 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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 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!  We’ve all seen the violent riots staged by far-right thugs in towns from Southport and Hartlepool to London. What can you do to combat this? There’s no easy answer. Combatting the rise of fascism is one theme that Campaigns Committee is now working on. We have just launched a "Greens Against Fascism” flatpack with advice and ideas you can use, including a placard/poster that you can download and print off. We also warmly applaud the leadership shown by Green councillor Mothin Ali in Leeds in bringing his community together in the face of those who seek to divide it and inflame violent unrest. Laughter is the best medicine The worst thing we can do is respond to violence with violence. Fascism feeds on violence and chaos. Politicians of the far right aim to use fear of violence to win votes on the promise to “restore law and order”. By contrast, your best bet is to keep your sense of humour. You may have read that the leader of the French Greens fought the French far-right with humour. The extreme right hate nothing more than being laughed at. Download your flatpack now  Green MPs bring fresh energy to Westminster
Meanwhile, it’s been an incredible month for the Green Party – the biggest Green vote ever at a general election and four brilliant new Green MPs at Westminster! They’re already making a big impact, speaking up for climate, environment and social justice. After 14 years of Tory misrule, a new government opens up exciting possibilities for positive change that our Green MPs will be pushing for at every opportunity – as will Campaigns Committee. Carla Denyer And it was great to see several of our campaigning themes mentioned in their maiden speeches in Parliament. Follow the links to access campaign materials on all the issues they've spoken about. Bristol’s first Green MP, Carla Denyer, highlighted the housing crisis and the need to give councils the power to introduce rent controls. As she noted: “Private rents in Bristol have increased by 52% over the last decade, while wages have not even increased by a quarter. This is an untenable situation, but one that around half my constituents find themselves in as private renters.” Carla also looked forward to a future where the UK can rejoin the EU, and deplored the damage to the UK’s reputation caused by our government’s refusal to clearly condemn the Israeli government’s war crimes in Gaza. Adrian Ramsay Fresh from winning Waveney Valley in Suffolk – a feat many imagined to be impossible – Adrian spoke of the horror his constituents feel about the state of their rivers, and called for our campaign for tackling the sewage scandal to be made a top government priority. Like Carla, he also underlined the extreme urgency of the climate emergency and the insanity of opening up new North Sea oilfields. Ellie Chowns Ellie achieved one of the biggest swings of the election when she unseated a seemingly impregnable Tory MP in North Herefordshire, spoke of the desperate need for new social housing, and for this to be “accompanied by the right infrastructure so that health, education and transport services are not put under yet more strain”. She also highlighted the need to repair and properly fund our NHS, and to reward public-spirited health workers “not just with warm words and applause, but with training bursaries and salaries that keep pace with inflation”. Sian Berry In her maiden speech, Sian paid tribute to the remarkable legacy of Caroline Lucas, her trailblazing Green predecessor in Brighton Pavilion: “I know that all of us sitting here today are humbly aiming to live up to the high standards, values and work ethic that she represented, and to serve here with the same energy and enthusiasm.” Sian particularly noted “Caroline’s steadfast and long-standing opposition to threats to the public’s right to protest” – another of out long-standing campaigns - and a threat that was very much underlined by the savage jail sentences meted out to peaceful Just Stop Oil protesters earlier this month. In stark contrast to both Labour and Tory governments kowtowing to roads being blocked by farmers and truckers, protesting against fuel costs and food imports. It will be interesting, too, to see how the sentences handed to peaceful Green protesters compares with those given to the far-right thugs arrested last week. Yours – nevertheless - with renewed hope for a Green future! Campaigns Committee  Campaigns you can use in the next week and afterwards.
Campaign Committee members have been super-busy in recent weeks helping with the Green Party’s national election campaign, one of us (the brilliant Ria Patel) as a parliamentary candidate. It’s great to see how many of the issues we’ve worked on recently also feature in the Green Party manifesto, including:
Feel free to draw on any or all of these in your own campaigning, both during the election and after. The Green Party’s bold, clear policies on these and other issues have been met with a huge groundswell of support and it now looks very possible that we’ll have at least four new Green MPs on 5 July! Having a strong group of Green MPs at Westminster, speaking up for climate, environment and social justice, will make a huge difference. But aside from those four constituencies, a big Green vote across the UK helps put pressure on other parties to do better on these crucially important issues. Whatever the outcome of the election, we’ll be resuming non-electoral campaigning for the Green Party as soon as the dust has settled. Member or not, we hope you'll join us. Fingers crossed for 4 July! |
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