Peter Tatchell receives honorary doctorate and confronts evil

Congratulations today to Peter Tatchell who richly deserves this honorary doctorate. And yesterday, just to show why he deserves it, Peter is seen confronting Nick Griffin - the personification of evil in British politics.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10729194

Peter Tatchell to receive Honarary Doctorate at Sussex University

In a ceremony at the Brighton Dome, today at 330pm, Peter Tatchell will receive an Hon D.Litt (Sussex), for his services to human rights, from the Chancellor, Sanjeev Bhaskar.


Green Party Leader and MP for Brighton Pavilion, Caroline Lucas commented:

"We are incredibly proud of the work which Peter continues to bring in human rights and that he is a member of the Green Party. Whether it is his advocacy on behalf of LGBT asylum seekers or his ongoing campaign for gay marriage, we are thrilled that the staff and students of the University of Sussex have decided to thank him in this way. Peter is truly one of our greatest LGBT heroes."

Councillor Amy Kennedy, Alumna of Sussex University, and a Green Party councillor in Brighton added:

"Peter brings invaluable work to often overlooked areas of human rights: the citizens of our city, our country and our world are indebted to him for his work. We celebrate with him for an award which I am proud to say has come from my alma mater."

Phelim Mac Cafferty, National Chair of LGBT Greens concluded:

"This honorary doctorate recognises Peter's ongoing, tireless work of over 4 decades. It is only apt in the same year in which we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Gay Liberation Front that Peter receives this award- whether it his staunch defence of the rights of LGBT people abroad or his ongoing investigative work to deliver fairness on our own shores- his work continues to inspire all of us to fight for a better world."

Commenting on his Honorary Doctorate, Mr Tatchell said:

"I was hesitant about accepting this honour. After all, my contribution to human rights is very modest. I am a long way from being a brave and effective campaigner. Many others are much more deserving than me. I would never agree to a royal honour but this award is different.

"My decision to accept was partly because the initiative for this honorary doctorate was a grassroots one, from the staff and students. I am honoured by their recognition of my human rights work.

"I accept this award in solidarity with the many heroic, inspirational activists who I support in countries like Uganda, Somaliland, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Baluchistan, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Western Sahara, Iraq, Palestine and West Papua.

"The message which I will deliver in my acceptance speech is this: Be sceptical, question authority, be a rebel. All human progress is the result of far-sighted people challenging orthodoxy, tradition and powerful, vested interests. Don't accept the world as it is. Dream about what the world could be - then help make it happen. In whatever field of endeavour you work, be a change-maker for the upliftment of humanity.

"I do my bit for social justice, but so do many others. Together, through our collective efforts, we are helping make a better world - a world more just and free.

"I began campaigning in my home town of Melbourne, Australia , in 1967, aged 15, with my first campaign being against the death penalty, followed by campaigns in support of Aboriginal rights and in opposition to conscription and the Australian and US war against the people of Vietnam.

"My key political inspirations are Mohandas Gandhi, Sylvia Pankhurst, Martin Luther King and, to some extent, Malcolm X. I've adapted many of their ideas and methods to the contemporary struggle for human rights - and invented a few of my own.

Notes

Peter will have his Honorary Doctorate conferred on him on Friday 23rd July, at a ceremony at Brighton Dome 3:30PM

The Blood Sacrifice

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/jul/21/now-afghanistan-shows-limit-american-power

Seamus Milne cuts through the flannel to demonstrate the sheer nihilistic arrogance of the UK politicians who are sending more and more young men out to die for "the blood sacrifice".

"Back" (Wilfred Gibson)

They ask me where I've been,

And what I've done and seen.

But what can I reply

Who know it wasn't I,

But someone just like me,

Who went across the sea

And with my head and hands

Killed men in foreign lands...

Though I must bear the blame,

Because he bore my name.

