LONDON NEWS & EVENTS - 2003/2004
* Social Inclusion / Energy
EURO-MP VISITS 'VISIONARY' CROYDON CYBER CAFE
Jean Lambert, Green Party MEP, Green Party London Assembly candidate Shasha Kahn and Kirsten Chambers of Creative Environmental Networks are to inspect a solar installation at a 'visionary' Croydon Internet cafe today.
The community group has installed a solar hot water panel under the Renewable Energy Action for London (REAL) program run by Creative Environmental Networks.
* EU
GREEN EURO-MP BRINGS THE EU TO THE CLASSROOM IN WIMBLEDON
LONDON'S Green Party Euro-MP Jean Lambert goes back to school tomorrow - to discuss her role as an MEP - and the politics of the European Union - with pupils at a Wimbledon primary school taking party in a 'MicroSociety' project.
Mrs Lambert, herself a former teacher, said: "It will be a delight to be back in the classroom - and a pleasure to have such a receptive audience.
* Iraq
MEP CALLS FOR HOON'S HEAD AT IRAQ ABUSE RALLY: ALLIES MUST FACE WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL OVER 'CRIMINAL ABUSES'
GREEN Party Euro-MP Jean Lambert will call for Geoff Hoon and Donald Rumsfeld to resign - or be sacked - at an emergency rally against the abuse of Iraqi prisoners in allied custody tomorrow.
Allied leaders should face a war crimes tribunal - similar to those set up after the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the Rwandan Genocide in the 1990s - to answer charges of systematic violations of humanitarian and human rights law in the ongoing occupation of Iraq, Mrs Lambert will tell protestors.
* Food Revolution
GREENS INCITE LONDON FOOD REVOLUTION
LONDON'S Green Euro-MP Jean Lambert and Deputy Mayor Jenny Jones joined forces this week to launch the UK leg of an EU-wide campaign for good quality, healthy, tasty, GM-free, organic, cruelty-free and fairly-traded food.
Jean and Jenny launched the European Greens' food campaign at world-renowned Borough Market, calling on stall-holders and hundreds of shoppers to 'join the food revolution'.
* Citizenship
MEP JOINS FIRST WALTHAM FOREST CITIZENSHIP CEREMONY
LONDON Euro-MP Jean Lambert this morning attended Waltham Forest's first ever citizenship ceremony - welcoming new British citizens to the borough alongside civic leaders.
More than a dozen new British citizens - originally hailing from Somalia, Asia and even Australia - took an oath and made a loyalty pledge before civic leaders including Waltham Forest's mayor.
* Mobile phone masts
MEP HEARS SAFETY FEARS AT 'PHONE MAST SCHOOL
GREEN Party Euro-MP Jean Lambert is to meet head teacher Philip Sutton and a group of concerned parents at the site of a planned mobile 'phone mast just metres from a Harrow school playground.
Former teacher Mrs Lambert, who represents London and is a member of the European Parliament's Petitions Committee, will hear parents' fears over the safety of building a mast so close to a school it will cast shadows over the playground.
*Pensions
GREEN EURO-MP BIDS FOR 'GREY VOTE' AT PENSIONERS' PANEL
GREEN Party MEP Jean Lambert bids for the influential 'grey vote' tomorrow when she joins rivals from other main political parties on a European Elections Panel organised by the Islington Pensioners Forum.
Mrs Lambert, London Euro-MP and co-president of the European Parliament's all-party group on Ageing, will tell the Islington Town Hall meeting that a vote for the Green Party is a vote for the party's 'Pensioners' Pledge' to guarantee a decent state pension for all, scrap means testing for pensioners and fight age discrimination in the workplace.
*Equalities
FLEXIBLE WORKING A 'DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD' - MEP
FLEXIBLE working is a double-edged sword that can widen the gulf between male and female employees, Euro-MP Jean Lambert told a group of female managers in East London on Monday (April 26th).
Speaking at a seminar organised by the Women in Management Group, Mrs Lambert -the capital's Green Party MEP and a member of the European Parliament's Employment and Social Affairs committee, said men would need to both demand and take advantage of flexible working for it to contribute to workplace gender equality.
