Next Thursday has some weather forecasts predicting record breaking temperatures in the UK of up to 41 degrees! Weather is fickle and we hope this will not happen, but be sure to keep hydrated.

Here is what Lisa has to say:

The post Tooting Broadway by-election: Vote Green! appeared first on Wandsworth Green Party.

Find all candidates in this poster, following each ward name:

Personal statements can be found here: https://whocanivotefor.co.uk/

The post Green Candidates in Wandsworth – Local election 2022 appeared first on Wandsworth Green Party.

This is the first time that the Wandsworth Green Party has complied a local manifesto which we hope addresses the local issues of our time.

We have a bold and radical approach which puts the needs of local people to the front.

For too long developers have been running riot through Wandsworth and we aim to reform planning so that local people do not feel that planning is done TO them rather than FOR them.

To address the cost of living crisis, what better way than paying people properly? We support an accredited real living wage, not just for the council but all its outsourced offshoots.

In our recent surveys the number one issue was traffic. Therefore we propose a traffic and air pollution Citizen’s Assembly to see how fairly we can reduce traffic, we don’t want to set road against road, we need better solutions where every voice is heard every angle examined.

Climate change means this needs is urgent. 12,300 of you demanded climate action, we take you at your word and in doing so we hope to make the quality of life better, with your help, consulting all the way. With temperatures projected to reach 43°C in London in just a few years we cannot afford to waste more time.

We propose local infrastructure such as the new Earlsfield Square, bringing life and fun and a new market, in line with the local plan.

We are proud of our vision, we think it brings a scent of something new and exciting, not just the same old same old.

We need new vision for new times we hope this manifesto gives an idea of how life could be better, get in contact, join us to make the vision real!

We hope you agree, if you do, the only way you will get this is by voting for it on May 5th, enough of the tired old ways!

DOWNLOAD THE FULL MANIFESTO HERE:

The post Manifesto 2022: The Real Green Deal appeared first on Wandsworth Green Party.

David Carlyon, current Co-ordinator of Wandsworth Green Party and Tooting Bec resident will stand as our candidate.

We will be campaigning on key environmental issues impacting the ward, including air pollution, better cycling facilities and the need for people-friendly streets.

David will continue to campaign on a platform that prioritises the Climate Emergency, and ensures that the council becomes net zero by 2030 and the greenest borough in London.

As coordinator of Wandsworth Green Party for the last two and a half years, David has worked with local environmentalists and campaigners on a range of green issues across Tooting and the wider borough.

If you would like to get involved with our campaign, please get in touch or text 07713261024.

In the coming weeks, we will need help with leafleting across the ward and displaying Vote Green posters/boards.

The post Greens to stand in Bedford ward by-election appeared first on Wandsworth Green Party.

On Thursday 25 February 2021 (18:00) we will be joined by guest speaker Molly Scott Cato to discuss how the economy (and roll out of Universal Basic Income) can work for Wandsworth and the UK under the pressures of Covid and the Climate/Ecological Emergencies.

Please click the Zoom link to register and attend. (Open to everyone).

About Molly

Molly is an economist and writer who has campaigned for green politics all her adult life. She studied politics, philosophy and economics at Oxford University and later gained a doctorate in economics from Aberystwyth.

Aside from her work as an economist Molly’s areas of special interest include land ownership and food production; renewable energy, especially when it is owned by local communities; co-operatives and self-managed firms; and issues concerned with peace and opposing nuclear weapons and nuclear power.

Molly was previously elected to the European Parliament and has led the Green Group on Stroud District Council and was Chair of the Council’s Audit Committee. She worked as Professor of Economics at Roehampton University in London.

We look forward to seeing you there!

The post February 2021 Meeting: with Molly Scott Cato appeared first on Wandsworth Green Party.

Born to a Filipina and a Briton, she moved from Manila to Morden in 1977 and, after some time away, returned in 2013. Angered by pernicious ‘austerity measures’ imposed by the coalition government, she joined The People’s Assembly Against Austerity. Determined to fight cuts to essential local services, particularly in Adult Social Care and at St Helier Hospital, she threw herself into campaigning.

In 2015, Pippa and her neighbours found themselves having to fight their housing association, Clarion, to lower a bill for major works. The ward Councillors proved ineffective. Thus, the residents took matters into their own hands and managed to negotiate about 60% off the original figure. In the same year, she joined the National Health Action Party, compelled to counter unjust cuts to local healthcare and the burgeoning backdoor privatisation of our NHS.

Drawn to not only our environmental policies, but also our deep sense of social justice, shown in our policies on, for example, healthcare, education, the Criminal Justice System, and global relations, a move to the Green Party came in late 2015. In 2017, she stood as a candidate in a by-election for the ward in which she lives and, shortly after, became Merton Green Party’s Election Agent. Since then, she has once again represented her ward in the 2018 council elections, and was the Mitcham and Morden candidate for the General Election in 2019. She is now Merton Green Party’s Membership Secretary.

Since returning to Merton, Pippa has been involved in a number of local campaigns, from helping to protect her local park from being used for events which disturb the wildlife and surrounding neighbourhoods, to protesting the felling of mature trees for a bridge design without safe cycling provision. Most notably, she led a successful petition to the Council to declare a climate emergency and review its current carbon reduction plans for the borough to help to limit global warming to 1.5°C., going on to work with the Council, as part of a Climate Emergency Working Group, to create a Climate Strategy and Action Plan, whose implementation is beginning to take shape.

