour’s next leader you only have a few more days to join the party to be eligible to vote in this year’s contest. The deadline for new members joining the party and being eligible to vote in the Leadership election is Wednesday, September 8.

After the sadness of losing such a good local MP in Linda Gilroy MP in May the Leadership election has seen some really positive debate at a local and national level about who should lead the party and a return to form for local morale. Unusually, some of this national debate has been taking place in Plymouth with both the Miliband brothers and Ed Balls having visited the city to woo Labour members. Shadow Health Secretary, Andy Burnham will be making the journey to Plymouth next week to speak to members. Only Diane Abbott has failed to visit us in Devon.

For many Devon Labour activists the peculiar actions and debates of Westminster Village can seem a million miles away from politics on the ground in our county. I’m pleased that this debate has allowed local members the chance to question the candidates for leadership. National politicians visiting us in Plymouth should not end with the conclusion of this contest either.

More members than ever before have joined the party and the memberships of the local Labour parties is up across the board. It is not just former members who are rejoining but young people engaging in politics for the first time, families joining en masse and retired people wanting to make a difference. Whilst losing government has few positive upsides this leadership contest has given Labour supporters a chance to be positive and look towards the future.

I was speaking recently to Alison Seabeck, Labour MP for Plymouth Moor View who remarked about the leadership contest: “This is the most important and closest leadership election that the party has had in decades. Since the leadership election started we’ve increased our party membership in Plymouth considerably. I’ve never seen so many people joining the party and really engaging with politics. It’s really encouraging.” And it really is.

From my own personal perspective there is a real sense that Labour needs to change to win again and that this leadership election could mark a departure from the Brown and Blair era. But with only a few days left for people to join Labour people in Devon could be missing out on influencing the outcome if they don’t join up by the deadline on Wednesday.

Don’t forget it costs only £1 if you’re under 27 to join the Labour Party and you’ll get a chance to shape the future of not only Labour but the way politics is going to be conducted in the coming years. If you’ve got a favourite for leadership, now is the time to join us and have your say.

• Both Luke and Alison Seabeck are supporting Ed Miliband for Leader.

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Banking reform and immigration issues lead as MEPs return to European Parliament

Graham Watson — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 07:18:08 +0000

It is easy to knock the European Parliament, as one of my new Dutch colleagues did in an interview with one of his national newspapers this summer, just a year after taking up his seat; it is much harder to get down to the business of legislating, as one of my UK colleagues (also recently elected) has done very effectively in the supervision of the financial services industry.

What began as a set of very timid proposals from the European Commission last September in response to the recent banking crisis is soon to become a package of laws despite the initial resistance of some of the EU member states. As a result the banks and other financial speculators will be much better regulated and Josephine Public’s savings will be safer.

I returned to Parliament on Monday after one of my best summer breaks ever. On Tuesday I quizzed the Development Aid Commissioner at a committee hearing about aid to Pakistan (and told her to work harder with other Commissioners to design a credible policy to deal with the climate change which will make such natural disasters more frequent): on Wednesday I met Turkish Cypriot representatives to discuss the opening of direct trade links with the northern part of the island; on Thursday I went to a hearing entitled ‘A sustainable EU policy for the High North’ to learn about resources and people in the Arctic and how we might best preserve peace and prevent a power struggle for oil and gas, of which it has huge resources. In Parliament there is rarely a chance to ease oneself gently back in to a routine after the summer holiday. You hit the earth with a bump.

The European Commission held a ‘strategy session’ at Val Duchesse (the Belgian equivalent of Chequers) on Tuesday. They discussed the EU budget. The Union is about to begin another row about how to pay for what the member states decide needs doing at EU level. They also discussed the situation in France, where over 7,000 Bulgarian and Romanian citizens have accepted financial incentives to return to their home country.

