He is joined by his son, Tim Hodgson, who was a Liberal Democrat Councillor for Shirley South from May 2007-2011, Deputy Leader of Solihull Council's Liberal Democrat Group for over two years and a Cabinet Member from 2010-11. He was also the Liberal Democrat candidate for Shirley South in the May 2012 local elections.

The defection of Cllr Andy Hodgson takes the number of Green Party Councillors in Solihull to six, which has grown from just one seat little over a year ago.

Councillor Andy Hodgson said "I have often been a lone voice in standing up for Shirley within the Liberal Democrat Group. They are not providing the strong and effective opposition the people of Solihull deserve. In contrast, I have been impressed by the vigour and leadership shown by the Green Group in holding the out-of-touch Conservative Council to account.

He added "I am also deeply unhappy at the way the Coalition Government with the Conservatives is progressing. I did not become a Liberal Democrat to see tuition fees trebled, further privatisation of the NHS and the green agenda neglected."

Tim Hodgson said "I have been a Liberal Democrat for 10 years, but I have increasingly been at odds with the national party on key issues like tuition fees, NHS privatisation and the abolition of the 50p rate of income tax. I can no longer defend what amounts to support for a Conservative agenda of sweeping cuts and economic policies which are failing to provide the jobs people need.

He added "I have always cared deeply about the environment and social justice, key Green priorities, and I have also been impressed by the bold and principled stance the Greens are taking against this Con-Dem Government."

Green Party Leader, Caroline Lucas MP said "With the West Midlands Greens riding high after their fantastic results in the local elections, I am delighted to be able to welcome Andy and Tim Hodgson to the party. Many people who voted for Nick Clegg's party thinking that they represented an alternative to the Westminster mainstream now feel deeply let down by Lib Dem complicity in the Coalition Government's job-destroying policies. With Greens up and down the country working hard to defend communities against the Government's plans and offering a positive vision of a greener and fairer future, people are increasingly recognising that the Greens are now the credible alternative."

Green Party Group Leader, Councillor Karl Macnaughton (Chelmsley Wood ward) said: "Andy and Tim have been some of the most impressive Councillors in Solihull and we welcome them wholeheartedly. Former Lib Dem voters have already switched to the Green Party in droves so it's only natural that three former Lib Dem Councillors have switched to the Green Party in Solihull in the past 12 months".

It is exactly one year to the day that former Lib Dem Councillor Howard Allen defected to the Green Party:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-13417417

Here are the results in full:

Worcester: Greens 720, Cons 442, Labour 236, LD 52.
Cllr Neil Laurenson elected (50%)

Dudley: Greens 1525, Labour 1269, Cons 335, UKIP 257.
Cllr Will Duckworth elected (45%)

Nuneaton: Greens 1012, Cons 651, Labour 488.
Cllr Keith Konkador elected (47%)

Smiths Wood: Greens 1030, Labour 473, BNP 150, Cons 132.
Cllr Mike Sheridan re-elected (58%)

Chelmsley Wood: Greens 1336, Labour 644, Cons 147.
Cllr Chris Williams elected (63%)

Shirley: Greens 1001, Cons 729, Labour 426, LD 406.
Cllr Howard Allen re-elected (39%)

News coverage has been impressive, and included:

Stourbridge News: "Greens win first-ever seat on Dudley Council"
Worcester Standard: "Green Party make history on dramatic night"
Nuneaton News: "the biggest shock of the night came when Keith Kondakor made a piece of local history"
Solihull News: "the day belongs to the Greens"

We're thrilled to have Green voices in every county of our region bar one, speaking out for environmental and social justice, and holding Councils to account.  We look forward to making more gains next time!

Since her election to the constituency of Brighton Pavilion in 2010, the UK's only Green MP has made a significant impact through her work on a range of issues - from putting pressure on the Government to tackle fuel poverty and drop Trident, to campaigning for Parliamentary reform and fairer rail fares.

Lucas received the Political Studies Association award for ‘Influencing the Political Agenda 2011' from Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow at a packed ceremony in Westminster this week.

Caroline Lucas said:

"I am honoured and delighted to collect this award from the Political Studies Association - and appreciate the judges' recognition that having even one Green in Parliament can make a positive difference."

The panel of judges at the Political Studies Association said:

‘Caroline Lucas has made unprecedented steps forward in raising the profile of the Green Party. The achievement of winning a seat in Parliament under the First-Past-The-Post electoral system should not be underestimated.

"When considering these factors alongside her role in influencing the AV debate, we felt she was a worthy winner of the 2011 award for Influencing the Political Agenda."

-------------------

ENDS

The Political Studies Association is the leading organisation in the UK linking academics in political science and current affairs, theorists and practitioners, policy-makers, journalists, researchers and students in higher education.

For information about the 2011 award winners, visit: http://www.psa.ac.uk/PSAPubs/Awards2011.pdf

An enquiry is currently taking place into plans by Worcestershire County Council to build an incinerator at Hartlebury. North Herefordshire Greens believe that there are many questions that need to be answered as to the wisdom of such a development, which will also take waste from Herefordshire.

Herefordshire Green Party Councillor Felicity Norman says

"Herefordshire Council has been granted £115 million in PFI (Private Finance Initiative) credits for this development. When I asked at the latest Full Council meeting whether we will be paying our share in this way, I was told that no decision had yet been made. I think we need to know if Herefordshire Council is to be involved in yet another hugely expensive PFI commitment. Jesse Norman has called for a moratorium on all PFI proposals in the pipeline. I hope the Treasury is listening.

And, as increasing numbers of Local Authorities abandon plans to build incinerators, we in the Green Party call on Herefordshire Council to rethink its plans. There are many reasons for rejecting this method of dealing with our waste, and I call on Herefordshire Council to look for more sustainable alternatives. With home collection, recycling rates have gone up considerably and we can do much more. We need to collect and process green and food waste, and establish ‘bring and take' centres at our recycling stations."