Chosen as the London Assembly candidate for Merton and Wandsworth in 2019, she has been working hard to understand what it is like to live and/or work in neighbouring Wandsworth. Naturally, this has involved getting to know Wandsworth Green Party, learning from their first-hand experience of campaigning in the borough. In 2020, they organised public meetings with Co-leader and Mayoral candidate, Sian Berry, Co-leader Jonathan Bartley, and Member of the Lords Natalie Bennett.

If you would like to follow Pippa on Twitter, her handle is @pippamaslin. If you would like to contact her, you can email her at pippamaslin@hotmail.co.uk or call her on 07939 816296.

The post Pippa Maslin – London Assembly Candidate appeared first on Wandsworth Green Party.

8 July 2020 Wandsworth Greens join Merton Greens on zoom for an inspiring address on financing a green recovery.  The presentation was given by Merton Green Party member Professor Nick Robins from the London School of Economics.

Professor Robins noted that the Government has adopted some of the rhetoric of the Green New Deal which was first put forward by Caroline Lucas many years ago, but that the actions it has taken so far are tiny in relation to what is actually needed.  He gave the example that while we would need to retrofit 20,000 homes a week to meet even a 2050 zero carbon target we only managed to retrofit 27,000 homes in the whole of last year.

But he emphasised that there is no shortage of financial resources to do the work required.  For example, the Government provides the pensions industry with £50bn a year in tax relief, but there are no conditions attached – its receipt could be linked to investing in green goals.  Another route to financing a green recovery could come require via the Bank of England’s £300bn asset purchase scheme.  Currently this scheme also has no strings attached but green goals could be prioritised here too .  For those who want to know more about this money tree the professor recommended the essay ‘How Do We Pay For A Green New Deal’ by economist Anne Pettifor.

One step that all of us who pay towards pensions – or receive them can take is to sign this petition by Make My Money Matter.  It calls on UK pension funds to put people and the planet on a par with profit when investing in our pensions.  You can find out more about Make My Money Matter here.

At a local level some councils have begun looking at what they can do towards a green recovery despite their dire financial position and one option being examined is to issue community municipal bonds to raise money from better-off residents for investment in local green causes.  Tory controlled West Berkshire is an example of a local authority working in this way.  Their   partners in the scheme are the online crowdfunding platform Abundance, a London based investment company that aims to support projects that deliver benefits for society and the environment.  As of May 2017, £40.5 million has been invested in 24 projects, including a 500 kWp turbine in Gloucestershire, a residential solar project in the South Downs, and free solar power for various schools across the UK.

The post We found the Money Tree appeared first on Wandsworth Green Party.

Natalie spoke of the importance of Green MP representation in the antiquated political system, and highlighted the success of the Green Peers in the House of Lords on key environmental and social issues.

Natalie talked of the popularity of the Green Party as a first preference vote in the Mayoral elections which will be coming up in early May. As the Mayor and Assembly is elected using a fairer voting system, every vote counts for Green supporters across London.

Natalie’s overriding message was one of hope. She spoke of the unpredictable political events in recent times and the opportunities for Greens as the progressive voice in politics. “Where Greens lead, others follow,” she champions, recalling how people called madness on the 20mp/h speed limit recommendation the party campaigned for, and yet is now standard driving practice across London.

With increased number of food banks, homelessness around every corner and inescapable toxic air filling London, people are beginning to wake up to the importance of backing Green politics throughout the capital.

The coming months are a chance to get involved in campaigns and secure Green votes across Wandsworth!

Cecilia Wray.

The post Natalie Bennet’s Message of Hope appeared first on Wandsworth Green Party.

Also in South London, Dulwich and West Norwood our co-leader Jonathan Bartley gained second place receiving 16% of the vote, up from 2% previously, and we saved our deposits in Camberwell and Peckham, Hackney North and Stoke Newington and Lewisham Deptford laying strong foundations to win more elected Greens.

Across England and Wales we have increased our vote share by 60%, an equivalent of 17 or 18 MPs under a fair voting system. We have received more media attention than ever before pushing the Climate Emergency up the agenda and leading the debate on the need for a Green New Deal, which we originated in 2008.

Our brilliant Caroline Lucas will return to Parliament to put forward her Green New Deal Bill, a Future Generations Bill and a Sustainable Economy Bill. In addition, Caroline will continue to campaign for the closest possible relationship with the EU, for urgent climate action and for the protection of our natural world, workers’ rights, human rights – and our democracy.

Meanwhile, in London, we’ll be campaigning to make our Co-leader Sian Berry the new Mayor of London and bring more Green assembly members to City Hall. Come join us to beat our broken political system and bring the movement for Climate Justice and Social Justice to the frontline in your community.

The post Green Growth – A Sign of Hope appeared first on Wandsworth Green Party.

Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP for the South West and Gibraltar said about the ban ‘This feels sinister. We must resist’ and London Assembly member Sian Berry said ‘You can’t just sweep away our human rights across a whole city. And if your house is on fire, don’t outlaw the alarm!’.

Greens are now calling on the current Mayor of London to defend the human rights to freedom of expression and assembly, and for him to demand an end to the London-wide ban.

Please sign our petition here

The post Greens Defend Right To Protest appeared first on Wandsworth Green Party.