14th July 2005

A free monthly email newsletter that provides green news and views so that together we can create a better world.

There will be no GNN for August.

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QUOTE OF THE MONTH

"The poor are financing the rich. If we are serious about ending poverty, we have to be serious about ending the unjust and violent systems for wealth creation which create poverty by robbing the poor of their resources, livelihoods and incomes."  Vandana Shiva, campaigner and author.

"The basic fact is that Britain under Blair and Brown is one of the world's leading champions of the neo-liberal economic model that is essentially being imposed on much of the rest of the world, and which is generally increasing poverty and inequality."
Mark Curtis, author.

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FEATURE: WE ROARED, G8 WHISPERED
1. RADICAL NEW APPROACH TO ROAD DANGER REDUCTION
2. OLDBURY NUCLEAR UPDATES
3. CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE 4X4 DEBATE
4. WAR AND PEACE: STROUD JOINS OVER 1000 OTHERS, FAIRFORD TATTOO & YET ANOTHER IRAQ REVELATION
5. CRIME: ASBOS, PRISON DEATHS AND REPLICA GUNS
6. ONE STEP CLOSER TO BIG BROTHER SOCIETY
7. GREENS WELCOME FAILURE OF UK BID TO LIFT BAN ON GM
8. SHOCK OVER REDESIGNATION OF STROUD'S VALLEYS AS 'URBAN'
9. OTHER GLOS NEWS

WATCH DOCUMENTARY RE SUPPLEMENTS
NEXT COFFEE HOUSE GATHERING: IS BRITAIN REALLY A DEMOCRACY?

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FEATURE: WE ROARED, G8 WHISPERED

The G8 summit and the the overwhelming importance of the issues that were discussed have been followed closely by many in Gloucestershire. Martin Whiteside, a Stroud District Green party spokesperson and an aid and development worker, who has just returned from the Mali and Sierra Leonne where he was advising Christian Aid on their programme, responds to the G8:

The people roared, but G8 have barely whispered (i). Hundreds of thousands of us came together in an unprecedented movement of hope, passion and solidarity to demand an end to the injustice of 50,000 people dying every day from preventable causes. At last our persistent campaigning over the years has got poverty and climate change on the agenda.

The step forward by G8, as most of campaigners have commented (ii), was a disappointingly tiny one.  We should not be fooled by the G8's triumphant words, even with Geldof's endorsements. The reality is, that it is very much business as usual. Increasing aid or reducing debt barely starts to address the causes of poverty - it merely makes the system that creates poverty seem slightly more pleasant. But now that poverty is on the agenda, we mean to keep it there. If necessary we will drag the G8 along the road to justice.


On climate change - no progress

There was no progress on climate change; no action, no new targets, no US agreement nor even concern that many of those signed up to Kyoto look unlikely to meet these grossly inadequate targets. Indeed the G8 leaders even committed us to continue to support the extraction of fossil fuels through bodies like the World Bank. This is the most colossal disaster and the poorest people in the world will be the ones who suffer most from this inaction.

If Blair is to really get serious about climate change he must at the very least, demonstrate support for the Climate Change Bill, already backed by 200 MPs, that sets a legally binding target to reduce UK carbon dioxide emissions by 3% every year (iii).


On aid and debt - some gains but could also make situation worse

Proposed debt relief is tiny; a quarter of what has been spent invading Iraq and barely 10 per cent of the multilateral debt problem (iv). Both the debt deals and aid are wholly inadequate to achieve poverty reduction targets and are unlikely to prevent the continued impoverishment of the continent (v). The small print shows aid and debt relief are conditional on dropping trade barriers, opening up markets, privatisation, liberalisation and cut backs in the public sector like health and education (vi). Indeed Britain, far from being Africa's champion, has been promoting the interests of corporations, using debt and aid as levers to reshape the global economy (vii).


On conflict and arms sales - no progress

$900 billion a year is spent on arms yet only $50 billion would provide food, housing, sanitation and water for every person on the planet. Military expenditure not only diverts funds from education and healthcare, it also provides the means for the world’s many conflicts, which represent the greatest cause of extreme poverty and threat to sustainable development. If the G8 were serious about poverty they would have looked at this.


