Today Jean Lambert, London’s Green MEP, attended an interfaith vigil in Walthamstow to commemorate the horrific terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka last month [1]. The event was held by the Mayor of Waltham Forest, Councillor Sally Littlejohn.

Jean, who is Chair of the European Parliament’s South Asia Delegation and has visited Sri Lanka numerous times over the years, expressed her condolences to the families and friends of those killed and injured in the attacks. 

She also expressed her condolences to the people of Sri Lanka, who are still on the path to reconciliation following the brutal conflict that country has known.

It is time for the Sri Lankan Government to lead on reconciliation and peace, to bring its diverse communities together.

Notes:

[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48010697

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On International Children’s Day, 20 November, Jean Lambert MEP London’s Green MEP spoke to young people about the results of Eurochild and UNICEF’s new survey on ‘The Europe Kids Want’ at the European Parliament. You can take look at their report here.

The survey found that children and young people are most concerned about not being able to find a job (53.1%), the possibility of war or terrorist attacks (48.2%), and climate change (41.2%).

Meanwhile, two-thirds of those surveyed feel positive towards people from other countries.

During the discussion, Jean explained:

“I think we need to do more to make sure that young people’s voices are heard. Young people need to be shouting to their MPs and the Government to make the point that it’s your future. A lot of those that voted to leave won’t be around to see the full consequences of that. I think what we have done in terms of reducing the opportunities for young people is really shocking. Therefore, whatever is happening next, we need to be very clear that opportunities on education, travel and other connections are retained as much as possible.”

Watch the full discussion below.

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Today Jean Lambert, London’s Green MEP spoke at the National Unity Demonstration Against Racism and Fascism, organised by Stand Up To Racism, Unite Against Fascism and Love Music Hate Racism.

In total, 30,000 people attended the march in London from all over the UK. It was a powerful show of unity that vastly outnumbered any of the far-right rallies held this year.

Jean joined a line-up of powerful speakers from across the political spectrum, including representatives from Jewish, Muslim and Brazilian communities, the Justice for Grenfell campaign and UNISON.

It was an upbeat, peaceful, vibrant multi-cultural event celebrating diversity in the UK.

Date for your diaries for the next rally is 16 March 2019. To find out more details and sign up click here.

Above photo of courtesy of Unison Southend, and you can view more images from the march and rally here.

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Today Jean Lambert London’s Green MEP spoke at a conference organised by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) on the topic of ‘Future Wars’. The conference at Birkbeck University of London examined the impact of new technologies on warfare and the challenges we will all face as a result.  There was also robust discussion of the real alternatives to a new arms race.

Jean spoke on a panel, ‘The shape of things to come’, which provided the audience with an overview of the relationship between recent conflicts and their impact on patterns of migration.

If you’d like to find out more about the event, papers from the conference will be published in a future issue of The Spokesman, journal of the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation.

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Jean Lambert – Green MEP for London – this morning received a standing ovation at Green Party Conference following her warning that a “dangerous mix of big government, big money and bad science is putting the future of our planet on the line”.

In what may well be Ms Lambert’s final Conference speech, after nearly 20 years as London’s Green MEP, she reminded the Party how much is at stake in the next European Elections (23-26 May 2019), explaining: “Whether we are still within the EU or have committed this act of total political folly and left: we will be affected by the outcome, as will millions of others.”

As the UK prepares to lose its 73 seats in the European Parliament (of which 6 are within the Greens/EFA group), Ms Lambert encouraged the Party to support its Green colleagues in Europe in order to fight the “forces of narrow nationalism and right-wing populism” which threaten the cohesion of our societies and the very future of our planet.

She added: “I do not want to see more seats going to populist, right-wing, xenophobic parties that claim an ethno-superiority and that climate change is a hoax. I want more seats going to Greens who believe we can have a positive common future based on solidarity and respect for ourselves and the planet. I want our Party to play its role in helping that happen.”

Jean Lambert MEP’s full speech to the Green Party Conference, October 2018:

This is possibly my last speech to a Green Party Conference.