*Constituency Visit
GREEN MEP BRINGS EU TO WIMBLEDON SHOPPERS
LONDON's Green Party Euro-MP Jean Lambert will visit Wimbledon this Saturday (April 17th) to raise awareness of the role of the EU in local community issues - and to hear first hand the views of Wimbledon shoppers on the EU and the proposed European Constitution.
"I want to hear first hand what views Wimbledon residents have about the role of the EU - and to try and dispel a few myths," said Mrs Lambert, who represents London in the European Parliament and is a member of the Parliament's Petitions Committee.
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From
left: Jenny Barrow and Nick Robins from Merton Green Party,
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*Mobile Phone Masts
MEP HEARS SAFETY FEARS AT 'PHONE MAST' SCHOOL
GREEN Party Euro-MP Jean Lambert is to meet head teacher Philip Sutton and a group of concerned parents at the site of a planned mobile 'phone mast just metres from a Harrow school playground.
Former teacher Mrs Lambert, who represents London and is a member of the European Parliament's Petitions Committee, will hear parents' fears over the safety of building a mast so close to a school it will cast shadows over the playground.
She said: "Many of us use mobile 'phones and of course the masts have to be built somewhere - but as long as there remain any unanswered questions over the effects of the electromagnetic fields produced by the masts the precautionary principle must apply.
*Planning
ERITH MARSHES PLAN FACES LEGAL INVESTIGATION
PROPOSALS to build an industrial park at Southmere Green at Erith Marshes suffered a setback this week when Euro-MP Jean Lambert lodged a formal complaint against the UK government over its handling of the planning process.
Mrs Lambert said: "This complaint will prompt the European Commission to ask the government to look closely at these proposals, which in turn is likely to force the developers back to the drawing board in their search for a suitable site for a development of this kind."
*Anti-racism
GREEN EURO-MP CONDEMNS RACISM AT EAST LONDON PEACE GROUP AGM
GREEN Party MEP Jean Lambert appealed for the law to treat terror suspects as individuals and condemned increased police and government stereotyping of Muslims during a speech at an East London Synagogue on Sunday (March 28, 2004).
"To build peace we need to remember people's humanity - and remember that everyone's an individual, regardless of their religion or nationality," the London MEP, also a member of the European Parliament's Civil Liberties Committee, said.
*Localisation and globalisation of food
GREENS MEPs TO FIGHT FOR JUSTICE AT LONDON FOOD DEBATE
London's Green Euro-MP Jean Lambert, and London-based NGO Find your Feet are sponsoring a debate on Localisation vs. Globalisation to be held on Wednesday March 24th.
Entitled 'FOOD FOR THOUGHT - Is there room for the 'local' in a globalising world?' the debate will explore what action needs to be taken to create a more sustainable and healthy system for the production, marketing and consumption of food. The debate will be co-hosted by Dr Dan Taylor, the Director of Find Your Feet, and Jenny Jones, Green Deputy Mayor and Chair of London Food.
Jean Lambert said: "I am pleased to be working with Find your Feet to offer this opportunity to debate global food production and the serious environmental and social issues relating to it. It needs to be had."
*Green achievements in the European Parliament
LAUNCH OF GREEN EURO-MPS' END OF TERM REPORT SHOWS HOW GREENS HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE
The Green Party Members of the European Parliament are to launch their 'Green Achievements' End of Term Report on Thursday 18th March.
The joint end of term report - which has been co-produced by Jean Lambert MEP (Green Party, London) and Caroline Lucas MEP (Green Party, South East) - gives their constituents a chance to see how Greens at the European Parliament have made a real difference since they were first elected in 1999.
*Kurdish New Year celebrations
GREEB MEP JOINS KURDISH 'NEWROZ' PARTY IN FINSBURY PARK
London's Green Euro-MP, Jean Lambert, will join thousands of the capital's Kurds in Finsbury Park this Sunday (March 21st) to celebrate the Kurdish New Year.
Known as 'Newroz', the event announces the start of spring, a season traditionally regarded as a time of renewal. It is celebrated by the Kurdish people as an expression of their hopes for ultimate victory over oppression and tyranny.