On trade - no progress

The G8 countries have made no significant commitments to change their damaging trade policies and will only consider taking limited action if poor countries accept more liberalisation, privatisation, free trade and corporate deregulation (viii). Even the World Bank’s studies show (ix) the reason Africa has moved backwards is partly because of these policies being forced on them.

African countries do not owe us any debt at all, we owe them; our wealth is based on taking the rich resources out of Africa. We could almost forget that Britain has played any role in Africa’s accumulation of debt, the accumulation of weapons, the loss of resources, the collapse in public services, or the concentration of wealth and power by unaccountable leaders. Africa is a rich continent with oil, diamonds, gold platinum and more, which has been made poor by western corporations facilitated by our governments (x).


What is needed now

Africa needs LESS aid, debt relief and trade if it comes with conditions to open up markets like much of this G8 deal. The G8 leaders favour corporations and if we are not careful, this deal will only facilitate more the corporate plunder of Africa.

Both poverty and climate change can be tackled by changing our economic system to base it on meeting needs sustainably not on the rich accumulating more and more. We need to replace the current open market emphasis of the G8, WTO and the EU with trade rules that encourage the protection and diversification of domestic economies. Exporting governments should be able to set the terms of the trade so that they benefit the majority of their people, rather than the interests of big business at present encoded in our 'free and unfair' trade rules.

This approach would allow a more secure economic future that interacts with the rest of the world in a way beneficial to the poor everywhere, thus meeting the desires of all of us worldwide who are seeking to Make Poverty History. And of course we have to start taking climate change seriously.

The campaign to secure justice for the world’s poor is far from over.  Many of us who supported MPH are now giving our support to the Trade Justice Movement: a vast expanding group of organisations including many of the development organisations (xi). Join us and help put pressure on our government ahead of the World Trade Organisation meeting in December. We can push them down that road to justice.


Notes:
See full notes under 'Reports' www.glosgreenparty.org.uk

Additional articles of interest:
- Tony Blair's "vision for Africa" is about as patronising and exploitative as a stage full of white pop stars (with black tokens now added) - the deal on debt "is a fraud - actually a setback to reducing poverty in Africa. Entirely conditional on vicious, discredited economic programmes imposed by the World Bank and the IMF, the "package" will ensure that the "chosen" countries slip deeper into poverty."
http://www.newstatesman.com/200506270006
- Far from challenging the G8’s role in Africa’s poverty, Geldof and Bono are legitimising its power.
http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2005/06/21/bards-of-the-powerful-/
- Green hypocrisy means that we can’t tackle climate change without government intervention.
http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2005/06/30/save-us-from-ourselves/
- The G8 debt relief plan is far less generous than it looks, says Alex Wilks of the European Network on Debt and Development.
http://www.opendemocracy.net/globalization-G8/debt_2616.jsp
- Simultaneous Policy Adopters are supporting protests around the G8 meetings. But SP analysis suggests the G8 are incapable of delivering a fairer, sustainable version of globalisation.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/06/314747.html
- Farm Subsidies That Starve the World in the New Statesman  
- The Solution to Famine in Africa is Organic Farming
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/environment/story.jsp?story=649963
- New WDM briefing 'suspending disbelief' aims to look at what the G8 has said on a range of issues - primarily debt, aid and trade but also climate change, corporate regulation and human rights/democracy - and what the G8 countries have actually done.
See: http://www.wdm.org.uk/resources/briefings/general/suspending.pdf
- Radical policy changes needed to reduce poverty. EU Greens speak up:
http://www.greens-efa.org/en/press/detail.php?id=2623&lg=en


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1. RADICAL NEW APPROACH TO ROAD DANGER REDUCTION

Cllr. Sarah Lunnon and P. Booth have just released a new report, "Better Streets for Stroud District", which pulls together new and radical approaches to reducing danger on our roads and improving our neighbourhoods.

Over the years Britain has reduced the number of vehicle accidents but in the process has also discouraged cyclists and pedestrians from using our streets and we now have the worst record for child safety in Europe. This approach is not for all roads, but research has shown that reducing speeds, particularly in residential areas, to 20 mph and removing highway signage like traffic lights, speed bumps, right of way indicators, centre lines, speed-limit signs, bicycle lanes and even pedestrian crossings, can infact actually make roads safer!"

