I note in the past month or so there have been several letters in the Widnes Weekly News regarding the second Mersey crossing. Some of these letters have been opposed to the new bridge but the majority have raised various points in relation to the consequences of the project but at the same time not opposing it directly.
The Green Party maintains its opposition to the second crossing on three main premises. The major threat of climate change with the consequences of more rapid change than what is currently anticipated, completely throwing out of the window all the figures relating to use of the new crossing. That building more roads/ bridges does not really solve the long term problem of congestion - there are many examples of this nationally and internationally. Finally the socio economic arguments that the new crossing will be of real benefit to local residents in my opinion does not hold up to detailed analysis.
No matter whether you agree with the views expressed above it’s possible that you’ll appreciate that the really sad thing in the whole process relates to the apparent power imbalance between the proponents of the second crossing and those who object to it wholly or selectively. That imbalance is to do with finance and therefore the ability to present as best a legal case as possible.
In some ways, and in an ideal world, the better way of dealing with such a proposal that has uncharted consequences for residents in Halton would have been to have had a proper balanced public debate and inquiry. With financial provision for objectors as well as proponents to make their case in the most effective way possible. And at the end of the day to hold a referendum on the matter – as was the case regarding the congestion charge in Manchester.
The only other suggestion I can make would be that a Green presence on the council might have ensured that the proposal from the beginning might have been subject to greater critical appraisal. This might have encouraged the important issues being raised at this late stage to have been aired earlier. This could have affected the evidence that will be considered by the inspector at the public inquiry over the next few weeks.
Thursday 28 May 2009
Monday 25 May 2009
Halton Euro Campaign trail 7
Today in a district of Halton that has a huge Conservative majority. Struck by the interest shown by residents - very positive.
I approached two people chatting outside a house and gave one of them a leaflet. The other person said, "Can you let me have one please just in case I miss it?"
Hot day again and talked to quite a few people gardening - only one refusal out of 25 contacts.
I approached two people chatting outside a house and gave one of them a leaflet. The other person said, "Can you let me have one please just in case I miss it?"
Hot day again and talked to quite a few people gardening - only one refusal out of 25 contacts.
Sunday 24 May 2009
Halton Euro Campaign trail 6
What a fantastic day for leafleting in Widnes with temperatures in the mid 20's and quite a few people out gardening.
It's interesting how many people seemed to want to see the leaflet obviously considering voting Green.
Most people were very friendly although there was one group of people one of whom refused a leaflet, another in a car with the engine running said to me it wasn't very Green to be delivering leaflets. I said in my best Columbo voice that she might have a point but could she tell me another way of getting the really important Green view to as many people as possible.
An uplifting incident was when someone recognised me from a picture that was published in the local press last election. I wasn't in my local ward so it shows you the interest that people seem to have in the Green Party.
Out tomorrow again hope the weather holds
It's interesting how many people seemed to want to see the leaflet obviously considering voting Green.
Most people were very friendly although there was one group of people one of whom refused a leaflet, another in a car with the engine running said to me it wasn't very Green to be delivering leaflets. I said in my best Columbo voice that she might have a point but could she tell me another way of getting the really important Green view to as many people as possible.
An uplifting incident was when someone recognised me from a picture that was published in the local press last election. I wasn't in my local ward so it shows you the interest that people seem to have in the Green Party.
Out tomorrow again hope the weather holds
Saturday 23 May 2009
Halton Euro Campaign trail 5
At it again today - haven't had a chance this week owing to child care commitments!
So finished off Hale on a beautiful day with those May blooms and smells - it really is an attractive place and very much removed from the nearby urban sprawl which isn't to say that such doesn't have its own advantages.
Hale seems to be a close knit community, the village itself an island in a sea of green belt and arable land. Everybody knowing everyone else and their business which of course like everything has its plusses and minuses.
An issue here as mentioned before is the long protracted subject of Liverpool Airport's (John Lennon Airport) runway expansion. A decision on this has been on hold for some time.