North Herefordshire Greens have made a submission to the Enquiry, objecting to the proposals on the following grounds:

• This proposal breaches Herefordshire's own unitary plan which states that Herefordshire waste should be treated within that county
• Waste from both counties will be transported unacceptable distances
• The cost to tax payers will be unacceptably high
• The incinerator will generate large quantities of toxic waste which will still need to be disposed of as landfill.
• Emissions will adversely affect air quality.
• There are possible health hazards from emissions and ash
• Incinerators can produce more CO2 than burning fossil fuels, and the plan is at odds with the proposals from both counties to reduce carbon
• Incinerators need a constant supply of waste and reduce incentives to reduce waste
• They can lead to depressed recycling rates and even a cap on recycling targets
• Predictions of future waste are often exaggerated and waste quantities are actually coming down.
• There are a number of better and more acceptable alternatives, eg. an anaerobic digestor (About half the price of an incinerator)
• The building itself, and the running of the plant, will be intrusive in the landscape, and create noise and disturbance in a rural area
• Precautionary principles should apply
• There should be a zero waste policy. Waste (packaging etc.) should be reduced to a minimum, then reused or recycled. Anything which cannot be disposed of in this way should not be produced.

The South Worcestershire Development Plan 'Preferred Options' document sets out the possible planning measures for the next 20 years in Malvern Hills, Worcester City and Wychavon.  Malvern Green Party Councillor reports....

The Malvern Hills Green Party, like many other local groups and individuals, is concerned that the basic vision is seriously flawed. We have sought to address the issues and put forward our own vision in our response paper, 'Putting Communities before Developers'.
Please read this document, and let us know your thoughts. Contact Malvern Hills Green Party here.

The key points of our response are:

· Pro-rata distribution of new development across South Worcestershire will better support rural regeneration, avoid creating of new large estates and the problems that they bring, and will protect towns and villages from the effects of sub-urban sprawl.

· This more evenly distributed approach will minimise pressures on existing infrastructure. Avoiding the need for new roads and junctions will ease strains on the budget and allow for resources to be focused to areas of existing need.

· A new (or possibly two) green town, consisting of 2-3000 houses and new employment and amenity space would help significantly to offset the growth requirements for existing villages and would provide a suitably balanced way to meet the area's overall housing needs for the foreseeable future. The first green town could be located at Throckmorton, which has previosuly been considered as an eco town, and could be served by a new station on the Worcester-London railway line.

· The SWDP should put greater emphasis on housing type and allow less control to be taken by developers. More afforable and social housing should be incorporated into the plan, as should smaller houses and bungalows to suit the ageing population. The local need for housing should be addressed first and foremost, before attracting commuters to the area.

· The SWDP represents an important opportunity to upgrade significantly the standards of thermal efficiency in our housing stock to respond to the problems of climate change and escalating fuel costs. We think the Plan should set new and exacting standards for new development (specifically the Passivhaus standard) with regard to energy efficiency and carbon emissions.

· The Worcestershire countryside is already dotted with houses and farmsteads (mostly built before planning regulations came into being). We think it would be perfectly reasonable (and helpful) to relax the rules so that a proportion of the additional housing need can be met in rural areas by low-impact (e.g. do not connect to mains utilities and for a sustainable lifestyle involving significant local production of food etc.) and low cost homes.

· We would like to see a specific policy that presumes in favour of refurbishment over demolition unless the proposed new build would meet energy design standards that exceed what can be achieved through refurbishment (or the existing property is beyond viable repair).

· We think that all significant additional development sites (i.e. above 100 dwellings) should be required to include provision for new (small) community work spaces, shops/offices and good amenity space within the site, to be funded by developer contributions, and that these facilities should be provided early in the development build out.

Solihull Green Party Councillor Karl Macnaughton, who represents Chelmsley Wood, an area set to be heavily affected by HS2 has expressed his disappointment that MPs have supported the proposals despite highlighting a long list of problems including highlighting the robustness of the economic case as "disappointing".

The Select Committee report also claimed that the carbon-reduction benefits do not stand up to scrutiny and that they recognise the large impact on communities, calling on the Government not to use the word "nimby" in describing opponents to HS2.

Commenting on the BBC Daily Politics Show at lunchtime today, Lord Digby Jones said "Birmingham will become the most northern suburb of London"

Green Party Councillor, Karl Macnaughton, said "The Transport Select Committee's report provides only lukewarm support for HS2. They question the proposed economic benefits, have picked holes in the business case and have said the environmental benefits are unqualified.

The Green Party remains opposed to HS2. The Select Committee's report only confirms our fears and the benefits are yet to be articulated. Solihull will still suffer more than it will gain and noone wants our Borough to be a northern suburb of London".

Caroline Lucas MP and Jenny Jones, London Assembly Member

Earlier this month, a spate of terrifying violence and disorder erupted onto our streets. Communities were terrorised, individuals attacked and city centres trashed. Horrendous images on our TV screens of burning buildings and mindless looting created a climate of fear in which people were scared to leave their homes - and in which public trust in the capacity of our police force to respond effectively was shaken.

The Green Party unequivocally condemns the violence and vandalism which has left indelible scars on families, businesses and urban environments across England. We express sincere condolences for those who lost loved ones in the chaos. And we feel admiration for those who took part in the peaceful defence of their neighbourhoods, as well as those came out onto the streets for the clean-up effort.

In the days since, the sheer number of column inches devoted to attempts to understand why the riots and looting took place - and how we might be able to prevent such devastation in future - illustrates the huge complexity of this issue. The honest truth is that there are no easy answers.