I want to thank those who work for us, worked to get us elected, and the voters who put their trust in us.

My speech usually takes place just before a European Election, which will be held next year from 23rd to 26th May. I would have loved to hand over my speaking slot today to a probable successor after my 20 wonderful years in the European Parliament.

Unfortunately, this won’t happen, thanks to a referendum held to save the Tories from UKIP. It’s thanks to a totally incompetent Government, backed by a weak Parliament, and a campaign built on lies. For example, there’s no Brexit dividend for the NHS. Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn please take note: the NHS is already paying a penalty in terms of staff lost, it faces a shortage of life-saving treatments because of the Government’s failure to sign-off on a patient-first approach, and now big pharma is sniffing around future trade deals.

As an outcome of that referendum result, Keith, Molly and I recently found ourselves voting on the proposals as to how to distribute the UK’s 73 seats in the European Parliament after we are due to leave on March 29th next year. It was one of the saddest votes I’ve ever taken part in.

This poses difficulties for the Greens/EFA Group, which will also lose 6 of its 52 members in the European Parliament – the 3 of us, plus Plaid and SNP.

It also poses challenges for The Green Party of England and Wales. We will need to do some serious thinking as to how we replace the political weight and profile we have had through being in the European Parliament.

The Green Party will want to support our Green colleagues in those next European Parliament elections. One way we could help is by engaging with the many EU27 citizens living in the UK, who will be able to vote in their former home countries next year. We can persuade them to vote Green.

The Party will also need to work on keeping and developing the strong links we have with Green parties across the EU and beyond. After all, we did help found the European Green Party. We will rely on the International Committee and the Association of Green Councillors, amongst others, to continue developing these strong international connections. We should remember that Andy Cooper will also have to step down from his role on the EU’s Committee of the Regions.

Greens are really needed now, when you look at what is happening within the EU and across the world.

As a truly international movement, we know that tackling many of today’s challenges requires co-operation and action across borders: climate change;
protecting our environment from waste and pollution; safeguarding the global commons; promoting and upholding human rights; tackling transnational corporations and international finance; promoting democracy, good governance and the rule-of-law; protecting those affected by war or natural disasters; fighting organised crime, including human trafficking; and closing the gaps between rich and poor, within and between different countries.

This does not mean Governments bear no individual responsibility. After all, if the UK Government wanted to make the world a safer place and find millions to invest in the NHS or in improving public health, unilateral nuclear disarmament would be a good place to start.

We have only to look at the Sustainable Development Goals, which are our national goals – whether in the EU or not – and ask how many of them will be met by unilateral action alone.

Yet Greens are under attack by forces of narrow nationalism and right-wing populism who consider that our views on inclusive, open societies threaten national culture and identity.

One of the clearest examples of this is taking place in Hungary right now, in the Hungarian Government’s 20 million euro press campaign against Guy Verhofstadt, George Soros and Judith Sargentini – the brilliant Dutch Green MEP who drafted the European Parliament’s critical report on the failure of the Hungarian Government under Viktor Orban to uphold key democratic rights and freedoms. The vast majority of the European Parliament voted in favour of this report, and taking meaningful action against Orban’s Government. It’s shameful that most Tory MEPs chose to support his repressive, autocratic regime.

What Orban and others like him fail to admit is that culture is not static, nor is it frozen in time and power relationships. As I reminded a Swedish Democrat recently (who now sits with the Tories in the European Parliament!) if culture didn’t change, no women – including her – would be sitting in any Parliament in Europe.

These right-wing populists tell us that migration contaminates national identity. They accuse the Greens of welcoming refugees. This is true, we’re proud of it. We should welcome people who need to flee oppression and violence. But we certainly don’t welcome the circumstances that force them to move. Greens passionately believe that we should be creating a world where no one is forced to leave their home.

Yes, we are pro-migration as a genuine choice: because we need to see people treated with dignity and on an equal basis. Free movement in the EU (and similar developments in other parts of the world) makes this an option and marks a real shift in the power relationship between migrants and the state. People choose to move, people choose their employer, people choose to change their employer, people choose to bring (or start) a family, and they don’t have to meet a salary threshold to do it. This is a reciprocal right. Millions from the UK exercise those rights elsewhere in the European Union because they choose to.