Roads can be made less dangerous when drivers stop looking at signs and start looking at other people. It is about social behaviour rather than conventional methods of separation and control of road users. This is not just theory. In the Netherlands this approach has been introduced in several towns with impressive results . Accident rates have fallen, in some cases by half, congestion has not occurred and pedestrian and cycle use has increased as people feel safe using the streets. The biggest mistake we make is giving people the illusion of safety.

We are keen to take these ideas forward and discuss with residents, councillors, road safety experts, the Highways Department and others.  Details of the report has already been circulated widely and is online or downloadable free
 
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2. OLDBURY NUCLEAR UPDATES

- Worries as Oldbury reactor opens after over a year's closure  

- Workers at risk from cancer  

- The 537 locations throughout Britain, that were once identified as potential sites for disposing the UK's radioactive waste, have been published by the nuclear waste agency, Nirex. The hugely sensitive list has been forced into the public for the first time by use of the Freedom of Information Act  and shows sites in Gloucestershire sites include Aston Down, Berkeley, Hardwicke, Quedgeley, South Cerney and 4 others. Read more about Green concerns:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=610&Itemid=70

- The new Government leukaemia report has been condemned by Greens as having poor epidemiology, which may hide significant clusters. Read more:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=624&Itemid=70

In the news:
- Nuclear more expensive than we thought. New Economics Foundation report:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,1517187,00.html?gusrc=rss

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3.  CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE 4X4 DEBATE

Everyone agrees our love affair with the car needs to change. Sadly just as we were getting somewhere, along comes the SUV, dangerous and wasteful, the epitome of everything that has been going wrong.

SUVs are more dangerous than other cars - especially if you are outside them. Urban SUVs are involved in 25 per cent more accidents than ordinary cars and the European New Car Assessment Programme puts them bottom of the class with an average crash-test score of just four out of 36.

SUVs use more fuel: driving a 13mpg 4x4 rather than even a 25mpg car for a year, wastes more energy than leaving the fridge door open for 7 years. Some suggest it is about "freedom of choice". What does this mean? Shopping in a tank? Driving through Stroud on a Harley without a silencer? Most of us accept that sensible limits should be placed on the freedom of drivers. It comes down to where we draw the line. Most Greens draw it at SUVs. We cannot continue to ignore climate change. Tackling SUVs is only one small step we need to take. Letters at:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=681&Itemid=2
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=618&Itemid=71
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=685&Itemid=2

Read about Peak oil: bigger than climate change
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=682&Itemid=2
See excellent film: The End of Suburbia - Oil Depletion and The Collapse of The American Dream. Info at:
http://www.endofsuburbia.com/

Read about the Green party policy of 'Contraction and Convergence' - an answer to climate change:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=683&Itemid=2

Plus several more letters:

- Thom Yorke, frontman of Radiohead, says he was unlikely to be more environmentally friendly unless it was forced on him. He is not alone; the enormity of climate change makes any individual action seem pointless. Yet inaction is not acceptable.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=612&Itemid=71
- Tony Blair has completely lost any credibility on climate change. In his address to the European Parliament in Brussels to set out his priorities for the six-month UK presidency of the EU he devoted just half a sentence to the issue.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=626&Itemid=71
- Gloucestershire's Great Transport debate: all research confirms that we simply cannot build our way out of congestion. We have to move forward by getting people to find alternative ways of travelling in the short term and travelling less in the long term. Read more of our letter:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=623&Itemid=71

In the news:

- Monbiot - Instead of denying climate change is happening, the US now denies that we need proper regulation to stop it:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1526415,00.html
- EU emissions rise - The EU is way off track in meeting its Kyoto protocol target of cutting emissions by eight per cent by 2012. Latest figures show emissions are currently only 1.7 per cent below 1990 levels.
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/dismay_as_eu_greenhouse_ga_21062005.html
-  Energy waste by products left on standby is a global problem. According to a leaked draft G8 communique: "across the G8, standby power consumes the equivalent of the output of 24 full-scale power stations". But this passage has been removed from a subsequent draft .
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/appliances_on_standby_fuel_23062005.html
- A groundbreaking ship designed to run exclusively on renewable energy is set to be unveiled at the World Expo 2005, Japan - it rather strangely boasts the capacity to carry up 10,000 cars in emission free conditions across the world's oceans.
http://www.2wglobal.com/www/newsFeatures/showNews.jsp?oid=3105
- Briefing for County Councillors on alternatives to road building in LTP2. see item 5 under 'Transport policy' at: http://www.roadblock.org.uk/resources.htm
- For many people climate change is too depressing to think about, and some prefer to simply pretend it doesn't exist but, says Oliver James, this issue is too big to ignore. Good article.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,12374,1517953,00.html
- The FT reported that the cost worldwide of storms, expected to become more frequent owing to climate change, is likely to rise by two-thirds to £15bn a year in the next seven decades, claim the Association of British Insurers.
- One in six countries in the world face food shortages this year because of severe droughts that could become semi-permanent under climate change, UN scientists warned.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,12374,1517831,00.html?gusrc=rss

