The Railway PH at the bottom of Station Hill

ALL WELCOME (Especially new members!)

AGENDA:

1. Welcome and Introductions
2. Apologies for Absence
3. Minutes and matters arising
4. Officers’ reports (Andy/John/Neil)
5. Councillor feedback (Kathy)
6. Wales Green Party Council Meeting feedback (John/Trish/Andy/Neil)
7. Elections – target ward considerations + Euro 2014 election (Andy)
8. Campaigns update – Fracking (John/Trish/Kathy/Andy)
9. Brighton Conference
10. AOB
11. DoNM

N.B. PUBLIC MEETING ON FRACKING IN LALESTON ON TUESDAY 23rd JULY
Hosted by our own Kathy Lewis and John Evans.
Details: https://bridgendgreens.wordpress.com/2013/07/15/frack-free-wals-tour-details/

REMINDER – If anyone needs a lift to any of our meetings, let Andy know and we will organise it for you.

Samuel has come to his conclusion, that Labour Party supporters should turn to the Green Party as the best leftist alternative on offer, in the light of the ‘Falkirk crisis’ that has precipitated the likely shattering of the historic link between Labour and the Unions. He says:

“There is a lot of evidence to support how a turn towards the Green Party may in fact take place. A lot of this evidence resides in the Green parties of Europe. For example, in the European Parliament of 766 MEPs, 58 of those seats are held by members from Green parties. This may seem a small number, but compared with only 1 MP for the Green Party in the UK out of 650 MPs, European Green influence is considerably higher.

But what is keeping the UK Green Party from sharing this success? Firstly, there is an opinion that the Green Party is a single-issue party, much like many thought (and still think) UKIP to be regarding Europe. Research shows that European Green parties have successfully moved away from being single-issue parties and have therefore become much more prosperous.”

And so it is at the onset of a EU election campaign, that voters in this country have an opportunity, in a reasonably proportionate party list election system, to pass judgement on the new political realities in this country and start to reshape the political landscape.

The research that Mercer refers to finds that European Green parties have identified themselves firmly on the Left of politics, and thus they share the same scepticism of the capitalist system that underpins socialist thought. More radically however, they have been seen to reject the Social Democratic answer to this- corporatism. This radicalism is what attracts many of the Leftist voters in Europe, as they now have a powerful outlet that can represent socialism, more effectively than the socialist-by-name parties.

Mercer recognises that the UK Green Party is similarly moving more convincingly in that direction however. He spoke with the party, and an un-named spokesman said that:

The Green Party is standing up for making the minimum wage a living wage, for bringing the railways back into public ownership, for making multinational companies and rich individuals pay their taxes, all positions that you would expect the Labour Party to be espousing, but they aren’t.

Mercer reports that:

“They furthered this by reassuring a commitment to a publicly owned and operated NHS, as well as educational commitments such as opposition to tuition fees and a replacement of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA). This socialist policy set that Labour is accused of not delivering is accompanied by an increasingly important sustainability and environmental responsibility agenda one that can no longer be ignored.”

For Mercer, the only real obstacle to the Green Party usurping Labour is the historical need for the left to have the support of the Unions. With the break of formal ties between the Unions and Labour, Mercer points out that this should mean that:

“If an alternative Leftist party exists that promotes socialist values more explicitly, as well as prioritising an issue of growing international importance, union members now have the freedom to support it. The Green Party looks like that party.”

The Green Party does, of course, already work with the unions closely on many issues, and not just through the GPTU group and Green Left. It has been heartening to see and hear many unionists recognising the reality of the Labour Party and Green Party’s relative positions through the People’s Assembly initiatives. The time is ripe for a seismic shift in the political landscape of this country.

I will finish with Mercer’s closing words:

“Now that union members have the freedom to shift their support, they may do so in order to re-ignite the Socialist flame in Britain a flame that has dimmed under Labours keeping.”

Amen.

See also: https://bridgendgreens.wordpress.com/?s=Labour+Party

His hard-hitting critique of the Welsh Governments record also includes criticism of the traditional opposition parties that he describes as “can be bought off with an odd bit of pork barrel”. Turning his attention to the Labour cabinet, he states: There is no clear articulation of what the Welsh Government is trying to achieve”, in no small part to the lack of leadership from First Minister, Bridgend AM, Carwyn Jones, who he argues has not demonstrated a consistent drive to get a grip of the machinery of Government or set a coherent framework for the diffuse agendas of his ministers.

Mr Waters argues that the politics of Westminster make it politically impossible for Plaid Cymru to form a coalition with the parties in power in Whitehall.
He claims Plaid leader Leanne Woods decision to put the case for independence at the front and centre of her partys platform makes the chances of another One Wales coalition with Labour seem remote.

Arguing that the lack of a threatening opposition takes the pressure off a first minister who appears to be coasting, he writes: The cumulative impact is to give Carwyn Jones breathing space…. Even though he does not have an overall majority of AMs at his command, the First Minister isnt worried about being defeated.

To date Labour has been able to pick off opposition parties to agree ad hoc deals to get its annual budget through… In exchange for the odd bit of pork barrel they seem content to let him carry on. If politics is about gaining and exercising power, they clearly have not read the memo.

This last point needs to be our clarion call!