That’s not to say everything works perfectly – it’s certainly not helped by a Government who didn’t recognise early enough that free movement needs management, and who choose not to protect low-paid workers, who slash local authority resources and deliberately create a hostile environment that poisons people’s lives and our communities. We’re now seeing deliberate efforts to splinter our societies and split groups apart.

It’s a populist tactic. You try and split off those who are seen as different in some way – whether that’s migrants, homeless people, minorities in general – and attack the organisations that defend them. Then you politicise the organs of the state that should be impartial and stifle the independence of the press. It’s a checklist to bear in mind.

As Greens, we should also be concerned about those alt-right, populist movements who portray climate change as contested science and a conspiracy of the liberal elite – that’s us. Trump’s decisions to take the USA out of the Paris agreement, strangle the powers of the Environmental Protection Agency and let big fossil fools (sorry, fuels) rip been described as a potential crime against humanity (I will not start a chant of ‘lock him up’).

But Trump is not alone in looking after the interests of the fossil fuel and nuclear industries (we also have our problems in the EU). My Hungarian Green colleague Benedek Javor, has pointed out that: “We see a pattern of populist governments clearly opposing ambitious climate and energy regulations, which is in line with the primary Russian economic interest: exporting fossil fuel and nuclear technology.”

Sounds melodramatic, doesn’t it?

But this dangerous mix of big government, big money and bad science, is really putting the future of our planet on the line. Our populist colleagues cooperate across borders, and so must Greens in our work for the common good.

We can do this in a number of ways, some of which I’ve already mentioned: but we need to really use the information and expertise we have between us – not just in publicising our successes as the European Green Party’s excellent latest short film does, but in terms of our policies and how we express our ideas.

We need to win the arguments for renewables, energy and water conservation, and “green” towns and cities. We need to show that we care about decent jobs and “a just transition” in our workplaces, as advocated by the UN. We need to show that inclusive societies are the way forward, and that means cooperation not division. And we have to do this locally and internationally.

Because it’s not a choice, Prime Minister. We must act local, think global – and vice versa. As Greens, we see how these connect. I consider myself a citizen of the world – a citizen of everywhere.

So, I say again, the next European Parliament elections really matter. Whether we are still within the EU or have committed this act of total political folly and left: we will be affected by the outcome, as will millions of others.

I do not want to see more seats going to populist, right-wing, xenophobic parties that claim an ethno-superiority and that climate change is a hoax. I want more seats going to Greens who believe we can have a positive common future based on solidarity and respect for ourselves and the planet. I want our Party to play its role in helping that happen.

We have an old slogan worth re-using – Join together: Make a future.

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Yesterday up to 250,000 people took to the streets of London to protest against the arrival of President Trump.

Today, we’re seeing a very different sort of political rally, as the far-right congregate in London in support of the President’s racist agenda.

Jean Lambert, London’s Green MEP, will today be speaking at a unity protest against Tommy Robinson, Trump and the far-right organised by Stand Up To Racism.

Watch Jean’s video in support of the march here, and read her full speech below:

“Across the EU we are seeing the rise of hardline right-wing parties who hate diversity – particularly people of colour or of a different faith. These hardliners are filled with a narrow view of nationalism which rejects anyone who does not look like them or think like them.

They have ramped up the rhetoric of hatred and suspicion to feed a toxic politics which is challenging our values and our future. Where the vote to leave the EU has been used by many as permission to tell neighbours to ‘go home’ when they are home, deny people the right to speak their mother-tongue and even attack complete strangers for being ‘different’.

These extremists build their movements on lies and fear.

They tell us we should fear refugees as an attack on our way of life but the refugees who have fled the bombs and gas attacks of Syria’s regime to save their families and themselves are fleeing totalitarianism to find peace and security.

We are told those coming do not share our values, but those who have escaped the horrendous atrocities inflicted by Da’esh reject that brutal perversion of belief and want freedom.