As a political party, we believe it is crucially important for the fabric of UK society that the Government and the police strike a balance between keeping our streets safe - protecting people from harm and defending communities against destruction - and upholding the hard won civil liberties of our citizens. And we want to keep things in perspective. We do not believe, as David Cameron does, that British society is ‘sick'.

Furthermore, we are concerned that Cameron's encouragement of draconian punishments will undermine respect for the law. The harsh sentencing of riot perpetrators to "set an example" is overtly political and wholly misguided. The varying sentences given out so far reveal serious inconsistencies and an alarming lack of proportionality. Overly tough sentencing will lead to costly and time consuming appeals, and add to the sense of unfairness already rife in our society.

The Government should also be clear about the consequences of sending hundreds of young people to jail - especially when prison capacity is at an all time low - with little chance of any proper rehabilitation.

The Greens also completely oppose withdrawing benefits from those linked to the events, and the eviction of families from state-supported housing. Such measures will only exacerbate existing problems of poverty and alienation - cutting off ever further those who we must seek to bring closer. Driving people into deeper poverty will not make the streets safer - nor will it help us build a stronger, fairer society.

Ultimately, underpinning any analysis of the riots should be a recognition of the deep inequality which lies at the heart of British society. So too should we understand the effects of a consumer culture which promotes endless material accumulation, an aggressive sense of entitlement and a demoralising level of status anxiety.

The Coalition Government's reckless austerity agenda, combined with rising youth unemployment and economic stagnation, is contributing in no small way towards a sense of hopelessness. It's clear that many people feel disempowered, and that some have become disengaged from their own communities, to the extent that they are willing to attack them without fear of consequence.

In focusing on long-term solutions, the Government must show it is willing to address the shocking level of inequality which exists in our country. Research by UNICEF suggests that the UK is one of the worst places to live as a child or teenager in the developed world - largely thanks to the growing gulf between the haves and have nots.

This is not something which the Government has shown any interest in tackling.

We need policies to create a more equal society. And as the economy continues to teeter dangerously on the edge of disaster, we need urgent action to create jobs and get people into work. The Green Party has long supported, and implemented where possible, the introduction of a Living Wage to begin to address these issues. We will continue to push for this change at every opportunity.

We also continue our call for Government investment in the clean industries of the future, to create millions of new green jobs and help our transition towards a greener future. And we demand bold measures to tackle the scourge of tax evasion and avoidance which allows those at the top of society to loot the public purse with impunity.

In light of the events earlier this month, the Greens are calling for a moratorium on all police cuts until December 2012; in other words, after the colossal policing challenge that is the London 2012 Olympics, and after the various inquiries into the riots have reported back. In the meantime, the police should focus on spending money wisely, and ensuring that police officers are not burdened with administrative tasks which take them away from frontline policing.

Although we reject the idea of any kind of military-based national service, the Greens would support a voluntary national community service programme for young people - particularly one geared towards training and eventual employment. Sadly, such a positive scheme would require a level of funding unlikely to be forthcoming from this Government.

Yet by investing money in intervention now, in programmes to broaden the horizons of young people, address their concerns about the future, offer them a way to participate in public life and have their voices heard, we can save the state money - and save lives - in the long term.

For example, to tackle the gang culture which blights our inner cities, the Greens propose the introduction of Community Initiatives to Reduce Violence (CIRVs) based on the successful model we have seen in Glasgow. The scheme seeks to reduce violent behaviour and provide mentoring, career and employment services, bringing together different social services in an integrated approach. This way, we can make sure that those at the bottom are drawn away from criminality - and are able to gain control of their own lives.

In the meantime, the Greens welcome the inquiries now underway to investigate the complex causes behind the August riots - in particular, the formal commission being coordinated by Nick Clegg which aims to speak directly to people within the affected neighbourhoods about what happened.

We also support efforts to establish "payback" sentencing and restorative justice for people found to have participated in the disturbances. Plans for a "riot payback scheme" would ensure that those who are convicted are forced to mend the damage done via community service work, and to face up to the consequences of their actions through meetings with victims.

If the Government is serious about preventing a repeat of these terrible events, then such solutions must form part of a more balanced, humane and realistic approach - one which can help to bring our society closer together, rather than pushing us further apart.

SOLIHULL: Karl Macnaughton gained the Chelmsley Wood seat from the Solihull Labour Group Leader with 51% of the vote.

Alison Walters gained the Smith's Wood seat from the Labour Deputy Group Leader with 46% of the vote.  Alison joins Green Councillor Mike Sheridan in the ward.

MALVERN HILLS: John Raine held his District Council seat in Malvern West ward and is joined by Luna Deller who gained the second seat in this ward from the Conservatives.  Julian Roskams very narrowly missed taking a seat in Malvern Link ward, missing out by just 5 votes.

STAFFORD: Tom Harris spectacularly gained a seat in Stafford's Forebridge ward from the Liberal Democrats to become the Green Party's first ever Councillor in Staffordshire.

HEREFORDSHIRE: Long-time Green Party member Felicity Norman took a seat in Leominster North ward from the Conservatives.

There were also strong Green Party showings in Dudley, Leamington Spa and Worcester.

The Green Party now holds seven Principal Authority Council seats in the West Midlands region.

Today's Green Party conference in Cardiff came out overwhelmingly against the HS2 proposal for a Birmingham-London 250 mph train.

The Greens, who remain committed to genuine improvements in public transport, voted overwhelmingly to campaign against the HS2 project which goes to consultation on Monday, saying proposals currently on the table would be "economically and environmentally unsound."

The Green Party remains in favour of high speed rail in principle, but any project would need to meet strict criteria.

Green Party leader Caroline Lucas MP said:

"The Green Party is opposed to the current HS2 proposals. The economic case is unsound. The claims about reducing CO2 emissions are questionable to say the least. And the huge damage which would be caused to local communities and their environment would be unsustainable."