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4. WAR AND PEACE: STROUD JOINS OVER 1000 OTHERS, FAIRFORD TATTOO & YET ANOTHER IRAQ REVELATION

- Green response to terrorist attacks in London
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=687&Itemid=2
 - Article: It is an insult to the dead to deny the link with Iraq - Tony Blair put his own people at risk in the service of a foreign power:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1528014,00.html
- The reality of this barbaric bombing - If we are fighting insurgency in Iraq, what makes us think insurgency won’t come to us?
http://www.robert-fisk.com/

- Green Mayor of Stroud, Kevin Cranston, was supported unanimously by councillors on Stroud Town Council in a meeting last month, in his bid to sign up with more than 1000 other mayors from 111 countries to Mayors for Peace. This week he officially received his confirmation certificate.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=613&Itemid=70
Plus Kevin's letter in The Independent at:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=631&Itemid=71

- Publicity about the Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford (RIAT) has been appearing in local libraries and papers in the last week. The tattoo is sponsored by arms manufacturers, but is not strictly an arm's fair (i). However the Gloucestershire Green Party argue it is still about selling the concept of weapons and war as acceptable ways of resolving differences between nations. Greens say 'give it a miss'.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=608&Itemid=70

In the news:
- Latest shock over Iraq - From Medialens: "...the real story was the revelation that Straw and Blair had conspired to use inspections to lure Saddam into obstructing the UN, so providing an excuse for war. By implication, the leaks clearly reveal that Blair and Straw had been consistently lying in 2002 and 2003 about their hopes for a peaceful resolution to the crisis. In an article for the Los Angeles Times entitled, ‘The real news in the Downing Street memos’, Michael Smith appears to agree with us about the real story: “Although Blair and Bush still insist the decision to go to the UN was about averting war, one memo states that it was, in fact, about ‘wrong-footing’ Hussein into giving them a legal justification for war. British officials hoped the ultimatum could be framed in words that would be so unacceptable to Hussein that he would reject it outright. But they were far from certain this would work, so there was also a Plan B... Put simply, US aircraft patrolling the southern no-fly zone were dropping a lot more bombs in the hope of provoking a reaction that would give the allies an excuse to carry out a full-scale bombing campaign, an air war, the first stage of the conflict.” See full story:
http://www.medialens.org/alerts/index.php
- "Terrorist" lists are a recipe for arbitrary, secretive and unjust decision-making. Recent debates over new anti-terror measures have shown that it is unacceptable to side-line Parliaments and exclude the courts. But this is precisely how the lists are agreed. It is also clear that the UK and US enjoy extensive and unchecked power as far as the EU and UN lists are concerned. See:
http://www.statewatch.org/terrorlists/terrorlists.html

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5. CRIME: ASBOS, PRISON DEATHS AND REPLICA GUNS

- Gloucester Green party condemned the use of leaflets and the front page of the Citizen newspaper to publicise the youths responsible for anti-social behavior. While it is clear that such appalling anti-social behavior needs very urgent attention, Anti-Social Behavior Orders with naming and shaming are not the way. The Citizen didn't like our criticisms and wrote a critical piece in their comment section. They also refused to print a couple of follow up letters showing our criticisms were supported by many groups including Mind, Community and Youth Workers Union, the National Association of Probation Officers, Liberty and more. Since then we have seen Tim Boswell, a Tory MP, tackle Clarke on concerns that the number of asbos being served on children has overtaken the number given to adults. He even agreed that 'some are suffering from attention or behavioural disorders'.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=603&Itemid=2
Letters:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=615&Itemid=2
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=609&Itemid=2