We are told this is an invasion – but those who risk their lives to seek a future in Europe come with the clothes on their backs, not bombs and tanks: they want to contribute.

People who want peace, freedom and the possibility to build a better life sound to me like people who share our values: they don’t threaten them.

This movement of hate is organised. They work together to spread their view of white supremacy, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. They amplify each other’s lies and conspiracies

A few weeks ago, in the European Parliament, UK MEP Janice Atkinson, along with Front National and others from the ENF Group which she helped set up, held a press conference to defend Tommy Robinson, as a political prisoner. This is the man who knowingly broke the law and put at risk the possible conviction of men accused of serial child abuse. He chose to put his politics ahead of the chance of justice for the victims of child sex-abuse. Do not let his supporters tell you that he cares about the rights of children and the rights of victims: he does not.

Cross-border cooperation and support on pushing this case run beyond the EU, in to the United States – even in to the family of the President. It is being used to spread messages of hate, fear and division.

We need to join forces with those in other countries standing up for universal human rights, for the right of children to be their parents and the right to flee persecution and oppression and be protected. For the right of people of different backgrounds, sexuality, faith or no faith, to be able to live peacefully together in an inclusive, more equal society.

We need to stand up here to stop the spread of hatred and division in our communities. This is not just about opposing hate crime and hate speech but building strong and inclusive communities, where we stand together to build a better future for all.”

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Up to one million people are expected to take to the streets in central London today to mark Pride 2018.

Jean Lambert, London’s Green MEP, has recorded a message of solidarity with the LGBTIQA+ community, stating:

“It’s wonderful to see so many people on the streets of London today to celebrate Pride. But it is tragic that there are so many parts of the world where this would not be possible.

Our diversity, the freedom for people to be themselves, is one of the things that makes this a great city. And we’ve come a long way in terms of LGBTQI rights here. But the sad reality is that many people, in so many parts of the world, still face prejudice because of their identity, sexuality or gender and of course that’s still the case for some here in the UK.

We can never take our rights and freedoms for granted. But today we say enough is enough. We stand proud, we stand in solidarity, and we celebrate in style because we all know that Pride Matters.”

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14th September 2017

Today Members of the European Parliament debated the humanitarian crisis faced by Rohingya Muslims, who are being forced to flee a military insurgency in Myanmar.

Jean Lambert, London’s Green MEP and Chair of the European Parliament’s South Asia delegation, told the Parliament that the crisis is “not just about Aung San Suu Kyi”. Myanmar’s generals also bear responsibility for these atrocities, and must be held accountable.

Read Jean’s speech in full below:

“Thank you President, and I also speak in my capacity as Chair of the Delegation for South Asia which covers Bangladesh as one of our countries, and where in the past we visited the Rohingya camps down at Cox’s Bazar. So we know this is something which has been going on for a very long time and where the European Union has been a key funder in terms of supporting the Rohingya people in Bangladesh – the refugees there.

We gather that the EU has currently put in €3m from ECHO funding in light of the current situation and we’d ask how that is actually being spent given that it’s also apparently covering Myanmar. And we know as we’ve just heard, there’s no access for the UN and INGOs in north Rakhine State which is something we need to push to reinstate.

We need a UNHCR-led body down in Bangladesh. But we also need a strong response from the European Union and all its governments, and active diplomacy in the region – not least with the two big powers. Because this is something, as we say, that’s ongoing. People need to be able to return home in dignity with their rights restored. And this is not something which is not just about Aung San Suu Kyi. It’s about the generals and their military power too. Don’t let them off the hook.”

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Three months after the tragedy at Grenfell Tower, Jean Lambert MEP has called in the European Parliament for the voices of its residents to be heard.

Notes:

[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41262914

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An estimated 50,000 people turned out to demonstrate against Brexit today, marching through central London to converge at a rally in Parliament Square. The People’s March for Europe featured speakers including cross-party MPs and MEPs, campaigners, activists and artists – all rallying behind the message of “unite, rethink and reject Brexit”.

