 Campaigns Committee is looking back on a busy year, which has included campaign material for you to use on toxic landfill, the housing crisis and the growth of the racist far right.
Thanks so much to all who have taken part in these campaigns! We have more in the pipeline for the new year, but this month we’re focusing on the terrible situation facing Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. This Christmas, nearly two million people – almost the entire population of Gaza – face the most desperate of circumstances. Refugees crammed into makeshift ‘tent cities’, whose homes and communities have been devastated by over a year of relentless bombing that has killed nearly 45,000 people – the majority of these women and children. Witnessing horror and cruelty on such a massive scale can make us feel powerless to help. But there are things we can do – and Green Party Conference has re-iterated the party’s support for a campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against the state responsible for this genocidal violence and companies that are facilitating it. You’ll find resources to campaign on this in this month’s campaign flatpack: 10 things you can do about the genocide in Gaza. Our thoughts this Christmas are with these people, and with all the hostages and unjustly imprisoned in both Gaza and Israel. Our hope is that the new year will bring progress towards peace and justice for all those who have suffered so much for so long. In solidarity, Green Party Campaigns Committee PS: One other (easy) thing to do over the Christmas break: The Climate and Nature Bill first introduced by Caroline Lucas will have its crucial second reading in Parliament on Friday 24 January. This Bill would make a huge difference to efforts to address the climate emergency. Please take a moment to write to your MP asking them to support the Bill. Zero Hour have made this easy to do, here.
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 Natalie Bennett with Zane's parents and Fire Brigade Union leader Ian Murray in Downing Street This month:
A milestone win for Zane’s Law campaign! Help push for essential Covid protection Support our Climate and Nature Bill A Milestone win for Zane’s Law campaign It’s been another busy month for Campaigns Committee, supporting the March for Clean Water and a big Stand Up to Racism rally in London, and celebrating another milestone win in the campaign for Zane’s Law. The London Assembly passed a unanimous motion, brought by Green Assembly Member Zack Polanski. This requires the Mayor to call on the Prime Minister to bring forward new legislation addressing the rising risk of leakage from toxic waste dumps. The Zane's Law campaign is now supported by many major unions and by the TUC. Find out how you can help here. Help push for essential Covid protection Despite government silence on the subject, Covid hospital admissions are still rising! Our campaign flatpack gives you resources to push for essential public health measures. Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock has again been giving evidence to the Covid-19 Inquiry. He revealed, among other things, that Boris Johnson’s Cabinet had refused to accept that Covid could be asymptomatic – well after this was known to scientists. This failure to follow the science led to many avoidable infections and deaths. Yet even now, with the NHS once more under severe stress, the government is failing to take simple measures to protect people from the risk of Covid and Long Covid. Help push for the essential public Covid health measures that the Green Party is calling for, at local and national level. Support our Climate and Nature Bill The Climate and Nature Bill originally introduced by Caroline Lucas will be back in Parliament in January. Our four brilliant Green MPs will of course be backing it, but we want to see as much cross-party support as possible to help turn this potentially game-changing bill into law. Please write to your MP to ask them to back the bill. It just takes a moment – Zero Hour has made it super-easy for you to do. In solidarity, Green Party Campaigns Committee  It was great to meet some of you at Green Party Conference in September, and to see our Greens Against Fascism banner unfurled across the front of the conference stage! This month we’re launching one new campaign on Covid protection and getting ready for the huge national March for Clean Water on Sunday 3rd November. Our anti-fascist beermats are proving very popular. And on Saturday 26th October Stand Up to Racism is organising a big anti-fascist demo in London. Take action on Covid protection The Covid-19 Inquiry has been hearing heart-rending testimonies from relatives of Covid victims and the doctors, nurses and social care workers who did their best to help them in almost impossible circumstances. All these people were badly let down by a government that failed to adequately protect them from deadly disease. But Covid is continuing to infect large numbers of people, often with life-changing impacts. And, as another winter approaches, simple measures that could limit the spread of infection in public places such as hospitals and schools are still not being taken. In July, the Green Party called for the government to follow expert advice and take immediate steps to mitigate the risk of infection. There’s a lot that individual Greens and local parties can do to make sure this happens – find out how in our Take Action on Covid Protection flatpack.  March for Clean Water – 3 November On Sunday 3 November, a massive coalition of NGOs, community groups and River Champions will gather in London to demand tougher action to stop the sewage pollution and agricultural run-off that has blighted over 90% of England’s waterways. We know many Greens will be there and we want the Green Party’s message to be highly visible: water and sewerage are natural monopolies and should be taken back into public hands so they can be run for the common good, not private profit. You can download a placard design to print off and find a meeting spot for Greens on the march here.  Greens Against Fascism
Our anti-fascist beermats are proving very popular. But we still have some left and can send a pack of a hundred to you for just £12 (including postage). Let us know if you’d like some! Anti-Facist Demo On Saturday 26 October Stand Up to Racism is organising a big anti-fascist demo in London. If you’re going, do bring a Greens Against Fascism placard, which you can download to print here. Yours in solidarity, Green Party Campaigns Committee  Our last newsletter highlighted the work we’d been doing on the rise of the far right and linked to a Greens Against Fascism placard/poster design. This turned out to be all too timely as, since then, we’ve seen the outbreak of racist riots in cities across England and Northern Ireland. Fuelled by hate-speech and disinformation on social media, this horrifying violence demonstrated that the racist far-right is a very real threat. Greens mobilise against fascist violence Soon after the rioting broke out, we produced a Greens Against Fascism flatpack. This features examples of how Green councillors across the country have been bringing their communities together against this threat. It’s been heartening to see how anti-fascist demonstrators have vastly outnumbered the thugs intent on mayhem – and to see Greens Against Fascism placards being put to good use. Campaigns Committee is co-organising an event focusing on fascism and what we can do about it on the Saturday of Green Party Conference in Manchester (6-8 September). Do join us there!  Anti-fascist beermats
We’ve also produced a set of anti-fascist beermats (you can see them here). These list some of the warning signs of fascism and ways of responding to these, based on Umberto Eco’s ‘Practical List for Identifying Fascists’, updated to reflect the current situation and suitable for distribution anywhere from student union bars to your local Wetherspoons. If you’d like to have some of these, drop us an email and we’ll send you a pack – to cover costs we’re asking £12 for 100 mats (incl. postage and packing). Feargal Sharkey - March for Clean Water Finally, we know that many Greens will be going to the March for Clean Water on 26 October, organised by River Action and Feargal Sharkey with the support of dozens of environmental groups. We’ll be producing a placard design for Greens to use at this event. Watch this space! |
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