Crown Prosecution Service Report into Ian Tomlinson's Death Tomorrow

THURSDAY 22 JULY, 1PM @ NEW SCOTLAND YARD

TOMORROW: CROWN PROSECUTION SERVICE REPORT INTO DEATH OF IAN TOMLINSON

Tomorrow, Thursday 22 July, on the fifth anniversary of the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes at Stockwell Tube station, we expect to hear the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) report into the death of Ian Tomlinson, the newspaper seller killed in the City of London as he tried to make his way home past the police during the G20 protests on 1 April 2009.

If a police officer is charged with manslaughter it will be the first time this has ever happened in Britain, despite over 1,000 people dying in police custody since the late 1960s. This should be seen as a step forward for those campaigning for justice.

But if it is a whitewash we don’t want them to get away with it. No matter how much they talk about a new era of policing and enshrining the right to protest, the establishment will once again have allowed police officers to kill an innocent man.

We want as many people to gather as possible to either celebrate a victory or step up our campaign for justice.

Gather at 1pm outside New Scotland Yard, 8-10 Broadway, Westminster, London SW1H 0BG.

This is short notice! Spread this message far and wide: phone, email, text, Tweet, Facebook, chalk on the pavements and bring your friends!

_________________________________________________________________

The Third Man

Lovely story about Mandelson and the Hay on Wye Literary Festival from London Evening Standard below. Rather apt I think.

Mandy may be a Hay fan but is the feeling mutual?

When Peter Mandelson went to sign copies of his memoir, The Third Man, in Hatchards, Piccadilly, he met Robin Saikia, leading travel writer for the upmarket Blue Guides.

Saikia exchanged books with Mandelson, presenting him with a copy of his own book, Blue Guide to Hay-on-Wye, a rollicking account of the town, its bookdealers and the Hay Festival.

“How wonderful,” said Mandelson, “I’ve always wanted to go back there.”

Perhaps he may think twice in the wake of Hay Festival organiser Peter Florence’s comments on Facebook. Florence said: “Has anyone pointed out to Peter Mandelson that The Third Man [film] is the story of a morally repugnant fraud who is prepared to sell out his lover and his oldest friend for his own personal gain, and who dies in a sewer?”

Social engineering in London

Last night I attended the London Federation of Green Parties meeting representing Lambeth but also as a member of the party's national Regional Council and reported back on the Regional Council's meeting in Bristol several weeks ago as well as a written report on what was happening in Lambeth - including our recent stall at the Lambeth Country show where I was an hour or two on the stall on Sunday afternoon.

Our two Assmbly Members were present and I referred to the very effective questioning of Boris Johnson which I saw on the London version of the Politics Show on Sunday.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00t5vcz/The_Politics_Show_London_18_07_2010/

As I said last night, Johnson was 'gutted like a kipper' by the journalist and resorted to blustering and puffing a la outraged Tory squire when he could not answer some of the questions. One of the most pertinent questions was what would happen to the 10,500 households which would not be able to live in inner London because of the new cap being placed on housing benefits, and who would have to move to outer London boroughs. Johnson said that he recognised that this was a particular problem for London because of the high rents and housing costs and was negotiating with the government on this. When the journalist retorted that the government had made clear that there would be no special case made for London and what was his Plan B, Boris could only continue saying "We are negotiating with the government", to which the journalist replied: "So you have no Plan B then?" This just about sums it up.

I have no doubt that the government plan will go ahead and, as I said at last night's meeting, the biggest piece of social engineering in London since Dame Shirley Porter's attempt to remove the council flat dwellers from Westminster, will become reality. I have no doubt that this is a deliberate Tory plan to remove the poor and those considered Labour voters from the inner London boroughs, while also forcing thousands into cramped spaces in outer London.

There is also the issue of the resulting pressure on services in the outer boroughs, as the journalist mentioned to Boris, and how this will impact in areas such as Barking & Dagenham. It will be manna from heaven for the BNP. Greens in London and in the London Assembly must continue to fight against this form of 'internal exile' and force Boris to be much more critical of his own government's actions on this. A friend of mine who works with the Homeless Unit in Kensington and Chelsea and whose ex-partner is bipolar and depends on Housing Benefit has told me that the whole system will be a disaster and result in real suffering among some of the most vulnerable people in this city.

