I’d never been to a Green Party conference before, but I’d been invited to be on a panel, so I set off from home at 0645 to walk to the bus stop, spend an hour on a bus into Northampton, walk for 10 minutes to the station, catch a train to Birmingham (another hour) and then walk for 15-20 minutes to the conference venue at Aston University. It was a rather pleasant journey which gave me plenty of time to think about what I might say at the conference, to read a book and to think. And the total cost of a day return to Birmingham was only £20 all in. That’s pretty good – let’s hear it for public transport!
This was the biggest Green Party conference ever – there were fewer people than at an RSPB AGM – and I immediately felt at home. I listened to Caroline Lucas’s speech and clapped lots like everyone else.
There were quite a lot of young people and quite a lot of people who looked quite like me – white, middle-aged and middle class. But everyone seemed very chirpy – and a lot happier than people usually seem at party conferences. There was a really up-beat atmosphere.
As I sat there, I kept hearing things that made me think – yes, I’d like the world to be like that too.
I (ex RSPB) had a brief chat with fellow panellists Tony Juniper (ex FoE), Richard Benwell (current RSPB), Sandra Bell (current FoE) and Caroline. We each made speeches and then we answered a few quite taxing questions.
Caroline Lucas has a fight on her hands to keep her seat in Brighton with a majority over Labour of c1200. I said to her, as I said to the conference, and as I say to you, I would be gutted if Caroline lost her seat next May (even though I am a Labour Party member) because she is by some margin, the best MP on wildlife and environmental issues sitting in the House of Commons today.
MPs who care passionately about, and know about, wildlife, rural and environmental issues are incredibly rare and we should support and cherish them from whichever party they come. I would have said the same about Sir John Randall (but he is standing down) and I will say the same about Zac Goldsmith.
I can feel the tug of the Green Party quite strongly. However, come next April I will be working hard to see my local Labour MP, Andy Sawford, re-elected in Corby on 7 May because he is a great constituency MP, a nice bloke (or so he seems to me) and the alternative is a Tory (last time it was the highly entertaining and highly irritating Louise Mensch).
Why didn’t more people vote for PR? That was arguably the biggest missed opportunity of this parliament.
It was an excellent meeting and probably the highlight of conference for me. Like you. I felt the tug of the Green Party. I was a Labour Party member ( councillor & parliamentary candidate) for 30 years, but in 2009 I reached tipping point where I felt the Labour Party had left me. After 18 months of thought,research and discussion I joined the Green Party and like you, “I immediately felt at home”.
Meetings such as that on Saturday, never took place at any Labour conference I attended and environmental issues ( let alone talking about nature) were shunted aside
all too easily.
Caroline is indeed inspirational but we need more Green MPs if the issues that you and I care about are to be taken seriously in Parliament and by government.
Once again thanks for your contribution to a thought provoking meeting.
I would liked to have come if it not for the British Science Festival taking place simultaneously at Birmingham last weekend.
There is a great focus on the environment at BSF but nothing on the natural world which is a bit of a shame.
PR – I did vote for this myself however it is far from a bed of roses. IF we had PR in 2015 we could be looking at around 100 UKIP MPs which would give the right a huge lead! So I’m now glad it didn’t get a look in.
Almost 3/4 of Tory MPs do not consider (anthropogenically-accelerated) climate change to be an issue.
http://m.huffpost.com/uk/entry/5796978
I don’t suppose Green MPs share that ascientific view.
Some mistake surely – they all voted for the CCA 2008 (bar one scientist) when in opposition. I do hope they didn’t just see it as a snout/trough opportunity
If you want Green policies, vote Green.
If you want a basic following of free market economics and all that that entails for the environment, then vote Labour or Tory.
Mr Sawford and co would benefit from some home truths. I’d tell my MP too Mark, but he won’t come round to see me for a day out. And I can’t get on the TV or radio either.
Thanks for your insights Mark. I wouldn’t want to be faced with your dilemma. The big picture is that, the more labour M.P.s get voted in then the bigger the mandate claimed by the parliamentary party for their neoliberal agenda. The ideal scenario for you is that the labour candidate sees the light and joins the greens ☺
Good luck
I’ve never been a member of a political party before. But yesterday I joined the Green Party. I don’t agree with all their policies, and I would like to know a little bit more about how they would pay for some of their policies. But the main parties, in my opinion, are so out of touch with people, that i can see why the Green Party is growing, although still small in comparison. Caroline Lucas has been fantastic, clearly illustrated by her performance in the House of Commons today.
The environment and wildlife is being ignored by the main parties as far as I can tell, and this so called ‘greenest ever’ government used the environment to get elected, and then just threw it to one side.
I’ve never been to a party conference either, maybe in the spring, or I may just take up knitting.
Been there and done that….. frustration with the main parties led me to the greens 2 years ago. Frustration with the greens led me back out quite quickly. It does feel like a nice place to be, but that’s it. There is no realism or substance to anything they have, and the pretty much every social, economic and business policies are a joke. Give then 20 years and they may get sorted but for now the party is better placed as a think tank or pressure group to change the thinking of other parties.