Mrs Lambert said: "This is a fantastic opportunity for Kurds in London to make themselves heard, and for London to recognise their contribution to the multi-cultural flavour of our city. But it is also an opportunity to draw attention to the plight of Kurdish people around the world."
*Unite Against Facism Rally
UNITE AGAINST FASCISM SAYS LONDON GREEN MEP - LONDON RALLY MASSIVE SUCCESS
LONDON'S Green MEP has today spoken out against the extreme right - following last week's Unite Against Fascism rally in London - which attracted almost two thousand people.
Jean Lambert, speaking at the rally at the Astoria in central London last week (March 4), said: "It is really important that all of you committed to a society based on diversity and equality use your vote positively on June 10th in the London and European elections."
"The extreme right is hoping to make gains in these elections through people 's apathy. Don't let it happen."
February
*Asylum
EURO-MP ‘ROUGHS IT’ IN SLEEP-OUT ASYLUM PROTEST
Jean will experience the daily reality of a destitute asylum seeker tomorrow (11 February) when she ‘sleeps rough’ in Trafalgar Square to draw attention to the human cost of the Government’s Asylum and Immigration Bill.
"Asylum
seekers are being forced into destitution by a Government whose policy
is taken straight from the editorial columns of the right-wing press,”
said Jean.
"The UK must honour its international legal - not to mention moral
- obligations to provide sanctuary to those seeking refuge from tyranny
and persecution, not try to deter refugees with detention and draconian
attempts to drive them into poverty.”
Jean during the asylum sleep-out in Trafalgar Square
*Pensions
ONE IN FOUR SINGLE WOMEN PENSIONERS 'IN POVERTY' - LONDON MEP CONDEMNS POVERTY 'DOUBLE WHAMMY'
London's Green Party MEP Jean Lambert has condemned the poverty 'double whammy' facing female pensioners in the UK, highlighted in a new report from Age Concern and the Fawcett Society.
The report, entitled 'One in Four', says that a quarter of single women pensioners live in poverty and that for every pound a man receives from a pension, a woman receives just 32p.
Mrs Lambert, who is Co-President of the European Parliament's Inter-group on Ageing and the Green Party's spokesperson on pensions, condemned the report's findings and called on Chancellor Gordon Brown to act to redress the balance in his next budget.
*Asylum Demonstration
GREEN EURO-MP SLAMS ASYLUM POLICY AT COMMONS PROTEST
London's Green Party Euro-MP Jean Lambert has slammed the government's asylum policy as 'outrageous' and 'unjust' at a demonstration outside the House of Commons as part of an international day of action against detention of immigrants and asylum seekers.
Mrs Lambert, who joined demonstrators from across the UK calling for an end to detention of asylum seekers, said Government policy was based on a classic 'Catch-22' situation - closing 'legal' entry methods to asylum seekers and then denying applications from those migrants deemed to have entered the country illegally.
Jean with demonstrators outside Houses of Parliament
*'Eco-industrial' Tour
EURO-MP VISITS BEXLEY AND GREENWICH ON TOUR OF ‘ECO-INDUSTRIAL’ LONDON
London's Green Party MEP Jean Lambert visits Bexley and Greenwich tomorrow (Friday, January 23rd) during a tour of ‘eco-industrial’ businesses and projects across the capital.
She will be shown around Crayford-based Grosvenor Waste Management, an independent company specialising in collecting recyclable materials for sorting and processing, as well as Charlton-based Day Aggregates, which brings recycled glass products to the commercial market and hopes to become a centre of excellence for glass reprocessing and manufacture.
Jean Lambert with Tom Robertson, site manager at Day Aggregates |
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From
left: Oliver Batchelour and Mary Corin from Grosvenor Waste
Management |
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December
*Heathrow Expansion
EU COULD FORCE GOV'T U-TURN ON HEATHROW BETRAYAL
Government plans to build a new runway at Heathrow have sparked fury, with locals and anti-aviation expansion campaigners calling the plan a 'betrayal'.
Transport Secretary Alistair Darling told the House of Commons today the Government supported proposals to construct new runways at Heathrow and Stansted Airport in Essex to meet projected increases in demand for flying.
Green Euro-MP Jean Lambert, who has sought to block the construction of new runways anywhere in the London region, said local campaigners were furious.