Rwandan protest and the Global Greens

Our International Coordinator has already been writing a protest about this and both the Global Greens and the European Green Party have issued press releases condemning it. Caroline Lucas has also sent a message of protest to the Commonwealth, together with Senator Bob Brown from Australia, Russell Norman , leader of the New Zealand Greens.

http://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/16-07-2010-commonwealth-rwanda.html

Yesterday we had a meeting of the international committee where we discussed the Global Greens.

One of the issues we discussed  is that for the first time an African Green Party (the Senegalese) is proposing to host the Global Greens conference in 2012. This is an important development as previous conferences have been in Europe or Australia and last time around in South America. Many African parties are very small and trying to operate in very hostile environments.

I asked that our party be more involved in the GG conference this time. Last time in Brazil, 2008, while I was International Coordinator, we only sent one delegate and I set up facilities in London to watch the live streaming of the conference, which was mainly funded by the GPEW MEPs. Unfortunately very few people availed of it, partly because it was just after the London Assembly elections. The next conference will also be just after the London elections but I am hoping that more people in the UK will take an interest in it this time and also that the live webstreaming will be set up at an earlier date as the last time around the information was a bit last minute. Unfortunately the technology was not interactive which meant that we could only watch proceedings but not participate. 

For more info on the Global Greens see their website.

http://www.globalgreens.org/statements/kagwa_rwisereka_assassinated

The meeting yesterday was the last of the current international committee and a new one will be elected at conference. I will be standing again as one of those who has been most active in the international affairs of the party and I am hoping that the new committee will take on board the issue of how GPEW can be more involved with the Global Greens and the 2012 conference. It is imporant to recognise that we are part of a global movement and to participate more fully in that movement.

Patients Forum London Ambulance Service AGM - New Chair and Recommendations

On Monday night we had the AGM of the London Ambulance Service Patients Forum, the largest patient and public involvement body in the country. I was elected as the new Chair of the Forum succeeding the well known health activist, Malcolm Alexander, who became the Vice Chair.

As guest speaker we had the Chair of the London Ambulance Service NHS Trust. The Forum made a number of important recommendations in our Annual Report which was presented at the meeting. They are:

1. Equal access and choice of services and treatment. LAS services should be fully accessible and available to all. Neither physical nor mental disability, health problems, language nor any aspect of a person's social, ethnic or cultural being, should reduce access to services.
2. Clinical partnership with other care services. The LAS should actively work with hospital A&E departments and other healthcare organisations to jointly improve care and care pathwas for patients.
3. Training of paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians. The LAS should ensure that all paramedics and emergency medical technicians have access to all appropriate training and ensure their development as the most effective practiitioners.
4. Alternative ways of providing emergency and urgent health care. New ways for the LAS to provide urgent care through NHS Direct and community based services are welcome. However, these new pathways must be robust enough to give confidence to the public and LAS crew that they will be available when required, clinically appropriate, fully funded and subject to regular clinical audit and tests of reliable and continuous access.
5. Non-emergency care. The LAS should introduce maximum waits for patients who need help, e.g. older people who have fallen but may not need an emergency or urgent care service.
6. Mental Health Services. Significant improvements are needed to ensure that people with severe mental health problems that become ill in the street or in their homes and require emergency care, are treated by paramedics and emergency medical technicians who have specialist training in the care of people with mental health problems.
7. Patient Transport Services. The LAS should actively support the Patients Forum Quality Standards for PTS. These promote highly effective patient transport services, which are built around dignity, the needs of users and their active involvement in the monitoring, assessment and development of the service.

The Forum will be busy over the next year especially with the new proposed changes (yet again) to the NHS in London and the prospect of the LAS becoming a Foundation Trust next spring.