It seems to me that Green Party acitivity in the village could produce fairly positive results in terms of both residents and the Green Party's interests particularly in view of the runway issue. Unlike the Greens none of the parties in Halton are against runway expansion because of isues like climate change although at times the Lib Dems appear ambivalent on the subject.
But its also struck me from chatting to people here because of the closeness of the community and the popularity of the councillor (Labour) who has held the seat for some time that the likelihood of taking the seat in the near future would be minimal.
But as I've mentioned in a previous blog several people in Hale have expressed an interest in having the opportunity to vote Green at local and general elections.
So we'll see what comes of my tentative contacts with a few local residents that I've had in the past couple of weeks.
The Greens position in the polls continues to be encouraging and over the next few days I'll be concentrating on other areas of Widnes. Please help if you can - 0151 423 1692
So finished off Hale on a beautiful day with those May blooms and smells - it really is an attractive place and very much removed from the nearby urban sprawl which isn't to say that such doesn't have its own advantages.
Hale seems to be a close knit community, the village itself an island in a sea of green belt and arable land. Everybody knowing everyone else and their business which of course like everything has its plusses and minuses.
An issue here as mentioned before is the long protracted subject of Liverpool Airport's (John Lennon Airport) runway expansion. A decision on this has been on hold for some time.
It seems to me that Green Party acitivity in the village could produce fairly positive results in terms of both residents and the Green Party's interests particularly in view of the runway issue. Unlike the Greens none of the parties in Halton are against runway expansion because of isues like climate change although at times the Lib Dems appear ambivalent on the subject.
But its also struck me from chatting to people here because of the closeness of the community and the popularity of the councillor (Labour) who has held the seat for some time that the likelihood of taking the seat in the near future would be minimal.
But as I've mentioned in a previous blog several people in Hale have expressed an interest in having the opportunity to vote Green at local and general elections.
So we'll see what comes of my tentative contacts with a few local residents that I've had in the past couple of weeks.
The Greens position in the polls continues to be encouraging and over the next few days I'll be concentrating on other areas of Widnes. Please help if you can - 0151 423 1692
Monday 18 May 2009
Halton Euro Campaign trail 4
Unable to leaflet last Friday in Hale owing to family committments. But Linda and I did manage to do some in the pouring rain in the Farnworth area of Widnes Friday evening.
Several people have said that apart from the leaflets through the post no other party has been out leafleting to date. And at least one person mentioned that they'd vote Green because of this.
I'm sure that when people saw us wandering round in a sodden mess they either thought we were mad or believed strongly in something!
Went out for a short period today - seemed to be warmly received by people.
Recent opinion polls augur well for Greens polling around 11%. The BNP are currently on 4% - this could change and particularly as Nick Griffen is lead BNP candidate here in the north west more BNP resources could be used to push and bolster their campaign in this area. So no time for complacency - if there was ever a candidate who should win a seat here it's Peter for all sorts of reasons - so I'll be out leafleting hopefully till June 3rd. Please join us if you can!
Several people have said that apart from the leaflets through the post no other party has been out leafleting to date. And at least one person mentioned that they'd vote Green because of this.
I'm sure that when people saw us wandering round in a sodden mess they either thought we were mad or believed strongly in something!
Went out for a short period today - seemed to be warmly received by people.
Recent opinion polls augur well for Greens polling around 11%. The BNP are currently on 4% - this could change and particularly as Nick Griffen is lead BNP candidate here in the north west more BNP resources could be used to push and bolster their campaign in this area. So no time for complacency - if there was ever a candidate who should win a seat here it's Peter for all sorts of reasons - so I'll be out leafleting hopefully till June 3rd. Please join us if you can!
Monday 11 May 2009
Halton Euro Campaign trail 3
Day 4 of leafleting - still in Hale.
Positive vibes today. The majority of people I spoke to, with all the revelations in the press about expenses, were talking about considering voting for the Greens in the Euro elections. Including a couple of gentle 60ish men. A bit more of a balance compared with yesterday!