*Human Rights
LONDON MEP JOINS PROTEST AT UK/US HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS
Jean Lambert will call for the immediate release of all prisoners held without trial in the US, UK, Iraq and Afghanistan at a rally outside Downing Street on Saturday (December 13th).
"Hundreds of prisoners are facing the injustice of being held indefinitely without trial as a result of the US-UK war on terror, at Guantanamo Bay and smaller detention facilities across the US and in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as here in the UK," said the Green Party MEP.
*Employment and Public Services
LONDON 'A BAD ROLE MODEL' ON JOBS AND SERVICES - MEP
London is a 'bad role model' and other cities should not follow its example, the capital's Green Euro-MP Jean Lambert told councillors from across Europe this week.
Speaking at a summit of Green councillors in Vienna, Mrs Lambert said privatisation of public services and the increase in temporary employment without the recommended safeguards had made life worse for Londoners.
"The great European cities need to work together to ensure the mistakes made in London are not repeated elsewhere," said London's Green Party MEP.
*Bush Visit
BUSH AN UNWELCOME GUEST
George Bush is 'an unwelcome house guest at a difficult time', London Green Party Euro-MP Jean Lambert will tell protestors at a 'Stop Bush' T-shirt competition and rally outside Buckingham Palace on Wednesday.
"I feel sorry for the Queen at this difficult time," Mrs Lambert will tell the rally.
"With her son mired in very public personal problems and her daughter-in-law still in hospital after the birth of her new grand-daughter, this visit is probably the last thing the Queen needs right now.
*Heathrow Expansion
HEATHROW EXPANSION OPPONENTS BACK EU CAMPAIGN
Campaigners fighting proposals to build a new runway at Heathrow have joined forces with their European counterparts at a conference on noise pollution and aviation in Brussels.
London's Green Euro-MP Jean Lambert said: "Opponents of expansion at Heathrow have long accepted that they must work with those opposed to airport expansion elsewhere in the UK to ensure they are not used as an excuse for building new runways elsewhere.
"This week they have gone one stage further, and extended their solidarity to those campaigning against airport expansion across Europe."
October
*Corporate Social Responsibility in Action
LONON MEP PRAISES PROGRESSIVE WALTHAMSTOW PRINTING FIRM
Jean will witness Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in action when she visits Bovince Ltd, a Walthamstow-based printing firm, on Monday (October 27).
Bovince is a family-run business with a strong reputation as an ethical company. Printing is potentially an 'environmentally-damaging' industry, but Bovince has differentiated itself from competitors by investing in technologies that limit its impact on the environment. Read press release
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Jean with Derek Hall, Bovince's Works, Quality and Environmental Manager |
*Maylands Fields
JEAN WELCOMES HAVERING GREEN BELT VICTORY
A Planning Inspectorate decision to close down an illegal car wash on a Havering Green Belt site is a victory for the local community, London's Green Euro-MP Jean Lambert said today.
Inspectors described development plans for Maylands Fields and a car wash erected on adjoining land without planning permission as "unlawful development. in significant breach of green belt policy" and ordered the landowner to cease trading and clean up the site. Read press release
*Iraq War
JEAN JOINS PROTEST OVER IRAQ 'CARVE-UP'
Jean will be joining protestors outside a government sponsored conference to promote the corporate 'carve-up' of Iraq on Monday.
The 'Rebuilding Iraq' conference will give delegates from UK businesses advice on how to overcome obstacles to trading in Iraq, remove currency from the country and 'claim ownership of Iraqi oil'.
"When we hear so much about democracy and corporate social responsibility it is absolutely shocking to see a Government-sponsored event encouraging corporate social irresponsibility in such an undemocratic way," said Jean. Read press release
*Best Practise Tour
JEAN COMMENDS SOUTHWARK CHARITY
Jean visited GHARWEG, an organisation providing advice and support to black and minority communities, as part of her cross-London tour of ‘Best Practise Charities.’
“I am very impressed with the work GHARWEG is doing to provide some of London’s most vulnerable citizens with direct support by way of employment training, vocational guidance and counselling services,” said Jean. Read press release
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Jean with GHARWEG's management team |
JEAN TOURS 'FIND YOUR FEET'
Jean applauded Lambeth-based charity 'Find Your Feet', an organisation helping to combat poverty, malnutrition and disease, during her London Charity Tour.