- News that a remand prisoner was found hanging from a sheet in his cell in Gloucester prison led to the  Green party calling for action. Gloucester prison has one of the top four suicide rates in the country with regular overcrowding there, poor levels of purposeful activity for prisoners and increasing numbers going into custody have all lead to unacceptable conditions for prisoners and staff.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=602&Itemid=2

- Government plans to ban the manufacture, import and sale of most kinds of replica guns, have been supported by the Gloucestershire Green Party. 72% of the firearms seized by the Metropolitan police were replica firearms converted, modified or upgraded to fire bullets. read more at:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=620&Itemid=2

In the news:
- Children are the subject of more antisocial behaviour orders than adults, leading commentators to warn that the Government is in danger of making it a "crime to become a child".
http://www.socialist-teacher.org/news.asp?d=y&id=552
- See also Statewatch's ASBOwatch monitoring:
http://www.statewatch.org/asbo/ASBOwatch.html

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6.  ONE STEP CLOSER TO BIG BROTHER SOCIETY

Twenty Labour MPs, that included former International Development Secretary Clare Short and former ministers Glenda Jackson and Kate Hoey but not local MPs David Drew or Parmjit Dhanda, defied the party whips to join the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in voting against ID cards. The Identity Cards Bill, dubbed by many as 'Labour's Poll Tax',  secured a second reading by 314 votes to 283, after the Government saw its majority cut from 67 to 31. The Conservatives have since ratcheted up the pressure over ID cards by vowing to repeal any legislation to introduce the scheme if a Tory government was elected.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=655&Itemid=2
Letters:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=630&Itemid=2

- Sign petition; say No to ID cards:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=592&Itemid=62

In the news:
- UK Presidency proposes that all ID cards have biometrics - everyone to be fingerprinted. Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments:"This proposal, with others, means that everyone living in the EU is going to be finger-printed and their details held on an EU-wide database. At a time of great tragedy it is all the more important that we act with care and do not bequeath to future generations a society where every movement and every communication is under surveillance. Whether a democratic way of life could survive in such a climate is doubtful."
see: http://www.statewatch.org/news/2005/jul/07eu-id-bio-plan.htm
- Biometric passports will do little to stop terrorism - Head of Passport Service
see: http://www.statewatch.org/news/2005/jul/02uk-passports.htm
- The Identity Project: an assessment of the UK Identity Cards Bill and its implications (published by the LSE) 27 June 2005 (2.5 MB, pdf):
see: http://www.statewatch.org/news/2005/jun/identityreport.pdf
- Read and listen to Simon Jenkins: 'Mad as Hell' - an excellent look at democracy in Britain.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/the_westminster_hour/4095476.stm

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7.  GREENS WELCOME FAILURE OF UK BID TO LIFT BAN ON GM

The UK failed to persuade the rest of Europe to give in to American pressure and lift the EU ban on genetically modified crops and food on Friday. The bans on GM varieties of oil seed rape and maize, were imposed on public safety and environmental grounds by Austria, Luxembourg, Germany, France and Greece.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=627&Itemid=70

In the news:
- GM maize has risks and side effects: Greenpeace publishes Monsanto company documents on rat-feeding trials. Green MEP comment under News at:
http://www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk/
- Action: email your local Council:
http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/real_food/press_for_change/email_la/ca14.shtml
- Scrap the CAP: Top of the handout list in the UK is Tate & Lyle, the sugar giant. Over the last two years, Tate & Lyle has pocketed £227m!
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,1514504,00.html
- Green Euro-MP Caroline Lucas says a planned new EU directive on the welfare of broiler chickens falls short of implementing the recommendations of an EU scientific committee on animal welfare and must be improved. See News at:
http://www.carolinelucasmep.org.uk/
- Tesco now controls nearly one third of the UK grocery market, with £1 in every £3 spent on groceries spent at Tesco. Their growing market share is bad for British business, bad for consumers, bad for the environment and must be checked, Friends of the Earth said today (Friday 24 th June), as shareholders attend the supermarket giant's annual general meeting
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/tesco_taking_over_high_str_23062005.html

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8. SHOCK OVER REDESIGNATION OF STROUD'S VALLEYS AS 'URBAN'

The Stroud District Green party have expressed shock that the final draft of the Stroud Local District Plan has redefined  the historic settlements of Stonehouse, Thrupp and Brimscombe, North and South Woodchester, and Nailsworth as part of 'Stroud Urban Area'. At a stroke of a pen, centuries old settlement patterns could be erased according to the recommendation of a government inspector who doesn't even live here!