It makes a real difference though talking with people if they are around and they are with this current sunny spell. I'm sure I half persuaded some people to consider voting Green voting tactically to keep the BNP out.
Probably the best bit of the session was meeting a woman who wished she could vote Green in both general and local elections in Hale. Apparantly her children who live away are both Green voters. Will be following this up.
Discovered that the national Green Party election material had been delivered in the Hale area. It was interesting to note that several people had actually read the leaflet and key words like 'fourth party' sprang to mind. And without being a sexist a lady actually related to me where Peter lived and that he had a young child. So I guess on this limited anecdotal evidence the message is getting through!
Unable to leaflet now for three days owing to child committments. If there's anyone one out there in Hale who's received our local leaflet I'd love to hear from you even if you're not a Green supporter.
Back in Hale on Friday!
Positive vibes today. The majority of people I spoke to, with all the revelations in the press about expenses, were talking about considering voting for the Greens in the Euro elections. Including a couple of gentle 60ish men. A bit more of a balance compared with yesterday!
It makes a real difference though talking with people if they are around and they are with this current sunny spell. I'm sure I half persuaded some people to consider voting Green voting tactically to keep the BNP out.
Probably the best bit of the session was meeting a woman who wished she could vote Green in both general and local elections in Hale. Apparantly her children who live away are both Green voters. Will be following this up.
Discovered that the national Green Party election material had been delivered in the Hale area. It was interesting to note that several people had actually read the leaflet and key words like 'fourth party' sprang to mind. And without being a sexist a lady actually related to me where Peter lived and that he had a young child. So I guess on this limited anecdotal evidence the message is getting through!
Unable to leaflet now for three days owing to child committments. If there's anyone one out there in Hale who's received our local leaflet I'd love to hear from you even if you're not a Green supporter.
Back in Hale on Friday!
Sunday 10 May 2009
Halton Euro Campaign trail 2
Third day of leafleting in beautiful Hale with the sun shining and those delicious aromas of May buds bursting out all over the place with tempting smells of herbs.
As elections mostly occur in May surely we should latch onto the idea of providing free local aromatic floral tours to people who'll leaflet for us. We must have mapped out these ward routes many times all we need to do is list the flora en route something the Green party should be eminently capable of doing!
No I've not taken to the madness of the May hare although I was saddened not maddened on meeting my first Halean resident who was a mild sixtyish person who lived in a tidy bungalow which smelt of those Sunday lunches when mum was around.
I explained the reasons for tactically voting Green to keep the BNP out when he said that's the Party he'd be voting for. I was speechless but he gently took the leaflet off me and I'm sure would have offered me a bite of lunch if I hadn't looked so well fed.
Linda (my wife also leafleting) said that's perceptions for you and that it was also the beauty of life - full of surprises.
To her the mild mannered person was hankering for the fifties when he was young and things made sense and most things were black and white (pardon the colourism). I added patronisingly that he probably read the tabloid press and his views had been moulded over the decades.
It was just that he was so nice and definitely going to vote and I thought of all those other so nice voters dotted all over the place and was saddened.
Still we delivered a weighty number of leaflets including some of our own local ones. The latter we're hoping will encourage local residents to get involved with us in time for next years council elections - Here's hoping!
As elections mostly occur in May surely we should latch onto the idea of providing free local aromatic floral tours to people who'll leaflet for us. We must have mapped out these ward routes many times all we need to do is list the flora en route something the Green party should be eminently capable of doing!
No I've not taken to the madness of the May hare although I was saddened not maddened on meeting my first Halean resident who was a mild sixtyish person who lived in a tidy bungalow which smelt of those Sunday lunches when mum was around.
I explained the reasons for tactically voting Green to keep the BNP out when he said that's the Party he'd be voting for. I was speechless but he gently took the leaflet off me and I'm sure would have offered me a bite of lunch if I hadn't looked so well fed.
