For clarity sake. I resigned purely on the principle of unjustifiable censorship. As for the Population issue, as an ex-geography teacher, I believe I understand the issues better than most. As such I see merit in some things Population Matters say, but disagree with other things they say, especially with regards immigration. But I recognise the legitimacy of their point of view.

There are therefore two very distinct issues.
One is the behaviour and attitude of some current GWEB members. I therefore endorse your point 2 below.
Second is the matter of Green Party Population policy, which given the strength of feelings on the matter, gives a lot of merit to point 4. I will do this and point 5.

Best wishes,

Andy Chyba

Population (Still) Matters

Green World editorial board (GWEB) has recently confirmed its refusal to accept a Population Matters flyer as an insert in the Green World magazine. GWEB’s stance contradicts party policy. This fully recognises the threats posed by population growth. Even dissenters from policy must accept that Population Matters is a respected charity whose views are in line with policy and widely shared within the membership, and so should not be censored. (http://www.populationmatters.org)

One GWEB member, Andy Chyba resigned over this matter and another, Miriam Kennet, has disassociated herself from the decision. Caroline Lucas too has said that Population Matters should not be censored in this way. GWEB is treating Green World as the voice of a faction within the party, not the voice of the party.

So, I ask you to:

1. Write to the Green World Editorial Board demanding that they abandon their censorship:

gweb@greenworld.org.uk

contact@matthewbutcher.org.uk

and copy in the Green World Advertising Manager:

shasha.khan@greenparty.org.uk

2. Vote in the next GWEB election or by-election for candidates standing on a ‘no censorship’ platform;

3. Write to party leaders Natalie Bennett and Will Duckworth, requesting that they clarify their views on this whole matter:

natalie.bennett@greenparty.org.uk

willjduckworth@gmail.com

4. Request that the next national conference devotes a plenary session to debate the whole population issue (email the organiser: louisa.greenbaum@greenparty.org.uk);

5. Forward this note to the membership in your area.

It is worrying that many rank and file members of the Party do not seem to know about the on-going manoeuvres against Population Matters.

There has been no better time than now to discuss this issue, given the country’s rising population and the unsustainable demands it helps to generate. On present trends, the population will rise from 62 million in 2010 to 73 million by 2035. England is already the most densely populated large European country. The UK as a whole is currently growing at the unprecedented rate of about 450,000 (one new Liverpool) per year. We have to provide enough new jobs, power stations, housing, hospitals, schools, roads, etc. for a new Liverpool every year, just to stand still in terms of living standards.

Such unsustainable pressure surely merits serious discussion at conference.

Sandy Irvine (member, Newcastle Green Party)