Never thought I'd say this having been involved in some tough council elections against them, but well done Sian Berry and the Greens for their deal with Ken on second preference votes for London Mayor. Green transfers could make the difference between Ken winning and losing.
I hope Green voters follow this lead - it's good to see the Green Party finally acknowledge that it is clearly part of a left/progressive tradition that includes Labour, because sometimes on councils they have been prepared to do deals with the Tories to keep Labour out of power.
I resolve to be especially friendly to Mischa, Danny, Mark, Keith, Mima and the other Stoke Newington Greens out on the campaign trail and will (as I did in 2004) happily be reciprocating as requested by Ken by giving them my Mayoral second preference.
What makes you think Ken is green? What also makes you think that buses are more environmentally friendly than cars?
ReplyDeleteA new bus depending on its age will emmit more carcogenic crap than 10 cars that run on petrol. Diesel is probably the biggest cause of asthma and brochial disease in our cities.
Cars are not as evil as some people would have you believe. I'm an environmental engineer and I build technology that is both green and energy efficient...so I know a little on this subject and I consider myself to be very green.
If you really want to tackle green issues you should be looking at homes and not petrol cars. Homes need to be insulated and just this alone will save more energy than if you were to take every car off the road.
My opinion is that buses should be banned, I hate them with a passion. They are the biggest threat to cyclists and motorcyclists bar lorries. I love my cars and my bikes and given the choice between a bus and cycling I would cycle no matter what the weather.
I don't know why people just don't ride motorbikes in London. Why the hell would you want to use public transport when you could be there quicker on two wheels.
As far as green goes my carbon footprint will be lower than probably all of you. I have three cars, a van , two motorbikes and two cycles. Yet because my home is fully insulated, I have a heat recovery pump on the log burner, low voltage lighting system and gel banks and solar water heating my footprint will be very low. I also grow my own veg and keep my own chickens and pigs and all my waste gets put back on the veggie plot. Even the sewage is cleaned via a bed system.
So it's you city boys with the problem. I'm fine even with my petrol head.
All hail the Great Helmsman Ken and his glorious 8 year reign! We never questioned you! We are now at war with Eastasia, etc... Heaven forfend that Luke could use a bit of gumption, and think for himself when casting his (totally irrelevant anyway) second pref.
ReplyDeleteDon't you have Limp Dims to be love-bombing anyway? Aren't they more important in Hackney?
All that said you've got a very good deal out of this, a number of 2nd prefs from the Watermelons at no cost whatsoever. A very good hoodwinking.
"What makes you think Ken is green?"
ReplyDeletethe fact that clearly the green party think that?
oh, and most buses in London have a lot more than ten people on them - have you been on one recently?
Rich,
ReplyDeleteWhat makes me think that buses are more environmentally friendly than cars? Mostly the European emission standards to which buses must adhere.
Oh, and one of Ken's manifesto commitments is to bring in hybrid-drive buses. Ken has also trialled hydrogen fuel cell buses in London.
As to banning buses; how would everyone who goes to work by bus get to work without them?
Green, this whole debate has got completely lost. The Green party, which used to be a good party has completely lost the plot. They are now talking about personal carbon credits. The idea that people can have a certain number of credits for free and are then taxed on those that exceed your allowance.
ReplyDeleteSounds great in theory but can you imagine trying administer this. Really some people should leave the text books at college as such a policy would be impossible and too expensive.
The problem you have is that green taxes hurt the poorest. The only way you are going to make people green is by paying for it and not by taxing them. The rich don't give a damn they will still drive the most polluting cars if that is what they want.
If you are going to tax people then you have to find a way of diverting that money to help those that are paying the tax to use an alternative that is cheaper, greener and just as convenient. And working in this sector I know for a fact that Buses are not green despite what the European bodies say. Much the same as the EU energy efficiency rating system...it's a complete con and should only be used as a guide.
