Green Party's Jenny Jones' awful blog in the Guardian

[Megaton]

Or this beuaty!

Tell you what , when Bono starts paying f****** income tax and stops taking ex employees to court over a stupid hat, or proposes ideas other than buying crap with a "red" tag on , when he hands over 90% of not just his income but all his assets too , then i might take him seriously...hmmmmmm on second thoughts , maybe i wont.Bonos execution live on tv (pay per view)i'll watch that , no problem! : )

Fuckin' A!

 

[Udo Erasmus]

Out of interest, this reminds me of Elaine Graham Leigh, a socialist historian on RESPECT's national council talking about why she left the Greens to join a more radical environmental party.

The Green Party does appear to offer something in the way of universal answers, but I’m not sure that’s absolutely true when you look more closely. There is a big difference between what the Green Party says and what it actually does.

One of the best examples of the problems with the Greens was when Jenny Jones was asked by members of my local Green Party branch what her proudest achievement was of her first year as a GLA member. Her answer - without a shred of irony I could detect - was that it was getting more bike parking spaces outside City Hall. Not really a ‘big answer’ there, then. So there is a definite disparity between what the Greens may say they are about and what they actually do in the real world.

I think what is different about Respect is that it won’t allow itself to be confined by simply what is ‘doable’. What happens to the Green Party when it is elected is that it sets its sights very low, because that’s what appears to them achievable. I think that Respect councillors - and George Galloway - have not allowed themselves to be constrained in that way. We must set our sights high if we are to achieve real results for people.

 

[treelover]

its a bit like the elitism of the Left Field at Glasto, only 140 quid+ for the festival, not too many of the real proletariat can afford that, from that we can deduce see who the modern left see their future members as.

 

[Megaton]

What do you expect from a liberal party though, Udo?

Small acheivements are worthy, but they should'nt be overestimated. The stuff that Jenny boasted about is part of her day to day job. My day to day job is convincing private companies to cut single-occupancy car use.

But I would never state that getting a couple of medium sized businesses to cut some parking spaces was a great acheivement. I am less convinced on whether I want to vote for them now....

 

[Taxamo Welf]

Out of interest, this reminds me of Elaine Graham Leigh, who is a total fitty. Phwoar!! Not like this minger.

post pics!

 

[Taxamo Welf]

its a bit like the elitism of the Left Field at Glasto, only 140 quid+ for the festival, not too many of the real proletariat can afford that, from that we can deduce see who the modern left see their future members as.

what?

plenty of the real proletariat can afford that and way way more! In fact disposable income for disposable things - like clothing, holidays and the like is the one thing which has increased. Its housing, transport and healthcare which are shitted up.

Anyway mate, it was a bit of an odd point to start with - glasto isn't meant to actually address social and eco problems - it has adopted that role over the years, this little shindig is.

 

[Gingerman]

Would this be the same Madonna who has constantly bitched about the c-charge or is there another Madonna in circulation?How many of these 'celebs' are going to help the planet by cutting back on their wasteful luxury lifestyles? I'll tell ya how many,fuck all

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

Thing that strikes me is, surely the Green Party should be making that very point. I thought that's what they're about ....

Seems to me that while a concert like this won't change the world, one thing it might potentially manage is to make a few more people vote for the Green Party.

 

[Mr T]

hmm green party support for the live earth concert seems quite ironic since their leading candidate in brent (where wembley stadium is) shahrar ali, said at a meeting last month that he didn't think that with modern technology people should need to congregate in such a large, un-environmentally-friendly stadium anymore. i think thats bollocks and shows completely the detatched scientific analysis of the greens of climate change and why the more social aspects of climate change (which will affect poorer people more the world over) that parties like respect campaign about are all the more important

 

[Taxamo Welf]

hmm green party support for the live earth concert seems quite ironic since their leading candidate in brent (where wembley stadium is) shahrar ali, said at a meeting last month that he didn't think that with modern technology people should need to congregate in such a large, un-environmentally-friendly stadium anymore. i think thats bollocks and shows completely the detatched scientific analysis of the greens of climate change and why the more social aspects of climate change (which will affect poorer people more the world over) that parties like respect campaign about are all the more important

hmm i think it reveals a more liberal analysis, not nec more scientific. Focus on the main causes of climate change - industry and transport - is scientific. Focus on what europeans do in their leisure time is liberal/stupid.