Linda (my wife also leafleting) said that's perceptions for you and that it was also the beauty of life - full of surprises.
To her the mild mannered person was hankering for the fifties when he was young and things made sense and most things were black and white (pardon the colourism). I added patronisingly that he probably read the tabloid press and his views had been moulded over the decades.
It was just that he was so nice and definitely going to vote and I thought of all those other so nice voters dotted all over the place and was saddened.
Still we delivered a weighty number of leaflets including some of our own local ones. The latter we're hoping will encourage local residents to get involved with us in time for next years council elections - Here's hoping!
Saturday 9 May 2009
Euro Campaign trail
Out yesterday and today in the Heath ward area Runcorn leafleting.
Some good feedback in relation to Peter's campaign. When I was discussing the ins and outs of tactical voting in the Euro election (as if i know!) and the reason why the person I was speaking to should vote for the Greens, ie partly to stop the BNP, the potential voter intimated that he'd read the article in the Observer and he was having a good think about voting Green.
Yet another, a Conservative councillor, was aware of the need for tactical voting but whether this is transmitted into a vote for the Greens who knows!
Leafleting in the beautiful village of Hale tomorrow - we'll be putting out our local leaflet as well as the regional one.
Some good feedback in relation to Peter's campaign. When I was discussing the ins and outs of tactical voting in the Euro election (as if i know!) and the reason why the person I was speaking to should vote for the Greens, ie partly to stop the BNP, the potential voter intimated that he'd read the article in the Observer and he was having a good think about voting Green.
Yet another, a Conservative councillor, was aware of the need for tactical voting but whether this is transmitted into a vote for the Greens who knows!
Leafleting in the beautiful village of Hale tomorrow - we'll be putting out our local leaflet as well as the regional one.
Monday 4 May 2009
Green Party candidate for the Euro Elections interviewed in the Independent Newspaper
Peter Cranie the North West Green Party's candidate for the Euro election this June was interviewed in the Independent newspaper today.
Peter, who was leafleting last Friday with me in Widnes, will be contesting one of the seats in the North West region against Nick Griffen of the BNP. He has knowledge of our local problems and was involved in our campaign in the council elections last year.
He's very hard working, committed to social justice and green issues and has also been involved directly in the Merseyside Coalition against racism and fascism.
Here's the unedited version of the article that appeared today,
"An anti-racism campaigner has emerged as the candidate who could stop the British National Party chairman Nick Griffin winning a seat in the European Parliament next month.
Peter Cranie has been chosen by the Green Party to stand in the North-west, where the BNP's hopes of winning its first seats in a nationwide election are highest. Respect, the left-wing party headed by the Bethnal Green and Bow MP George Galloway, has stood aside in the region and is urging its supporters to vote Green to stop the BNP.
The Greens, who already have two MEPs, are making a major push in the North-west. They are convinced that that the proportional representation (PR) system used in the 4 June elections makes voting Green the best way of denying the BNP victory and the significant boost in funds from the Strasbourg parliament that would follow.
Under the PR formula, all votes received in a region are added up and the first seat is given to the party with the highest number. The votes for that party are then divided by the number of seats it has already won in the region plus one (for example, if a party has won one seat, its remaining votes would be divided by two). The party which then has the highest number of votes gets the next seat. This process continues until all the seats are allocated.
At the last European elections five years ago, Labour and the Tories each won three of the North-west's nine seats, the Liberal Democrats two and the UK Independence Party (Ukip) one.
Ukip's fortunes have declined since and election experts believe the crucial battle affecting the BNP's chances will be the one for fourth place behind the three main parties. The region will elect eight MEPs this time.
Mr Cranie, a 36-year-old father of one, has been preparing for next month's fight with the BNP for three years. A leading member of the Merseyside Coalition Against Racism and Fascism, he stood down from his job as a lecturer so he could devote more time to the European elections. He now works for the parenting support charity Parentline Plus.