Transport expert and Green Party spokesperson on sustainable development Professor John Whitelegg said:

"The proposed HS2 trains would burn 50% more energy mile-for-mile than the Eurostar.

"HS2 would produce more than twice the emissions of an intercity train.

"HS2 is a ‘rich person's railway' - the business case assumes that a third of passengers will be on incomes of £70,000 or more.

"Everyone knows the Greens and passionately committed to social justice and to the environment. The current HS2 proposals would serve neither."

Speaking on behalf of the Greens in the West Midlands, Karl Macnaughton, an activist in the Chelmsley Wood area of Solihull, which is situated along the proposed route said

"So far, the Green Party is the only one of the four major parties in the region to come out against the current HS2 plans, which are set to bring massive disruption and would offer no significant benefit to those who would suffer most."

"What we need really need is huge investment in the regional bus, tram and train networks and only when local travel is sufficiently affordable and convenient would it make sense to look into any possible benefits from anything like HS2."

The swathe of council job losses across England and Wales is set to worsen the North-South divide as councils in the North and Midlands are disproportionately hit by government cuts, the Green Party said today.

Figures show the West Midlands is to suffer much worse than other regions, seeing 7.05 jobs in every 1000 lost, almost twice the national figure of 3.96 and nearly three times the 2.7 average in the South East.

Speaking on behalf of the Green Party in the West Midlands Tom Harris said:"These figures demonstrate the socially destructive potential of the cuts. It is absolutely unacceptable that the areas with the greatest need for investment are being most affected by the cuts programme.

"The West Midlands has already been hit the hardest by the recession - manufacturing is suffering and businesses of all kinds are finding it impossible to get the loans they need to keep trading because the banks won't lend."

Tom Harris stressed the importance of investing in an already fragile economy, concluding:"Instead of these harmful cuts, which are worsening national divides and increasing inequalities, the government should introduce a system of progressive taxation and job creation." ENDS

Notes:

WEST Midlands councils must cut more than £1.5 billion from their budgets as a result of the Government's emergency financial measures - a 28.4 per cent reduction in council spending by 2014.
Last week Birmingham City Council, run by a Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition, announced 7,000 job losses.
1,500 jobs are expected to go from Worcestershire County Council, 800 from Dudley Council, 800 from Sandwell Council, 500 from Staffordshire County Council and 400 from Walsall Council.
2000 jobs are to go at police forces in the West Midlands.

In an unprecedented move, the Green Party today offered free membership to people under 30 or in full-time education.

Any student or young person who applies to join the Green Party before 1 January 2011 will pay no subscription for the coming year.

Green Party leader Caroline Lucas MP said today:

"I want students and young people to know there is a political party that still cares about their future, and that will keep fighting for a fairer future and will not give up on doing the right thing.

"We have to keep fighting, because we can't leave the future of our country and our planet to people who want to run things primarily in the interests of big business and the wealthiest people.

"Politics is important and it's time to reclaim it. I want to extend the warmest possible welcome to all new members, but not least to students and young people who are having such a difficult time at the hands of the other political parties."

Greens want "a society which values mobility and inclusiveness"

Caroline, who was elected as Britain's first Green MP in this year's general election - and who has stood strongly by the Green Party's policy of universal free education - said last night after the tuition fees vote:

"This is a dark day for the future of higher education in this country. The huge hikes in tuition fees, together with the scrapping of Educational Maintenance Allowance and proposed cuts in college funding, amount to nothing less than a Government assault on our young people - and an attack on the principles of universal education. Many people may be priced out of going to university as a result of today's vote - and those who do go are likely to be saddled with massive debt. This is unacceptable for a society which values social mobility and inclusiveness."

Further information

1. Students and young people can join the Green Party free here.

2. Students can normally join the Green Party for £5, as opposed to the standard membership rate of £31. Many people, however, pay higher membership fees to help the party fund its campaigns. Donations are always welcome, as the Green Party receives no financial backing from unions or big businesses as Labour and the Conservatives do, but gets the bulk of its income from members and ordinary supporters.

Caroline Lucas, Leader of the Green Party and MP for Brighton Pavilion, said: "Today is a dark day for the students of the future - and for Lib Dem voters who have seen, yet again, their Party's leader make a shameful u-turn on a key election pledge.

"The Greens are now the only main political party that support free education for all.

"A cap of £9,000 is simply unacceptable for a country that values social mobility and inclusiveness. This announcement will mean our public degrees will be among the most costly in the world. Many people will be priced out of going to university - and those who do go will be saddled with huge debt. All this at a time when our young people are facing increasing unemployment and anxiety about the future.

"A more progressive policy to address the challenge of funding our higher education would be a business education tax levied on the top 4% of UK companies, which would generate enough annually to abolish tuition fees and take our public investment in higher education up to the average in other comparable countries."

Young Greens: Student debt widens gap between generations

The Young Greens, the youth branch of the Green Party, plan to attend a national demonstration in London on 10 November to protest against education cuts. The Young Greens are the only youth branch of a national political party listed as a supporter organization of the ‘Fund Our Future: Stop the Education Cuts' march.

Young Greens Co-chair Sam Coates said: "It's outrageous that the Coalition Government is even thinking about raising tuition fees, let alone doubling them. This amounts to a tax on students. The amount of student debt this rise will bring, along with the lack of affordable housing and high youth unemployment, is driving the gap between our generation and previous ones even wider."

Sam Coates also challenged Liberal Youth, the Liberal Democrat youth wing, to stick to their principles. "The Young Greens will be marching for free education and to show our opposition to the Coalition's cuts. If Liberal Youth are against these rises in tuition fees they should march with us on Wednesday and make sure their MPs and ministers stick to their promise of supporting free education."

Sam Coates continued: "Only through the removal of tuition fees can we expect young people to enter university without the thought of massive student debt on graduation on their minds, and with the jobs market so tough for young people, a degree is looking more and more essential."