Another classic is the new low energy light bulbs. No one in this country is considering the implications of the rising levels of mercury in landfill sites. Break one of these bulbs in your house and you could be looking at a costly clean up job but no one seems to know the facts. If you really want to save energy then we should be looking at high power LEDs and reactive plasma.
It's ironic that we have a Labour government that isn't co-ordinating its green agenda with the London Mayor. Ken is trying to reduce cars while the government is building more terminals at heathrow and encouraging air travel. What little evidence there is to show the Kens polices may have had an effect the Brown government has completely destroyed the benefits by encouraging more people to fly.
The only real green public transport in terms of local air quality is electric trams, the tube and rail. Forget buses they are causing an enormous amount of ill health and the BMI has proven this.
I run an environmental engineering company so I know more than most people on this subject. I help companies save energy and on occasion I've worked on smaller domestic projects. If you want to go green I'm afraid the motorcar is just a small fish in a large pond. The real problems are in our homes and businesses. The modern motorcar is very efficient and very clean and in time will be cleaner. Just look at the Prius and that new Honda.
Only we do not and will never have the road capacity to cope with an ever growing number of cars.
ReplyDeleteLuke
ReplyDeleteWhat is is about the Greens' policies that attracts you to put them down as your second preference?
"A new bus depending on its age"
ReplyDeleteLong live the bendy.
"If you really want to tackle green issues you should be looking at homes and not petrol cars."
Fallacy alert. Why not both?
http://opendalston.blogspot.com/2008/03/hackney-beancounters-go-bananas-in.html
ReplyDeleteComments? Anyone? Anyone?
Oh believe me, I won't be voting Labour or the Greens at 1st, 2nd whatever preference.
What kills me is the lack of recognition that Hackney's own procedures are irregular in the extreme. One might even suggest procedurial impropriety, irrationality or indeed unreasonableness.
No doubt a competent in-house hackney lawyer would make that observation - unless stifled by Hackney Labour "Group think".
Miller 2.0, the problem being is that all our towns and cities have been built with cars in mind. Most food shopping is now out of town, people commute a lot further, housing estates are being built next to major road networks with no bus or rail routes.
ReplyDeleteOr are you suggesting that that we destroy all our towns and start again. For those people who live in London you have access to some of the best transport in England. The rest of the country it is a different picture and having access to public transport is a bit of a lottery.
I don't think we even have a bus service in our village. What would you expect the 2000 occupants to do?
I wonder how many posters here have a foreign holiday, this alone is worse than driving a car for a year.
The car is here to stay.
What a joke Luke. You and I both know that the only reason you're being nice to the greens is that you're afraid that Livingstone will lose and you need to try and con every voter that you can. Your second preference vote for the Greens is worthless. Be honest, you know they'll get knocked out and their vote will switch to Livingstone. That's all you want.
ReplyDeleteThe Green's decision is a calculated way of secuing leverage on Ken if he wins - essentially they know that in a close election he needs their support and they will be at his door after the election demanding faviours in return. How naive! Ken's most prominent advisers regard the greens as a middle class diversion, they will throw occasional scraps to them in order to placate them, whilst laughing behind their backs.
ReplyDeleteKen will most likely win and few doubt that but Labour won't be the next Government I'm pretty sure of that.
ReplyDeleteThe conservatives will strip Kens powers and force him to concentrate on the job of running london rather than going on jollies at great cost to the tax payer.
Ken is a trouble maker his abuse of power would get most people the sack. He refuses to accept the authority of the GLA and his behavior breaks every employment law going. If Labour had any guts they would of sacked him years ago on corruption.
Luke writes "having been involved in some tough council elections against them [the Greens]" . . .
ReplyDeleteWould anyone care to shed some light on this comment (Luke in particular)?
Yes. Tough in the sense that they campaign hard and that their core vote is very middle class so has a high liklihood of turning out, whereas our core vote is amongst low turnout BME and estate resident voters. I don't know about other places but in Hackney we would see them as worthy opponents who present a serious electoral challenge.
ReplyDelete