http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=g-F8EO3qOVk

End of Year Flexibility (EYF) as it is known, is a process whereby if an Assembly department spends less then its allocated budget in any given year, the remaining funds are placed into a Treasury account that can be accessed in later years.

The Assembly Government had planned to utilise some EYF funds to soften the cuts imposed by Westminster, but is now unable to do so thanks to Treasury plans to write off’ the money, totalling nearly £400m.

Jake Griffiths, who is fighting to become Wales’ first Green AM this May, said:

“It’s a sign of how ruthless the Conservative/Lib Dem Coalition is in its ideological programme of cuts when it disproportionately cuts the budget of the poorest nation in the UK and then steals unspent funds which were voted by Parliament to the Assembly in previous years. The £400m in question could make a huge difference in softening the level of cuts to Welsh public services but it seems the Tory/Lib Dem coalition is determined to prevent that from happening.

“Wales is essentially being punished for saving during the good years. Upon coming to power in 2007, instead of planning ahead the Scottish National Party spent much of the EYF money that had accumulated since 1999 before the Tories had the chance to claw it back. I hope that the Governments of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland put up a big fight to keep this money that is rightfully theirs.”

Jolyon Jenkins asks if Greens could use better psychology to sharpen their message.

Well worth a listen – Radio 4 programme:

In Denial – Climate on the Couch

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00y92mn/In_Denial_Climate_on_the_Couch/

Jake Griffiths, Leader of Wales Green Party and who is fighting to become Wales’ first Green AM in May’s election said:

“It was reported today that fuel poverty is causing ill-health in children and the first hand stories collected by the Children in Wales organisation are truly alarming. The fact that a quarter of children in Wales are suffering is a national disgrace and unacceptable. Sadly the number of people being affected by fuel poverty is going to increase as fuel prices and unemployment continue to rise. Public transport costs are increasing for both bus and train services and the number of services is decreasing which again is going to affect the poorest most, particularly those living in rural areas.”

“The Green Party has been campaigning for two years for free insulation for all homes that need it. The Assembly Government has set up a few energy efficiency projects but we now need serious investment to ensure no one has to live in a freezing home. Simply focusing on the cost of oil and gas, as some other parties have been doing misses the point as we all know prices will only go up from now on. We need to deal with the cause of fuel poverty – cold houses, not just increasing fuel costs.”

Sir, Re Lib Dem council chiefs condemn cuts”, Independent 10.2.11

Deficit denier is a very ugly term for those of us who have a positive and constructive viewpoint on managing the countrys financial and other problems.

We can make full acknowledgement of the deficit, and still identify different options for dealing with it. The response of ruthless cuts and austerity measures is an ideological choice made by the big three parties. For Labour and some Lib Dems to criticise the pace and scale of the cuts is still a pro-cuts, pro-austerity choice.

The Green Party, many unions and some economists have proposed an alternative choice. This would involve cracking down on tax avoidance and tax evasion, saving billions every year. It would involve the wealthiest people in society pay a fairer share. It would mean saving £100bn over thirty years by scrapping Trident and its proposed replacement. It would involve a windfall tax on bank profits as well as a heavy tax on bankers bonuses. It would mean reducing the deficit more slowly, and thus avoiding these savage cuts. It would mean smart switching of funds from high-carbon to carbon-reduction spending (for example away from motorway-building and into public transport), and other ways of generating funds such as a green investment bank. It would mean having enough cash to invest heavily in a Green New Deal a major plan to kickstart the transformation to a post-carbon economy while creating a million new jobs and training places. And the new jobs would in turn bring in extra revenue to support public spending (whereas cuts will cost the country a million jobs).

Greens and many others who do not deny the deficit would prefer the government to make this ideological choice based on fairness and sustainability not the one based on destroying public services and punishing the poorest people in society.

Yours sincerely,

Caroline Lucas MP

Green Party Leader

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/lib-dem-council-chiefs-condemn-cuts-2210147.html

The panel will consist of election candidates of the Labour, Plaid
Cymru, Conservative, Liberal Democrat and (of course) Green parties.

Chair: Margaret Minhinnick, Director, Sustainable Wales

The Question Time is being is held because of the imminence of the
Referendum vote on March 3, and the next Assembly all-Wales election on
May 5.

Questions on any subject, from Bridgend constituency, Welsh or UK
Issues. (For example: The Cuts; Youth Unemployment; Porthcawl
Regeneration.)

If you have a short question, e mail it to Sustainable Wales on
robertm@phonecoop.coop before FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 25.

Everyone welcome/ Entrance free. Croeso cynnes I bawb. Mynediad am ddim.

Totnes is featured in the folowing Guardian article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/feb/06/totnes-transition-towns-ethical-living

It can surely be no coincidence that there are Green Councillors at three levels of government here!

Watch this short (3min) video to see the sort of qualities we are looking for.

Yet again, it takes the Green Party to try to instil some commonsense into a mad world:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12356919
Well done Caroline – and good luck!