Notes

- The UCU (University and College Union) and the NUS (National Union of Students) are jointly organising a national demonstration, 'Fund Our Future: Stop Education Cuts' on Wednesday 10 November 2010, in central London. A list of organisations that are supporting the demonstration can be found here: www.demo2010.org/supporter-organisations/

“Around 24% of people in the West Midlands work in the public sector and now around 100,000 of their jobs could go. The knock-on effects will mean at least as many jobs also being lost in the private sector. The government’s own figures admit this is a disaster for jobs.”

“At 40%, my home town of Stafford has the highest level of public sector employment in the region, but these cuts mean councils will have nearly a third less money to spend in 2015 than they do today. For thousands who work in the area and many youngsters still in education, this will ruin their lives for years to come, because enough new jobs simply won’t be created quickly enough.

“We need a fair tax regime”

“The chancellor singled out benefit cheats for attack, but has done nothing about tax cheats? The official figures show that benefit fraud costs around £1 billion a year, but tax evasion costs the country £15 billion every year.

“These cuts will hit the poorest ten percent the hardest. Decent, honest people who are already struggling to make ends meet will lose benefits, essential services and even their homes.

"If the government restored the top tax rate to the 60 per cent level that we had even under Margaret Thatcher, rather than the 40 per cent it is now, this alone would raise £19 billion a year. Instead of devastating cuts we need a fair tax regime.”

Mr Harris concluded: “This Conservative-LibDem coalition government is undermining the economy while hitting the most vulnerable – and all, incredibly, under the banner of fairness.”

Green Party National Campaigns Co-ordinator, Romayne Phoenix, will be speaking at the “How to Fight the Cuts, A New Vision for Birmingham” conference this Saturday 23rd October.

Organised by the People’s Charter, a group against the proposed cuts promised by the Con-Dem coalition, the one-day conference will look at how to fight the cuts and present a new vision for a better Birmingham for its people. Other prominent figures taking part are Tony Benn and Jack Dromey, the MP for Erdington.

Romayne Phoenix said “These savage cuts are not inevitable and they are not acceptable. They are ideologically driven, designed to cut out the heart of the welfare state and to place public service provision in the hands of private profiteers. The ConDem Government wants to make the poorest pay the most towards footing the bill for this banker driven crisis. The Green Party has consitently campaigned for cuts to be avoided completely. We believe tax rises for the wealthiest who benfited from the boom should pay for the deficit, not the least well-off."

Romayne Phoenix will be doing a workshop on "An Alternative Vision for A Green Future"

“The Green Party supports the Green New Deal, a plan to create a million new jobs in renewable energy infrastructure, building and refurbishing homes, public transport and in public services.”

“With all of the challenges our planet, country and families face, we have to look forward to an entirely different path. The inequality and injustice the previous Government created are being made so much worse by the current one. Only the Green Party has policies, which can affect the radical change needed to true create social, economic and environmental justice. Green Party policies are made for the next 50 years not the next 50 weeks.”

The day starts at 9.30am at Birmingham Council House, Victoria Square, this coming Saturday. For further information on the conference visit www.thepeoplescharter.org.

Green Party members from across the West Midlands gathered on Sunday 3^rd October to protest against the coalition Government’s plans to cut essential public services. The rally was supported by a range of trade unions, community groups and disability groups concerned that the cuts would harm the most vulnerable in society.

Green Party members came out in force to tell David Cameron and the Conservative Party, which is meeting in Birmingham for its Autumn conference, that we would not stand by and let vital services such as the NHS be cut to ribbons and turned over to the private sector.

Green Party National Campaigns Officer Romayne Phoneix spoke from the platform and told the crowd that the cuts were not needed and will lead to the economy spiralling out of control. Romayne also highlighted the need for more urgency in tackling climate change, protecting jobs and a massive range on investment to protect the poor and help the recovery of our country. You can watch Romayne’s speech in this video made by visiting Tower Hamlets Green Party members - http://bit.ly/bDLDmi

Ben Bradley of the Birmingham Green Party said "These cuts will drag us back to the dark ages of the 1980's where it was every man, women and child for themselves. I believe that these cuts are not driven by need but driven by ideology. We must not let the coalition Government destroy the kind of services that vulnerable people rely on in their day to day lives. The Green Party is determined to protect them."

The Green Party has welcomed the decision to pull the plug on the scheme claiming that in Solihull it was only Green Party Councillor Mike Sheridan who voted against the plan at its earliest stage when the plans began in 2008.  The Green Party has been among those campaigning against the plan in Solihull, Coventry and Warwickshire for over two years.

The three Councils claim that the current incinerator in Coventry can now stay open until 2040, although consultants had said back in 2008 that the incinerator would not last beyond another few years, which is why a new one would be needed.

Green Party spokesperson Chris Williams said "The Green Party pointed out the ludicrous cost of the plans back in 2008. I am glad that others have now seen the light that incinerators are expensive, dirty and unncessary and have finally stopped wasting any more of taxpayers' money on this scheme. The £1.7 million spent so far has been lost and could have been spent on vital frontline public services".

Coventry Telegraph article: http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/2010/09/30/1billion-whitley-incinerator-plan-scrapped-after-protests-92746-27371505/2/

Boris Johnson’s call for laws to make industrial action more difficult yesterday met with strong criticism from members of the Green Party in the Midlands.

At the Conservative Party conference, which is being held in England’s second city of Birmingham, theTory mayor of London called for legislation to ensure that workers could only go on strike when more than 50% of the workforce had voted on the decision.