France has expelled 1,310 others and cleared some 100 illegal Roma campsites. Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom (Sweden, Lib Dem) argued that to conform with EU law expulsion decisions should be issued in writing with leave given to appeal against them; that they should be based on identifiable threats to public order or unreasonable burdens on social services and that they should not target one particular ethnic group. Sarkozy’s populist action, designed to restore his opinion poll ratings, threatens to become a wider pogrom against the Roma which might be copied in Italy and elsewhere. Parliament will debate it next week.

UK Commissioner Catherine Ashton (foreign and security policy) is under attack from some MEPs for failing to respect gender balance in the new appointments to EU ambassadorial posts. The criticism may be justified, but since the appointments have not yet been announced it is a little too early to tell!

Socialist Group leader Martin Schulz held a press conference to remind people he exists and to promise an autumn of heated protest against Barroso’s right wing Commission, though the Socialist Group in Parliament is weaker than ever before. And Poland’s new president paid us a visit, though he came and left so quickly that few even caught a glimpse of him.

The parliamentary caravanserai is back on the move!

(image of Graham Watson by Salty1977 under the Creative Commons)

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Hands up if you want to be UKIP leader!

PRSD — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 08:47:00 +0000

The UK Independence Party (which mentions its non-racism right up front, like so many uncomfortable situations) is in Torquay for its annual conference and is on the look out for the next new face for its specail brand of cantankerous politics.

Maybe it’s an opportunity for some of those disaffected Tories who feel weakened by the dilution of their message to jump ship and make a name for themselves. The leader who is stepping down, Lord Pearson of Rannoch, is a former Conservative, after all.

And the reason he’s stepping down? Why he’s ‘not much good at party politics’ and doesn’t enjoy the cut and thrust of party politics. Makes you wonder how he got the job in the first place.

For the interim the party has appointed Jeffrey Titford as caretaker manager.

Former leader and MEP Nigel Farage is taking more time for himself and his family after his light aircraft crash on the day of the 2010 general election (May 5), but may be tempted back into the fray.

Front runner is MEP David Campbell Bannerman (another former Tory).

The South West is a political haven for UKIP, with two MEPs representing the region and the headquarters of the party is based in Newton Abbot.

But for you political careerist out there here’s a scenario you could consider: hold your nose and join a minor party so you can get ahead quickly. Then hope the balance of power shifts your way so you can grasp office and pull your party’s ideology with you. It’s pretty cynical, but just might work…

• Read more on the BBC

(image: from a UKIP 2010 general election mail out by Some rights reserved by srboisvert)

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Posters to make the case for fairer votes

Stuart Bonar — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:00:19 +0000

Take Back Parliament, the group campaigning for a YES vote in next May’s fairer votes referendum, is a real grassroots effort. When they needed to come up with ideas for campaign posters, they didn’t go to some swish London advertising company, but instead ran a competition to crowdsource ideas from amongst their own supporters.

I entered, submitting a whole raft of different poster designs: take a look here, here and here.

I didn’t get first prize, but the campaign is still going to use my poster ideas, which is great news. The group campaigning for fair votes in Canada has even been in touch asking if they can adapt some of the designs for use there too.

The case for change is overwhelming. Take, for example, the fact that no MP was elected in either of Devon’s two cities with much more than about one in three votes. Oliver Colvile, the Conservative who unseated Labour’s Linda Gilroy in the Plymouth Sutton and Devonport seat, for example, secured just 34 per cent of the vote – meaning that two-thirds of voters wanted someone else to represent them.

Of the MPs representing South Devon constituencies, only Gary Streeter in South West Devon secured more than one in every two votes.

Looking across the entire country, the lowest vote share of any MP was just 29 per cent, meaning more than seven in every 10 voters backed another candidate. And while I am a Lib Dem, this isn’t a party-political point as the MP in question is a Lib Dem!

In May next year you’ll get a chance in a referendum to back a switch from the system we use right now to elect MPs – first-past-the-post – to a system called the Alternative Vote (AV). Under AV, every voter gets the chance to rank candidates in order of preference – 1, 2, 3 – meaning no more need to vote tactically. You can vote with your heart as well as your head.