“FYF is an amazing project. I am very impressed by the work they are doing and inspired by what they are trying to achieve,” said Mrs Lambert. Read press release
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Jean with Find your Feet Director, Dr Dan Taylor and staff |
September
*Best Practise Tour
Jean Visits Finsbury Park Homeless Familes Project
Jean joined Jon Nott, Green London Assembly candidate for North East London, in visiting Finsbury Park Homeless Families Project, a North London charity for disadvantaged families.
This visit marked the first of Mrs Lambert's month-long series of visits to charities and community projects in London. Read press release
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Jean and Jon Nott joined in a playgroup session during their visit to the Project |
Jean Praises African Education Trust
Jean paid tribute to a Westminster-based charity when she visited the African Educational Trust (AET), an organisation assisting African students and refugees. Read press release
Jean pays tribute to Hackney charity
Jean was joined by Jon Nott, Green London Assembly candidate for North East London, in a visit to PhotoVoice, an organisation providing photographic training for marginalised groups of people. Read press release
* London Euro-MP Demonstrates Against Europe's Biggest Arms Fair
Jean joined peace activists from across the world in demonstrating against Europe's biggest arms fair, held in London on Saturday (September 6th).
The UK Government sponsored the largest Arms Fair in Europe in the month which marks the anniversary of September 11th. Defence Systems Equipment International (DSEi 2003) hosted arms buyers from all over the world - including countries identified by Amnesty International as abusers of human rights. Read press release
August
* MPs Threaten Northolt Betrayal
Jean has joined Hillingdon residents in slamming plans to operate commercial flights from RAF Northolt.
Members of the Labour-dominated House of Commons Transport select committee have proposed operating commercial flights from the airfield to relieve the stress on nearby Heathrow Airport. Read press release
July
* Community Recycling Tour
Jean visited community recycling projects in the capital to recognise the efforts of local organisations in reducing waste and to develop a better understanding of waste issues facing London's communities. Read press release
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Jean with Brent and Harrow Green Party member Brian Orr at TRAID (clothing recycling) |
June
* Bexley Incinerator
Jean joined the local party and London Assembly Greens in calling for the UK Government to refuse plans to build a new incinerator in Bexley. Read press release
May
* Jean's join protestors in memory of road deaths
Jean joins protestors in France, Spain and London in observing a one-minute silence in memory of the 50,000 people killed and 3.5 million injured on Europe's roads each year. Read press release.
* Jean calls for review on UEL Campus closure in Barking - Press release
* Jean joins local campaign to save Park Road Post office in Haringey - Press release
* Jean speaks out at Islington Stop the War meeting - Press release
April
*
Jean brings statement from the Afghan
Association of London to
the European Union on the early returns of Afghan refugees. Read
statement.
Read Press Release
March
* Jean speaks on Kyoto March Against Climate Change national platform outside the US Embassy in London.
End of the World Rally |
* Jean speaks on Stop The War Coalition's platform in national demo in London. Read speech.
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Jean on Stop the War platform |
* Jean warns Epping of GATS threat
Jean
warned Epping's distinctive town centre that it is in danger of being
swamped by multi-nationals under GATS, during a 'street surgery' organised
by Epping Forest Green Party.
Read press release
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Jean out and about with Epping Forest Green Party |
* Jean speaks to A-level politics students at Vyners School in Hillingdon as part of Spring Day in Europe
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Jean with Vyners School students |
February
* Jean takes anti-war message to Highbury. Press Release
* Jean fights Crystal Palace development
Jean and Crystal Palace Campaigners condemned UK Government in the European Parliament about development in Bromley. Press release 1 Press release
* Jean joins 1 million in national march to STOP THE WAR. Press Release
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Jean at Stop the War Rally February 2003 |
* Jean joins anti-war MPs in cross party debate. Press release
* Jean says development on
Green Belt in Havering may breach environmental regulations.
Press
Release
*Jean denounces war on Iraq as immoral and illegal at Stop the War meeting in Waltham Forest. Press Release