“Mr Johnson’s 50% ballot call is absurd for many reasons, not least because the turnout at the London Mayoral election in 2008, which handed him the capital’s premier political role, had a turnout of only 45%.” said West Midlands Green Party’s Tom Harris. “If Mr Johnson wanted fairness in ballots he should be supporting the wholesale reform of the electoral system, not attacking those wishing to take legitimate industrial action in a time of devastating, ideologically-driven cuts.”

Despite agreeing to a referendum on the Alternative Vote system as part of the coalition agreement with LibDems, the Conservatives are firmly against moving away from the current First-Past-The-Post electoral model.

“These days, it is common for far fewer than 50% of voters to take part in local elections, yet the Conservatives refuse to support a move towards any voting system which is expected to revive interest in the electoral process and drive up turnout.” Mr Harris said.

“Perhaps Mr Johnson could learn from the Conservative Douglas Carswell MP, who has joined forces with the Green Party's Caroline Lucas MP, the Party’s Leader and their first Member of Parliament, to give voters the option of full proportional representation at next May’s referendum."

Douglas Carswell and Caroline Lucas have announced they will move to table a series of amendments to the Electoral Reform Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament.

Tom Harris concluded, “Our current electoral system is clearly unfit for purpose and needs reforming. We must do everything we can to fix our broken democracy.”

The Green Party has slammed the councils, airport shareholders, for choosing not to withdraw its dividend from share pay-outs.

The project was approved almost two years ago, but the scheme has been delayed by the recession.

Green Party spokesman Chris Williams said this week that the scheme was being bank-rolled using taxpayers' cash.

"By not choosing to withdraw its dividend, the councils are effectively subsidising the airport - a private enterprise," he said.

"There are many other businesses in Birmingham and Solihull that are struggling to survive and they're not receiving help.

"The airport is thriving and yet it's been supported when sweeping cuts are just around the corner."

Birmingham City Council will also be helping to fund a £32m diversion of the A45.

Thank you and welcome to Birmingham.

And I want to start by thanking the organisers and Birmingham Green Party, and indeed all those in the West Midlands, who have helped to make us so welcome.

Our membership has grown significantly over the last year, up by nearly a third.

It's such a pleasure to see so many people I don't recognise!

And so I welcome all new members.

New members who share our values and ambitions.

Who will build on what we have achieved already as a party

And who are ready to help to create a society genuinely based on fairness, justice, and sustainability - values that the Green Party is committed to putting at the heart of the political process.

Victory

And perhaps we can be forgiven for beginning our Conference in reflecting on our achievements.

For we have an autumn Conference where we can celebrate success.

First, hot off the press, the by elections for Norwich city council yesterday, where the Norwich Greens continued their unstoppable momentum, holding all their seats, winning another and now, with 14 seats, the largest Green council group in the country - ever.

In the local elections in May, we won our second city council seat in Cambridge and made our first breakthroughs on Reading, Reigate and Rochford councils.

Places that now have Green representation for the first time.

So I'm delighted to congratulate our newly elected councillors Adam Pognowski, Rob White, Jonathan Essex and Michael Hoy.

Their success is another sign of our growing challenge to the three main parties.

But it also means more communities that now have the kind of principled and committed representation that the public want and deserve.

And while the London results didn't reflect the enormous efforts of London parties like Hackney, Camden and Lewisham, knowing many of those activists as I do, I share their optimism for building the vote towards the London Assembly elections in 2012.

So, successes in local elections.

And great work being done by Green representatives in dozens of local authorities, in the London Assembly, and in the European Parliament.

Was there something else?

Brighton

It was one amazing night for us all.

I cannot tell you what a privilege it was to stand on that stage, and represent this wonderful movement of ours, and so, from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much to everyone who made it possible.

So many thoughts crowding in - and fortunately crowding out the fact that none of us had slept for 24 hours!

How it started here in Britain, over 30 years ago.

People, and then the Ecology Party, as the first political movement based on ecological principles. On what we have come to call Green principles.

And the years, the decades, of tireless work by so many thousands of people, over so many years, believing against all the odds, ignored or even at times ridiculed, by the mainstream, yet never losing faith.

A long journey, a difficult journey - where the odds have been stacked against us all the way.

But the results showed us, and the wider world, that the big guns don't always win in politics.

That's a wonderful message to put out to the country.

But that is what we've done, and will continue to do.

To give hope for a better way, a better world.

The idea that politics can be different.

It's as simple, as powerful, as that.

The time when a political party takes, for the first time, its rightful place in our parliament.

Shared Achievement

It puts me in mind of the Critical Mass cycle rides.

You might remember when the police were trying to stop the London rides, using one of the many hundreds of pieces of anti-protest legislation brought in by Labour, that they tried to find out who were the leaders of Critical Mass, so they could serve an injunction on them

And of course, it doesn't have any leaders. It's spontaneous.

People gather, and when the time is right, when everyone is ready, someone chooses to pedal off.

And with Critical Mass, as with our own party, it's not the one at the front who matters. It's everyone who is there.

Of course, when we set off, it was not spontaneous - far from it.

The campaign we ran in Brighton, from day one, was carefully and creatively planned. I was privileged to have the best campaign team in the country!

And that amazing team pulled together to take on the bigger parties, against the odds, and they inspired huge numbers of members and non-members to get involved, staying focused and spirited until the very last vote was counted.

But what we have achieved, we have done together.

All of us here today, and all our members and supporters, past and present.

And the thousands, the hundreds of thousands of people in the country, who vote for our candidates.

They are what made it happen in Brighton.

It's been a long journey.

But also the beginning of a new one, as a political party represented at Westminster at last.

Now is a moment to pause, and reflect. And it's right to remember those who are not with us now. Those who worked for this moment, who helped make it happen, but didn't live to see it.

We can all call people to mind. For me, it's Mike Woodin, a much valued and much missed colleague from Oxford days, whose ideas and principled actions have played such an important role in shaping this party.

I wish he were here now. I wish they all were. And we must keep them in our minds as we face the next stage on this journey.