Best of all, the winner must ultimately win at least half of the votes. That means parliamentary candidates will have to work harder to win over many more voters than they need to right now. That is good news for democracy.

If you support a switch to AV then visit the Take Back Parliament website and sign up – there are groups forming in Devon right now.

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Totnes Lib Dem Councillor defects to the Greens

PRSD — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 08:47:47 +0000

Totnes District Councillor and ‘community campaigner’ Robert Vint has announced that he has joined the Green Party.

Cllr Vint, who was elected as a Lib Dem Councillor in May 2007 has served as a member of that party for the last three years. His decision to stand for the council three years ago grew out of his involvement with a wide range of community groups including Transition Town Totnes, Totnes Development Trust and the Allotment Association.

Cllr Vint told the PRSD: “I am a community activist, not a party politician. I can assure the people who voted for me that I will not be changing my policies in any way, but am simply responding to a changing situation.

“Nationally the Lib Dems have entered into a coalition that inevitably involves some very uncomfortable compromises. While this has had no effect at all on the good work of the local party it leaves me associated with national policies on welfare cuts, nuclear weapons and nuclear power stations with which I cannot identify. Meanwhile the once-tiny local Green Party has rapidly flourished to become a major voice of the community.”

“I will not be straying from any of the election promises on which I was elected. The Totnes LibDems have a Local Manifesto that, thanks especially to the work of my colleague Cllr Anne Ward, is packed with excellent policies on social, environmental and local democracy issues that are very similar to those of the Green Party. I feel that the two parties are natural partners and I look forward to continuing to work closely with the Lib Dem Group on the District Council.”

South Hams Green Party representative, Lydia Somerville, said: “I am delighted to welcome Robert to the South Hams Green Party and look forward to campaigning with him on affordable housing, supporting local businesses, maintaining public services and harnessing local renewable energy.”

Cllr Vint will join four other Green Party Councillors who represent the town – County Councillor Paula Black and Town Councillors Jacqi Hodgson, Alan Gorman and Anna Lunk.

(image: Cllr Robert Vint from Lib Dems to the Greens in Totnes on the South Hams District Council)

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MP gets on her bike to push for cycle network link in Totnes

PRSD — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:09:46 +0000

The last time Totnes MP Sarah Wollaston was on her bike she cycled the 61 miles around the Totnes constituency with husband Adrian to meet voters. Now she’s asking people to join her on Thursday (July 29), for her a “mobile surgery” to listen to the problems of constituents while cycling from Totnes to the Dartington Cider Press Centre along the River Dart.

Sarah is meeting up with County Councillor Paula Black and District Councillor Robert Vint and others on Totnes Plains between 11.15am and 11.30am.

She will be supporting their efforts to persuade Devon County Council to link Totnes to the South Devon National Cycle Network. Together they will investigate a possible route link.

(image: Totnes MP Sarah Wollaston on her bike with hubby Adrian during the 2010 general election campaign)

(from a press release)

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Plymouth City Museum responds to call for cost-cutting sell off to raise funds for arts prize

PRSD — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 09:18:45 +0000

Plymouth City Museum has responded to Stuart Bonar’s call sell some of its collection to create a local arts prize his story Commodes, a Tutu and an Asparagus Holder – or a Local Arts Prize? Take it away guys…

Mr Bonar only received information relating to our works of art and not the human or natural history collections held at the museum, nor indeed the collections held in trust at the Plymouth and West Devon Record Office. In addition, most of the beds and armchairs he mentions are actually on loan to us from the V&A and reside on display in the Elizabethan House on the Barbican.

In response to the specific issues he raises, all told we hold well over 2 million items. These objects, specimens, works of art and documents are primarily owned by the residents of Plymouth. To dispose of them, either by throwing or giving them away, involves work to review the collections, where possible track down original donors, consult with the city’s residents, the council and the Museum, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA) as to whether we should be disposing of them.

To sell any of the collections would be quite a significant step to take. We adhere to standards and ethics set down by MLA and the Museums Association where we are expected to transfer, lend or destroy items rather than sell them to back-fill budget deficits or create new initiatives.

