News from Kent Greens

Recent news from Kent Greens. For older items visit our news blog. For a selection of our recent letters to the press, visit our letters page here.

Kent Greens oppose Ryarsh Quarry plans
Thu, 12 Jul 2018

Kent Greens have added their voice to the opposition to the quarry plans around Ryarsh. The proposed quarry is hotly opposed by local people. The Greens argue that the quarry will damage the local area and that extraction plans are overblow.

Stuart Jeffery, Co-Chair of Kent Greens: "The proposed quarry at Ryarsh is unnecessary, will devastate village life and destroy local farmland. We are calling on Kent County Council to stop this plan.

"Over a thousand people have objected to KCC and we are adding our voice to theirs.

"There is no demonstrable need for a quarry of this size. Current plans are to extract twice as much sand as is required for the county. This cannot be right!

"Added to this is the impact on local people and the loss of much needed farm land. Good farm land will becoming increasingly important over coming years and must be protected."

Tonbridge and Malling Green Party Chair and local resident, Howard Porter, adds: "The Ferns operated quarry in Addington is already being extended to north of Addington Lane and yet another quarry in Ryarsh will see an over supply of sand which is not needed economically and not wanted locally".

Kent Greens call for a halt to Brexit in wake of government revelations
Mon, 04 Jun 2018
Following the revelations in this week's Sunday Times that the government's own assessment suggests that port of Dover could collapse on day one should there be no deal on Brexit, which is coupled with food and medicine shortages within days, Kent Greens have reaffirmed calls for a second referendum on the terms of the withdrawal and have called for a pause to the enactment of Article 50 unless a safe agreement can be achieved.

Stuart Jeffery, Co-Chair of Kent Greens: "While Farage, Lawson and other arch Brexiteers may be rubbing their hands at the thought of a no deal Brexit, they are the among the ones who will be least affected by this. It will be poorer people and those of us in Kent, Cornwall and Scotland who will be hit first and hardest. And it's not even about an economic downturn, this is about an immediate threat to life.

"What's more, this is only the second worst scenario, the worst was labelled armageddon by the governement. This is no longer a mess this is a potential distaster.

"With no solutions agreed we need an immediate pause on Brexit. We cannot allow the UK to trundle blindly towards a catastrophe. We need the pause so that there is time for a deal to be negotiated and once negotiated we need a second referendum to ensure the public are comfortable with the impact it will have."

Hunger strike to make votes matter
Mon, 05 Feb 2018
A leading member of the Green Party in Kent will be on hunger strike outside Parliament tomorrow as part of a national campaign for Proportional Representation to make votes count. The protest is 100 years to the day that some women were allowed to vote for the first time and has been organised by the Make Votes Matter campaign.

Stuart Jeffery, Co-Chair of Kent Greens: "Until 1918 70% of adults including all women were not entitled to vote. The campaigns by the suffragists and suffragettes changed that. While almost all adults can now vote, our current voting system means that 68% of us still do not have a vote that counts.

"The First Past The Post system gives us a huge democratic deficit where the will of the people is not reflected in the makeup of Parliament. Most western countries have ditched this system and it is time that the UK did so too.

"I will be joining hunger strikers in Parliament Square to send a clear message to Parliament that we will not allow this to continue. We cannot accept a system that sees governments elected by a small number of voters and that excludes people from being represented by a party of their choosing."

From Make Votes Matter, https://www.makevotesmatter.org.uk/hungry-for-democracy

On 6th February 1918 the Representation of the People Act passed into law, extending voting rights to some women and all men over 21 for the first time. Until then, around 70% of the adult population were not allowed to vote.

Today all adults are allowed to vote but - thanks to our First Past the Post voting system - most of us still don't have a vote that counts. In the 2017 general election, 68% of votes had no impact on the result, either going to losing candidates or piling up in safe seats without influencing the makeup up Parliament.

We're hunger striking to draw attention to the injustice of a voting system that denies representation to millions, returns Parliaments that don't reflect the voters, and gives us governments that most of us didn't vote for.

We're calling for Proportional Representation, so that seats match votes and everyone has a vote that matters equally. And we're calling on everyone who wants fair votes to join the movement and take action to win real democracy in the UK.

The passing of the 1918 Act was the result of decades of campaigning by suffragists and suffragettes. We recognise the severity of what these campaigners went through to win the vote, that for some British people hunger is a daily reality, and that sexism remains prevalent in the 21st Century.

Respecting this, we invite donations from participants (contribute the money you'd have spent on food for the day, ask friends, family and colleagues to sponsor you) and other supporters and shall split funds between a food bank, a women's charity and Make Votes Matter.

Green-wash, Brexit and reshuffles: Our KCC member on Paul on Politics
Sun, 14 Jan 2018
Our Kent County Councillor, Martin Whybrow, was on this Friday's Paul on Politics show on KMTV. In an entertaining and wide-ranging discussion, alongside fellow KCC councillor, Labour's Karen Constantine, he discussed Tory green-wash, in light of Theresa May's speech on Thursday (too vague, too little on how the aspirations would be achieved and still a long way to go from a government that pursues schemes such as the Lower Thames Crossing and a new runway at Heathrow, blatantly ignores issues such as air quality, and still pursues fossil fuels through fracking).

Also on the agenda was a second Brexit referendum and what a hard Brexit could mean for Kent (including why the lorry park proposal was "a dumb idea that I hope is now dead in the water") plus central government and KCC reshuffles, including why the KCC cabinet member for transport is like the England football manager's job - it never ends well.

To view the show, click here: http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kmtv/video/paul-on-politics-12th-january-2018-11248/

KMTV is Kent's first dedicated television channel. It is also available on Freeview channel 7 and Virgin Media channel 159.