Equality not Inequality - Looking through you...

So we've had the announcement, confirming some rumours late in 2016, just when you thought it was time to draw breath, another election, this time, the big one! Of course, it means all the non-in-power parties have to rush around with just a few weeks to make their pitches. It is unlikely the polls will be massively incorrect this time, so the outcome is both a foregone conclusion and challenging.

Here, on Mersea Island, during the 2015 hustings held in the local parish church there was a question about Food Banks. Bernard Jenkin (Conservative) answered the question with a flourish of positivity suggesting that Food Banks were wonderful and to be applauded. Apart from the resulting derision from the assembled masses two things stuck in my mind. Firstly was the extent to which he completely misgauged how to approach an answer and secondly how he refused to see there was even one speck of responsibility of the (then) Coalition Government's austerity measures.

Inequality blights this country and whilst I do not for one minute imagine society all at the same level I absolutely believe a more equitable one can exist. And where this has been achieved in other countries their world is better with better employment, lifestyle and minimal crime. The Green Party has positive ideas to move towards this goal and I applaud its vision.

P

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Promoted by Robbie Spence on behalf of Peter Banks, both of 124 Morant Road, Colchester CO1 2JD

What is Normal? Discover not Dismiss...

Back in the early noughties I attended an inspiring and prophetic lecture by Peter Cochrane, a technical futurologist, who laid out some predictions. The significant core of his presentation was how the public would research less and less using reference books / papers and, instead, would seek information predominantly online using Wikipedia pages and search engine results.

Roll forward to today, 15 years on, and we have seen the emergence of the expression 'Alternative Facts' referring to a piece of false propaganda. Beyond this we have seen the use of online health diagnosis tools to such an extent that it seems we can decide nearly everyone is afflicted by some obscure condition or another.

So, surely the question "what is normal" is somewhat obtuse?

In the past, folk with an apparent mental illness, including stress disorders attributed to military service plus those on the Autistic Spectrum were often banished to institutions into living conditions that would now be considered appalling.

Right now, and speaking from personal experience, I want to celebrate the diversity of the human condition. Therefore I relish campaigning for more support for those that need to rely on extra care - whether from disability, illness, old age or dementia and championing the many Guardian Angels in our midst.

P

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Promoted by Robbie Spence on behalf of Peter Banks, both of 124 Morant Road, Colchester CO1 2JD

Bradwell B: expensive, dangerous, unnecessary

The Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group (BANNG)

will hold an

Open Meeting on 25 April at 7.30 pm

at

United Reform Church Hall, Market Hill, Maldon CM9 4PZ

(parking at central White Horse Lane or Butt Lane public car parks, £1 in evenings)

A new nuclear power station
at Bradwell – expensive,
dangerous and unnecessary

Speakers

Prof. Stephen Thomas, University of Greenwich, Expert in Energy Policy Prof. Andy Blowers, OBE, Open University, Chair of BANNG, author of The Legacy of Nuclear Power (2017) Prof. Keith Barnham, Nuclear & Solar Physicist, Imperial College London, author of The Burning Answer: A User’s Guide to the Solar Revolution (2015)

There will also be a Question and Answer session.

Being Green - #MyManifesto week two

Welcome not Waiting - transforming finances...
A criticism levied at political parties when they criticise a rampant austerity policy is “how will you pay for everything?”. For the Green Party some major contributions to the public purse seem all too obvious with the response “stop commissioning white elephants”! [read more]
Homes not Houses - Wherever I lay my hat, that's my home...
It seems every hamlet, town, village and city is under pressure to accept unsustainable housing quotas. The Green vision is for the creation of affordable, energy efficient homes rather than comply with excessive, energy hungry property developments. [read more]

Health not Wealth - Song for Nye
We need to recapture the vision of Nye Bevan and restore the NHS to its rightful place of a fully funded public service to all rather than a creeping privatisation primarily serving shareholders. It is abundantly clear the NHS needs substantial investment and appears to be feared by some members of the current government. [read more]

Trust not Terror - Mersea Island beach hut fire... My short report and photographs from the morning after. I support our police, military and emergency services receiving extra funding rather than the crippling budget cuts they are enduring. How much better would it be if our communities and the true public servants felt secure and valued? [read more]


and from:
Being Green - #MyManifesto week one

May the Fourth be with you...
One month until May the Fourth be with you when it will be: Essex County Council elections day too! [read more]

Travel not Traffic
The Green vision is to re-vitalise and re-own public transport as well as encouraging cycling and walking. Problems of congestion and parking are simply caused by too greater dependence on private cars and the more on the road the greater the air pollution. [read more]

Nature not Nuclear
Old nuclear has served its time but left a dangerous and lengthy legacy of radioactive waste. It is urgent and essential to invest in developing renewable technologies for the future of our country and planet. [read more]

Respect not Reject

In these politically turbulent times politically we need to be a country that offers empathy toward those who suffer from the terror of trafficking and war.

P

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Promoted by Robbie Spence on behalf of Peter Banks, both of 124 Morant Road, Colchester CO1 2JD

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Sorrow in my heart - Garden of Gethsemane

Welcome not Waiting, transforming finances...

A criticism levied at political parties when they criticise a rampant austerity policy is “how will you pay for everything?”. For the Green Party some major contributions to the public purse seem all too obvious with the response “stop commissioning white elephants”!

Contained within the Government’s Major Project Portfolio is a staggering list of troubling entries concerning hospitals and the benefits system. However, it is the so called ‘flagship’ projects that provide ready answers to the fiscal equation.

So let’s re-allocate funds from:

HS2

Hinkley Point C

Trident

This could enable transformation of the NHS, social care, nursing homes, schools, emergency services and infrastructure. That's just for starters.

P

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Promoted by Robbie Spence on behalf of Peter Banks, both of 124 Morant Road, Colchester CO1 2JD