Shared Responsibility

Conference, we have been given the chance to be that new voice in politics. That is a great responsibility.

And like the achievement of this historic victory, the responsibilities that come with it are also shared.

There are tasks we now face together, as a party.

Our Policies

First, what we want to achieve, and how we articulate this for the many people who, for the first time, are looking to the Green Party with interest.

We have always been a party that combined aspiration and pragmatism.

We dare to think big, to dare to imagine the world that we want, not the world we are told we have to put up with.

Some of our ideas have become mainstream.

Lowering the voting age to 16, for example, was seen as a bit of a joke when we first put it forward. Now, it feels like an idea whose time is coming.

Or the living wage, the supposedly radical idea of paying people enough to live on - an idea which Jenny and Darren fought for and won on the London Assembly, and which is now being picked up across the country.

But we are also pragmatists. Our experience as elected representatives has taught us that sometimes the best can be the enemy of the good, and that it's right to concentrate on the areas where we can make real improvements to people's lives now.

Idealism and pragmatism - I believe that our party needs both.

More than that, I believe each one of us needs both.

We shouldn't see ourselves as one or the other - idealist or pragmatist.

We all need to keep an eyes on our ideals. To influence the debate. To shape the future.

And we all need the satisfaction that comes from making a difference here and now.

It needs discipline to get the balance right.

But we can be daring and imaginative, and also practical.

For example, I'd like to see the law changed to allow candidates for Parliament tostand as job shares. Nothing would do more to open up politics to women.

Now I know theEstablishment will pour scorn on the idea and say its ideas like that which make us unelectable.

Fine. Let them.

But I also know that this too is an idea whose time will come.

We've been told that job-shares are no good for all sorts of professions, from doctors to lawyers, and in every case the men and women in those job shares have proved the doubters wrong.

It's little different from the time when we were told that women didn't have what it took to be pilots, or a blind person couldn't serve as a magistrate.

These battles must be fought, and whatever the criticism, I will fight them and I know you will too.

And of course, we will also continue to repeat the apparently heretical notion that a world of finite resources cannot sustain a system of infinite production and consumption, however much politicians of the other parties act as if the contrary were true.

So we must never lose that radical perspective.

And there are other challenges.

Every week in Parliament, there are dozens of votes. In each one, I will have to vote for or against.

Green Councillors up and down the land have all had the "between a rock and a hard place" experience.

And it's the same in the House of Commons.

Not least because at Westminster, at the mother of parliaments, I discover, there are no mechanisms to abstain.

So each vote forces us to take a position, and if we are honest, some of these are areas where Conference may not have a fully developed position.

So for all of us, it means redoubling our efforts to bring our policy-making process up to date.

Reaching out to the wealth of organizations at all levels who share our values, and want to work with us.

Together turning our vision of a greener, fairer, more peaceful world into a tangible and compelling reality.

New Members

We are helped enormously in that challenge by the news that, since Spring Conference, thousands of people have joined the party.
Some have come from other parties.

Labour

Labour members, who have finally realized that even with the passing of Blair and Brown, they are still stuck in the New Labour nightmare.

Labour's leadership campaign has been a demonstration of political amnesia on a positively heroic scale.

The gang of four men - the "geeks in suits" in Dianne Abbott's words - are collectively choosing to forget as much of Labour's record as they possibly can. Iraq? PFI? The BAE bribery scandal? Growing inequality? Rising carbon emissions?

They act as if they were all out to lunch while ithappened!

And so whether the new leader is Burnham or Balls, or someone from the firm of management consultants Miliband and Miliband, many Labour supporters know that the party will never again truly represent them.

They've had enough of Labour. Some have had enough of politics full stop.

But others still believe that it is important to be involved, and still want to work to defend the vulnerable, stand up to big business and vested interests, and take care of our natural environment.

To those people, I say the Green Party is your natural home.

Liberal Democrats

We are gaining members from the Liberal Democrats too. Perhaps their anguish and sense of betrayal is all the more sharp, for being so unexpected.

Could they really have imagined during the election campaign, when Nick Clegg could hardly open his mouth without saying the word "fairness", that they would be voting for a party that would become an apologist for the most brutal, savage cuts in a generation?

Cuts that are knowingly aimed at the most vulnerable
Cuts that, as even the Institute for Fiscal Studies recently confirmed, clearly hit the poorest hardest, and women most of all?

Cuts which are as economically illiterate as they are socially devastating, because it is at a time of recession that we need government investment in jobs all the more.

Cuts which are decimating communities up and down the country.

People like the woman who came to my surgery a few weeks ago, desperate to be re-housed because she, her partner and child were all living in a single room in Brighton, and she was expecting another child very soon.

That's why the Green Party is committed to fighting these cuts every step of the way.

Now let me make clear, the Green Party is not against political parties working together.

We've co-operated with other parties on local councils and in the European Parliament.

Other Green parties in Europe have entered coalitions. And at Westminster, I have voted alongside members from all the other parties when this was the way to represent our policies and our values.

I know, too, that this sometimes means difficult decisions and compromises.

I don't criticise Nick Clegg and those around him for agreeing to work with the Conservatives.

But I do criticise him for the terms of that deal.

Amongst Liberal Democrats, the rebellion against this coalition is growing.

But what an irony it would be if Liberal Democrat members, appalled by their alliance with the Tories, should switch their support to the Labour Party.

A Labour Party which, with its obsession with privatization and PFI, has spent the last 13 years paving the way for the coalition's assault on public services.

Which has presided over 13 years of increasing inequality, undermining our civil liberties and plunging us into an illegal and ruinous war in Iraq.

With our principles and our courage to be honest with the public about the greatest issues of our time, such as climate change, we are the natural home for Liberal Democrats who feel betrayed by their leaders.