 

[Udo Erasmus]

There is growing evidence that in power at local government level the Green's co-operate with the mainstream parties in cutting local services

The Greens have about 5,000 members in 179 branches. They have two MEPs, seven MSPs, two GLA members and 92 councillors. They are part of ruling coalitions or hold the balance of power in eight councils, including Leeds, Kirklees, Oxford and Islington.

A pattern is emerging for their councillors to go into coalitions or informal pacts with the establishment parties, for instance with the Tories and Lib-Dems in Leeds and with Labour and the Lib-Dems in Oxford. Their choice of alliance partners is beginning to produce the predictable result of compromising their left-sounding programme.

In the London Borough of Lewisham, as reported in the socialist in March, the Greens voted with Labour for a budget that will result in £800,000 of cuts, threatening community education services. Darren Johnson, the leader of the Green group, and a prominent figure in the party nationally, called those opposing the cuts irresponsible.

In Kirklees, West Yorkshire, the three Green councillors were previously part of a joint Lib-Dem/Green administration and allied themselves with the present Tory ruling group in recently pushing through, along with the Liberals, a budget that could result in the closure of three children's nurseries and an increase in home care charges. In return the Greens got a paltry pledge that cavity wall and loft insulation will be provided for homes in the area.

The gap between the actions of Green councillors and their party's 'left' programme to oppose neo-liberalism, is widening all the time, although they have some way to go to match the opportunism of the German Greens. When they were part of the German government, the German Greens ended up backing a ferocious Thatcherite onslaught on the working class and sending troops for the imperialist intervention in Afghanistan.

 

[Macullam]

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/jenny_jones/2007/04/acting_in_concert.html

She's saying that 'cynical lefties' and 'armchair anarchists' should stop carping about the Live Earth concerts and support them. Cos they'll be fun.

So much for the radical Green Party then.

What do people think?

is the Green Party moving left or right

http://www.socialistparty.org.uk/2007/482/index.html?id=mp1080.htm

 

[Bernie Gunther]

Thing is, some of the left greens are pretty sound. Matt S for example.

The way the internal mechanics of the Green Party work, they do have real influence but that influence and electoral politics pull the party in different directions.

Capitalism, through modern media and political technique and the costs of applying it, has almost entirely captured the mechanisms of parliamentary democracy to the point where electability and recognisably 'left' policies very probably cannot co-exist.

The problem is potentially less severe at the level of local politics, but it's still there to some extent.

What's hopeful to me, even though it's marred by ingrained sectarian behaviour, is the adoption of green issues by pre-ecology left parties. There is even lip service from the mainstream parties. This suggests to me that there is a groundswell of popular feeling, albeit often horribly confused about the science and its probable implications, there to be empowered.

 

[disownedspirit]

but where the greens have made significant electoral advances nationally they behave like the right wing of the labour party
fishcer in germany and the horrible voynet in france, im not anti eco but these people give the greens a bad name in general, does anyone here really think going into coalition with parties that go to war build nuclear power plants or support tory cuts is green or progressive

 

[Bernie Gunther]

That's what I meant about involvement in parliamentary democracy pulling in the opposite direction.

Sectarian slagging doesn't have any obviously useful function though, given that this is a systemic issue.

 

[disownedspirit]

but surely its not sectarian to point out that when greens get into a position of influence/power they have done all these things is it?

 

[disownedspirit]

oopps

 

[Bernie Gunther]

Anyone who gets anywhere in our political system will face those choices. It's nothing special about the Greens. Suggesting that it is just seems like pointless sectarian slagging to me. If you can explain why it's useful I may change my mind though.