Those museums who feel the need to take such drastic steps suffer from de-accreditation by the MLA and subsequent loss of grant funding streams open to them from places such as the Heritage Lottery Fund, National Memorial Fund, V&A Purchase Grant Fund, Preservation or Scientific & Industrial Materials Fund, Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, Clore Foundation, Art Fund, Arts Council… the list goes on). With almost 50 per cent of our funding coming from these sources it would be a false economy to look at selling collections as a way of saving money spent on running costs.

That said, we will be reviewing our collections in the future and we have recently been extremely lucky to be just one of six museums to receive Effective Collections funding from the Museums Association to review our 4,000 strong spirit preserved marine life collection. Any saving made will be, as Mr Bonar suggests, created through efficiencies of space.

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South West Water Bills – what’s your opinion? Fill in the survey

PRSD — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 09:31:08 +0000

Torbay MP Adrian Sanders has joined fellow South West Lib Dem MPs in promoting a survey to gather local residents’ views on the disproportionate water rates paid in the south west.

The previous Government commissioned a report on water bills and how inequalities across the UK could be corrected. The recommendations of the report are currently being reviewed by the water regulator OFWAT to determine how best to tackle the problem.

While Ofwat is looking at the technical measures surrounding the various options available, it has not yet sought the views of the public and Adrian is keen to ensure all local people can have their input into the process.

Adrian told the PRSD: “We are getting to the end of a very long process in rectifying the historic water bill injustice, but we still need to keep up the pressure to make sure that it is not forgotten by Government. Ensuring Ofwat is aware of how important this is to the public is crucial.”

If you would like to take the Water Bills Survey, you can find it on Adrian’s website.

(Image: Drop by johnonolan used under a Creative Commons licence)

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Ed Miliband gaining support in the South West in Labour leadership contest

PRSD — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 12:55:22 +0000

Alison Seabeck, the Labour MP for Plymouth Moor View and Luke Pollard – who stood for Labour in South West Devon – have pledged their support for Ed Miliband, the Shadow Climate Change Secretary in the Labour leadership campaign.

Ed Miliband will be taking questions from Labour members and non-members at Plymouth Labour’s HQ at 21 Durnford Street, Stonehouse from 6pm on Friday, August 6. The tour of the South West will also include a meeting with supporters in Exeter.

Ed has said: “The challenge for Labour in the South West is to rebuild the trust of those people who we lost at the last election. I want Labour to be the party that not only talks of fairness, decent pay and jobs but delivers it in every part of the country. This means building on the good work of Alison Seabeck and Linda Gilroy in Plymouth and winning back voters in Plymouth.”

Alison said: “I’ve been impressed by Ed’s down to earth style and plain talking. People in Moor View tell me they want Labour to reconnect with ordinary hard-working families and that is what Ed will do – and that’s why I’m backing him.

Luke Pollard, who is part of Ed Miliband’s South West campaign team, said: “Ed’s no-nonsense vision of getting back to Labour’s core values of social justice and equality is already going down well in Plymouth.

“If Labour is to win back Plymouth at a local as well as a national level the party needs a leader who will connect with working people, young and old and offer a positive vision for our country. In Ed Miliband I think we would have a leader who will give our party the focus and direction we need to win.”

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In future, let the people decide on unitary status, say Exeter Greens

PRSD — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 13:59:01 +0000

Exeter Green Party is calling for important decisions affecting the people of Exeter to be decided by residents in future. While the Green Party has been the only local party to consistently oppose unitary status for Exeter, they believe that such crucial issues should be determined by a local referendum rather than by politicians.

The Green Party has described the failed unitary bid and subsequent local elections now forced on the city by the courts, as a reckless, risky and expensive experiment driven by political motives rather than by the interests of Exeter residents.

Green Party County Councillor Paula Black told the PRSD: “At a time of savage cuts imposed by the coalition government a small unitary authority would just not be able to deliver the level of services offered by a county cuncil. Being a part of Devon will enable Exeter residents to enjoy a much greater range of services at lower costs.”