The three main parties insist that the voting system is such a "lottery" that supporting them is the best way to beat the BNP. But the Greens are appealing over the heads of the three parties in the hope of encouraging tactical anti-BNP voting. They are also working hard to mobilise the ethnic minority vote.
Mr Cranie told The Independent yesterday that he could not "guarantee" that a vote for the Greens would prevent the BNP from winning a seat, but insisted that it offered the best hope of achieving that. In the 2004 European elections, the BNP won 6.38 per cent of the votes in the North-west and the Greens 5.55 per cent, so the Greens claim they are the most likely party to overtake the extreme-right group.
Mr Cranie, the Green Party's national spokesman on children, schools and families, has jobs as his main campaign theme. "A Green vote is a vote for jobs," he said. Accusing the BNP of "dog whistle politics", Mr Cranie added: "In an environment of economic fear and insecurity, the seeds are being sown – racism and intolerance – by a party that in its constitution bars any person because of the colour of their skin and the home of their ancestors."
Peter, who was leafleting last Friday with me in Widnes, will be contesting one of the seats in the North West region against Nick Griffen of the BNP. He has knowledge of our local problems and was involved in our campaign in the council elections last year.
He's very hard working, committed to social justice and green issues and has also been involved directly in the Merseyside Coalition against racism and fascism.
Here's the unedited version of the article that appeared today,
"An anti-racism campaigner has emerged as the candidate who could stop the British National Party chairman Nick Griffin winning a seat in the European Parliament next month.
Peter Cranie has been chosen by the Green Party to stand in the North-west, where the BNP's hopes of winning its first seats in a nationwide election are highest. Respect, the left-wing party headed by the Bethnal Green and Bow MP George Galloway, has stood aside in the region and is urging its supporters to vote Green to stop the BNP.
The Greens, who already have two MEPs, are making a major push in the North-west. They are convinced that that the proportional representation (PR) system used in the 4 June elections makes voting Green the best way of denying the BNP victory and the significant boost in funds from the Strasbourg parliament that would follow.
Under the PR formula, all votes received in a region are added up and the first seat is given to the party with the highest number. The votes for that party are then divided by the number of seats it has already won in the region plus one (for example, if a party has won one seat, its remaining votes would be divided by two). The party which then has the highest number of votes gets the next seat. This process continues until all the seats are allocated.
At the last European elections five years ago, Labour and the Tories each won three of the North-west's nine seats, the Liberal Democrats two and the UK Independence Party (Ukip) one.
Ukip's fortunes have declined since and election experts believe the crucial battle affecting the BNP's chances will be the one for fourth place behind the three main parties. The region will elect eight MEPs this time.
Mr Cranie, a 36-year-old father of one, has been preparing for next month's fight with the BNP for three years. A leading member of the Merseyside Coalition Against Racism and Fascism, he stood down from his job as a lecturer so he could devote more time to the European elections. He now works for the parenting support charity Parentline Plus.
The three main parties insist that the voting system is such a "lottery" that supporting them is the best way to beat the BNP. But the Greens are appealing over the heads of the three parties in the hope of encouraging tactical anti-BNP voting. They are also working hard to mobilise the ethnic minority vote.
Mr Cranie told The Independent yesterday that he could not "guarantee" that a vote for the Greens would prevent the BNP from winning a seat, but insisted that it offered the best hope of achieving that. In the 2004 European elections, the BNP won 6.38 per cent of the votes in the North-west and the Greens 5.55 per cent, so the Greens claim they are the most likely party to overtake the extreme-right group.
Mr Cranie, the Green Party's national spokesman on children, schools and families, has jobs as his main campaign theme. "A Green vote is a vote for jobs," he said. Accusing the BNP of "dog whistle politics", Mr Cranie added: "In an environment of economic fear and insecurity, the seeds are being sown – racism and intolerance – by a party that in its constitution bars any person because of the colour of their skin and the home of their ancestors."
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