The SDC planners have been unable to define exactly what the implications of this change in designation will be and don't seem to consider it very significant. So why does the Inspector spend two pages explaining the change of designation if it has no consequence? Already the argument of being 'adjacent to the (recommended) Stroud Urban Area boundary' has been cited in a proposal for 48  houses in a greenfield buffer area between settlements.
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=629&Itemid=2

PLEASE WRITE NOW TO SDC - details on the website

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9. OTHER GLOS NEWS

In our News section:

- Dursley: Council must take some responsibility for Tesco pull out and regeneration failure. Read more about Green research showing the Council have ignored alternative ways of regenerating Dursley.

- Helen Royall stood as the Green party candidate in the Cainscross by-election on 30th June for Cainscross, Ebley, Cashes Green, Dudbridge and Lower Westrip (Stroud District Council). She has lived in Ebley for 15 years, and was the only candidate who lives in the parish. She is already on the Parish Council and is the Chair of the Cainscross Parish Plan action group which is working with the community to prepare a plan for the areas' future. She also has an impressive list of other localactivities. RESULTS: A very disappointing turn-out with only 28.9% of the electorate. Labour won with 652 votes (43%), Tories 425, Lib Dems 257 and Helen with 169 (11%).

- Stroud Councillors return from conference in Sheffield with ideas

- Clone towns: the New Economics Foundation argue that Britain's town centres are rapidly becoming indistinguishable and losing all sense of local identity as they are taken over by global and national chain stores; a phenomenon they call "clone town Britain". In a report issued last week they list Cheltenham in the worst ten of their survey of 103 towns looking at local identity. Gloucester also makes it into the chart.

- Gloucester Greens join UNISON's opposition to City Council plans to set up an arm's length management organisation (ALMO) to manage council housing.

- The new 'state-of-the-art' Stroud College building has been given the go-ahead by planners. Greens have strongly criticised the plans on grounds of poor energy conservation and more.

- Greens have condemned plans by Vodaphone to erect a third generation mobile phone mast on the pavement between two bus stops in Merrywalks close to two Stroud schools. The application has since been withdrawn.

- All the evidence shows that the people of Cashes Green near Stroud want to redevelop the former Cashes Green Hospital site to provide a heart for their community.

-  Butterow Hill has now had traffic lights because of potential subsidence for two years – this has caused massive inconvenience for local residents, extra costs for local businesses and extra pollution as vehicles stop and start on the hill or take a longer route.  Read our Green call for common sense.

All in News section at: http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk

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WATCH DOCUMENTARY RE SUPPLEMENTS

'We Become Silent: the last days of health freedom': a new 28-minute documentary film narrated by Dame Judi Dench can be viewed at www.welltv.com

Codex won't cause all supplements to be banned but it will however have very serious impacts in the longer-term, especially if the risk assessment system that it proposes to use to establish maximum allowed dosages is not changed over the coming months. However there is still hope. Read more at:
www.alliance-natural-health.org

Medical journals are an immoral marketing tool for drug companies, according to a former editor of the BMJ.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/interview/story/0,,1517194,00.html

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NEXT COFFEE HOUSE GATHERING: IS BRITAIN REALLY A DEMOCRACY?

The next discussion will be on Friday 22nd July, 7.30 at Star Anise in Stroud. We have the most centralised Government in Europe, voted in by less than 22% of the electorate and heavily influenced by large corporations. The Coffee House Gathering asks  'Is Britain really a Democracy?'

The first Green Coffee House Gathering in Stroud proved popular, with over 30 people squeezing into the Star Anise Cafe on to ask, 'Is it really possible to Make Poverty History? Read more at:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=628&Itemid=70

Read more about our call for review of voting system to include Gloucestershire:
http://www.glosgreenparty.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=680&Itemid=2
Details of other Gloucestershire Green party meetings can be got from John Marjoram on 01453 751189

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GNN has grown out of a Green news service first established on 13th November 2001. To contribute to this news service (or to subscribe or unsubscribe) -  contact the editor, Philip Booth on 01453  755451 E-mail: <philip.booth2@virgin.net>.