Greens also believe that Exeter’s future lies in Devon. Exeter Green Party chair Audaye Elesedy said: “As oil and other resources deplete and tackling climate change becomes more and more urgent, we will need to be more, rather than less, connected with rural Devon. We will be looking at the surrounding rural hinterland to supply a much greater proportion of our food and energy.”

While the Green Party believes that the costs now forced on Exeter residents by snap local elections imposed by the courts is the fault of other local Parties in Exeter they say they are fully prepared for the upcoming city elections.

Exeter Green Party Press officer Andrew Bell said: “Only the Green Party can claim to have clean hands on this issue and we hope that the people of Exeter realise this.

“As a truly democratic party we believe residents should determine the way their city is organised and governed by local referendums.

“The Labour government pushed blindly ahead with unitary status for Exeter despite the fact that the Exeter bid did not meet all the government’s own criteria. They did this in the full knowledge that a future Tory government would reverse the decision.

“All local parties, including the Liberals and local Conservatives, backed this misguided attempt at unitary status which has resulted in a complete fiasco. Our consistent opposition to unitary status for Exeter places us in a unique position.”

(from a press release)

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A sense of demob happiness among MEPs: Graham Watson’s email from Europe

Graham Watson — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 08:58:03 +0000

The European Parliament rises today for its summer recess, which this year is one week longer than usual. We do not return until Monday, August 30, and there was a sense of demob happiness among MEPs.

I was surprised to be the only UK Lib Dem MEP who attended Wednesday evening’s summer drinks reception thrown by the Brussels local party of the UK Liberal Democrats; we have many members who live and work in Brussels, for the EU institutions or in other areas, who all have a valuable contribution to make, and the event was well supported.

One change associated with being in government is the need to be in London more. I spent Monday there on my way to Brussels, trying to raise funds for my Climate Parliament, and yesterday on my way home, to conduct interviews for a liaison person to serve the MEPs in London and to attend the Westminster parliamentary party’s ‘away day’ session in Smith Square.

In between I quizzed NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh-Rasmussen (former Danish Liberal prime minister) about India-Pakistan and Transnistria at Parliament’s foreign affairs committee, spoke to visitors from the Dorset Youth Council and carried out more interviews, both for the MEPs’ London based post and for a vacancy in my parliamentary office.

Our finance ministers met in Brussels this week with a heavily charged agenda. It may be worth my highlighting their discussion of the EU’s ‘broad economic policy guidelines’ – still little known about outside Brussels, even 15 years after their introduction – under which banner they seek to co-ordinate the economic policies of the 27 different member states. A surprising degree of co-ordination exists since our prosperity depends essentially on the growth of trade within the EU’s single market, which common policies facilitate.

Surprisingly, however, it was the meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries ministers on Monday, which committed the EU to finding 1.4 billion euros to pay for the cost overruns on the construction of ITER (International Thermonuclear Energy Reactor) in southern France. I am not an opponent of nuclear fusion, but I think it crazy that we will allow so much money from the EU’s budget to be eaten up in this that there will be little left for renewable energies; and I find it indecent that the decision was pushed through as an ‘A’ point (ie without discussion) on the agenda of ministers who have no responsibilities in this area.

On Monday, the 27 environment ministers met for informal discussions in Ghent and yesterday our home affairs ministers met informally in Brussels. In each case a Commissioner from the Liberal family led the discussions: environment commissioner Janez Potocnik (LD, Slovenia) tried to coax member states towards a co-ordinated policy on use of natural resources and home affairs commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom (LD, Sweden) sought agreement on a series of asylum-related proposals.

Today I address students in Cornwall at Redruth School and later at Bodmin College before travelling to Plymouth for a function there. Next week I clear my constituency office desk in advance of a holiday with my family. I will write again on Friday, September 3.

(image of Graham Watson by Salty1977 under the Creative Commons)

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