The License holders [3] are proposing two main processes for extracting gas; Coal-bed Methane[4], which involves drilling down to, de-watering and often hydraulically fracturing[5] the coal seam and Underground Coal Gasification[6], whereby coal seams are set-alight underground in an effort to produce and collect synthetic gas which can be burnt at the surface.
Both technologies have attracted controversy in the US and Australia where the industry has been associated with water contamination[7] and environmental degradation[8].
Communities across South Wales are organising in response to the threat posed by these new technologies. Throughout July the Frack Free Wales coalition [9], in conjunction with Swansea-based campaign group Safe Energy Wales[10], will be holding a series of public meetings in threatened areas[11].
Lyn Blythe, campaigner with Frack Free Wales said,
‘The scale of what is being proposed in South Wales is astounding. For coal-bed methane extraction to be viable, thousands of wells will need to be drilled. What is seems like a few innocuous exploration wells in the Bridgend and Swansea area is the beginning of a process that will completely industrialise the South Wales countryside.’
She continued,
‘We are particularly concerned about underground coal gasification. The whole of Swansea Bay and the Loughor Estuary have been sold off. The Gower Peninsula is one of the most beautiful places in the world, communities treasure these bodies of water and are not going to sit back and let some gas company set fire to the coal under either.’

[1] UK map of licenses
http://frack-off.org.uk/extreme-energy-fullscreen/
[2] DECC onshore licenses: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/63948/licensed-blocks-on.zip
Underground Coal Licenses: http://coal.decc.gov.uk/en/coal/news/categories/Licensing/Licensing.aspx
[3] Dart Energy, UK Methane, Coastal Oil and Gas, Eden Energy, Cluff Natural Resources, Clean Coal Ltd
[4] Coal Bed Methane: The Evil Twin of Shale Gas
Frack-off.org.UK/coal-bed-methane-the-evil-twin-of-shale-gas
[5] What is Fracking?
http://frack-off.org.uk/faq/what-is-fracking/
[6] Underground Coal Gasification: Hellfire and Damnation
Frack-off.org.UK/underground-coal-gasification-hellfire-and-damnation
[7] Carcinogens found in CBM project
News.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/carcinogens-found-in-csg-project-20110828-1jg77.HTML
[8] UCG pilot project groundwater contamination
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/coal-gas-company-banned-in-queensland-for-contaminating-groundwater/story-e6frg9df-1226090511694
[9] www.frackfreewales.org
[10] https://www.facebook.com/FrackedSwansea

TOUR DATES:

Wales Green Party has announced that Andy Chyba will be their lead candidate to contest the European Elections to elect Wales’ MEPs in 2014.

Andy Chyba was previously a secondary school teacher for twenty years before moving into the lifelong learning sector. Chair of the thriving Bridgend Green Party and a passionate campaigner for social justice, Andy is committed to working alongside colleagues in Europe to reform the system from within. Speaking about the issue he said:

“Given the short-sighted and unnecessary policies of the current coalition which make the poor and disadvantaged pay off the debts of the rich; and given the complete abandonment of working people and treacherous endorsement of austerity by Labour; it is more vital than ever that the people of Wales have representation that actually shares their traditional values of equality, community and caring for the land of our fathers.

Wales has done well out of UK membership of the EU, receiving ￡2billion for regeneration schemes between 2007 and 2013; directly helping close to 30,000 businesses and 10% of the population – money that would not have been coming from any other source. Continued membership is vital to protect us from the excesses of the three major parties.

The issues that face all of us today, whether they be financial reform or the environmental protection have a far greater international dimension – retreating into jingoism is the not the solution. A vote for me is a commitment to say YES to a referendum on EU membership, YES to remaining within the EU and YES to EU reform”

Andy has been a prominent anti-fracking campaigner representing Vale Says NO! And a co-founder of the Anti-Fracking Network. Given the current government’s reckless pursuit of fracking, Andy is keen to take the issue on at a European level.

You can contact Andy at VoteGreenEU2014 or keep up to date at http://votegreeneu2014.wordpress.com

Our good friend, Frances Jenkins, founder of Frack-Free Wales, eloquently discusses the successes and frustrations of fractivists here in South Wales.

http://frackfreewales.wordpress.com/

– Immigration: some 31 per cent of the population is thought to consist of recent immigrants, when the figure is actually 13 per cent. Even including illegal immigrants, the figure is only about 15 per cent. On the issue of ethnicity, black and Asian people are thought to make up 30 per cent of the population, when the figure is closer to 11 per cent.

– Crime: some 58 per cent of people do not believe crime is falling, when the Crime Survey for England and Wales shows that incidents of crime were 19 per cent lower in 2012 than in 2006/07 and 53 per cent lower than in 1995. Some 51 per cent think violent crime is rising, when it has fallen from almost 2.5 million incidents in 2006/07 to under 2 million in 2012.

– Teen pregnancy is thought to be 25 times higher than the official estimates: 15 per cent of of girls under 16 are thought to become pregnant every year, when official figures say the amount is closer to 0.6 per cent.

Among the other surprising figures are that 26 per cent of people think foreign aid is in the top three items the Government spends money on (it actually makes up just 1.1 per cent of expenditure), and that 29 per cent of people think more is spent on Jobseekers’ Allowance than pensions.

In fact we spend 15 times more on pensions – £4.9 billion on JSA vs £74.2 billion on pensions.

More here: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/british-public-wrong-about-nearly-everything-survey-shows-8697821.html

AND the survey didn’t even mention the biggest misconception of all – that things will eventually change for the better if we keep returning the big 3 parties to power!

The penny has got to drop sooner or later!