And so to those Liberal Democrats, I say, join us. Many of your former colleagues are already here.

Don't give up on politics. There IS a party out there of principle and integrity - and it's the Green Party.

Conservatives

And there are Conservatives too who see that the kind of government Cameron offers - vacuous on the outside, and shamelessly favouring the rich and powerful underneath - is not for them.

Many people were taken in by Cameron's silky words on the environment. Vote Blue, get Green.

No wonder he was paid so much when he worked in Public Relations.

It sounds so much better, doesn't it, than Vote Blue, Screw You?

Now we see the reality.

The Sustainable Development Commission, there to tell government uncomfortable truths: axed.

The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, which has advised on new environmental standards since the 1970s: axed.

Funding for environmental protection: cut.

Green energy targets, weakened.

And nothing, not one single thing, in the Queen's Speech to protect our natural world or deal with climate change.

Within the Conservative Party, there are people who are guided by respect for what's good in the traditions of the past; who believe in conserving our natural environment.
Who value civil liberties and fear an all-powerful state;

Who want to see One Nation, and an end to the grotesque inequality that blights our country;

And perhaps most of all, who have been horrified by how New Labour behaved in government and turned to the Tory opposition - perhaps not realising they would provide more of the same.

They too will be welcome.

Excluded

And most import of all, we should be there to welcome those who have given up on politics altogether. We must offer them hope, and live up to our values.

Young people, who give up on politics before they have even begun, because they listen to the messages coming from the big 3 parties, and hear nothing at all that speaks to them about the things they are concerned with - climate change, global poverty, the state of the world that they will soon inherit.

We must make sure we reach them, too.

That's why the wonderful work of the Young Greens is so important, reaching out to new people and giving them a voice - they have done a brilliant job, and they need to be supported further.

The Need for a Real Opposition

I spoke earlier about responsibilities.

One that I feel particularly heavily is our role as an opposition party within Parliament.

I doubt that any of us expected the realignment of British politics that has come in the aftermath of May's election.

But its implications are becoming ever more clear.

And one of these is that, on a whole range of issues, there is no effective opposition to the coalition and its plans.

And that makes the role of the Green Party more important than ever.

Nuclear

Take nuclear power. The Conservatives are in favour. So are Labour. And now that the Liberal Democrats have joined forces with the Tories, their ability to put the other case is fatally compromised.

And so we have the prospect of a resurgence of a dirty, dangerous and discredited form of power just at the moment when we should, as a nation, be investing in the energy sources of the future.
And that's why we need the Green Party.

Education

It's the same with education. Labour championed the Academies programme, despite all our warnings about the risk of creating a two-tier education system.

Now - surprise, surprise - the Coalition has dropped any requirement that Academies should gain from outside sponsorship, or should help those communities most in need.

Any pretence of a higher social purpose is out.

Michael Gove's plans are simply about an ideological opposition to state education and a chance to allow private companies to make a profit from our schools.

And Labour, having opened the door to this in the first place, cannot mount an effective, principled opposition, despite their heroic efforts to try to rewrite history.

And that's why we need the Green Party.

Trident

Take Trident. The public are hardly clamouring to replace it.

Particularly at a cost of perhaps £100 billion.

And like many senior military figures, they don't see how it will make this country any safer.

But again, the Tories are for it. Labour are for it.

And the poor Lib Dems are to be let of the leash for the night to vote against, safe in the knowledge that it will go through anyway.

And remember, this isn't a minor disagreement about the detail of legislation.

This isn't Clause 96 of the Local Government Finance Bill.

This is a question of whether Britain will spend £100 billion expanding its nuclear arsenal. Yet there is no serious debate.

This isn't democracy. It's a conspiracy of self interest.

We saw this in July, when the Liberal Democrats supported the Conservatives to ensure that Trident wasn't covered by the planned Defence Review.

Yes, that's right - a strategic defence review that will not take into account Britain's strategic deterrence. That's the Lib Dem position, because that's what the Tories want, and they are not prepared to put what they have at risk to fight for their principles.

And that's why we need the Green Party.

And so this responsibility falls to us

Conclusion

Friends, it is a great pleasure to return to Conference and reconnect with the lifeblood of the Party.

There is so much to do at parliament - questions to table, answers to chase, amendments to table, votes to make, and all the rest of the behind the scenes activity.

But I remain conscious of how strange, even alien, Parliament is.

It isn't just the odd language, the arcane procedures and strange costumes.

It's an institution designed for, and run by, an elite, who simply don't want to let the people have a real say in decisions.

I want it to change.

But the question is, can parliament reform itself?

I think that the proposed referendum on electoral reform will be the test.

Obviously, each different voting system benefits different parties in different ways.

The Tories gain from First Past The Post, so they back that.

The Liberal Democrats gain from any change, and will take the Alternative Vote if that's the only crumbs that the Tories will let them have.
And Labour, hopelessly divided on this, will try to look like they want change, while hoping to stick with the current system.

They simply cannot put aside political self-interest.

But Greens believe the people should choose, not the politicians.

Of course, at the moment the public won't be given the choice.

The referendum question only has two options: stick with the current system; or go for AV, two flavours of vanilla. Genuine reform is not on the menu.

That's why I've tabled an amendment that would give the public a real choice.

A choice between all the voting system now being used for elections in the UK.
If the other parties decide to oppose it, and deny the people their right to choose, then they will have failed that test.

It is a particular test for those who claim the title progressive, whether it is the Liberal Democrats around Nick Clegg or the Milibands.
This is the time for them to put aside party interest and live up to their rhetoric about trusting the people of this country.

But for us, this might never have happened.

It is just one example of why we the Green Party need to be represented in Parliament.

Why for all those years, so many worked so hard towards this moment, when we would take our place at the heart of British politics.

The long journey has been worth it.

We are finally there.

Now our work can begin.