Jean Lambert, London’s Green MEP, told the crowd: “We know that at the end of this process I, as a Member of the European Parliament, will have a meaningful vote on the deal. I want a similar meaningful vote for people in Westminster – not a gift from the Government, but a right. And I and my party also want a vote for the people of this country. Because even basic consumer protection says you have a cooling off period, and a time to consider whether what you’re being offered fits your needs and your ambitions. So a vote for the people, not just the politicians.”

Read more about Jean’s contribution in the Evening Standard, the Irish Times, Sky News and the Huffington Post. The full text can be found below.

Jean’s speech to the People’s March for Europe:

“I want to start by emphasising that the Green Party wants to remain in the European Union. That’s because we live in an increasingly interconnected world. At the moment we’re seeing the havoc being wrought internationally by climate change, pressures around the environment, issues around equality, social justice and fair trade. We need to be working with parties and countries internationally to change things. We find it incredible that we are willing to give up our seat at the table to try and keep a European Union that has strong values at its heart, however appalling it can be at times at delivering on them. Why on earth do we want to give that up when the world has never needed cooperation more?

The EU is more than a trading bloc. If you look at what we’re saying are the priorities for the Parliament at the moment, we are clear that we’re looking at citizens’ rights, we’re looking at not undermining the peace agreement on the island of Ireland, we’re not looking to remove all of those underlying standards that we have, that this is something we want to champion and remain part of.

And when we’re talking about the EU budget which people are doing – well, in theory – a lot of at the moment, it’s not a simple banking transaction where you put your money in, take your money back and hope – with any luck – there’s a little bit of interest. It’s a pooling of resources. The EU budget is to pool money to achieve more together than we can do individually, and it’s a solidarity mechanism. We need to remember that when we’re talking about what we have from the European Union.

There’s a huge amount on the table at the moment for the UK and the European Union. During the referendum, the Leave camp was very keen to criticise the EU on its centralised decision making. All of that power in President Junker. All of that power in the Commission. I remember screaming at the television, as I’m sure many of you did, about various Leave supporting ministers totally misrepresenting the decision making process of the European Union. Ignoring the fact that our Government is involved in pretty well every single decision that comes out of there. And as directly elected members of the European Parliament we have a hand in that as well. We are involved in the negotiating.

So I would expect that taking back control is going to mean better governance in the UK. Isn’t that what it’s for? A strong role for MPs and civil society? But in reality we are exposing constitutional weaknesses in the UK in a way they’ve never been exposed before. We have a democratic deficit here in the UK and we need a modern, written constitution that sorts that out.

If you look at the role of the UK Parliament, you find a body based on a disproportional electoral system, where negotiation is viewed as a weakness and party interest seems to come before good decision making. It took a court case to make the Government realise that Parliament should have a vote on Article 50. No wonder the Government doesn’t like the courts.

If we look at the EU Withdrawal Bill, this massive piece of legislation, look at the restricted time that’s been set aside to look at that. Look at where the power is being invested. Not in the Parliament, not in the devolved administrations. It’s being invested in individual ministers and in the power of the executive. And then they have the nerve to criticise Brussels because they think the Commission is too powerful. You know? For heaven’s sake. We have a Parliament there, we have a Council, that balances the power. Where is your balance here?

So we’ve got to work with this Withdrawal Bill to make sure that it safeguards workers’ rights, human rights, environmental protection at least, and that the Government is forced to make that clear in the legislation. And our Government has also got to make it clear that it wants to bring this country together – not divide it further. So it has to stand up to the increases in racism, xenophobia and other hate crime that we’re seeing grow exponentially since the Brexit vote. That vote was not a license to hate.

Government ministers could start by making a serious and positive offer to the nationals of the 27 other EU countries here. A serious offer, not the farce they put in front of us at the moment. Assuring the rights of EU nationals cross-border affected by Brexit is a red line for the European Parliament. Our Government could also note that the laws concerning EU nationals have not changed since the referendum. They are still on the statute books. Discrimination is illegal. People should not be being sent notices telling them to leave, being refused mortgages and other services. It could, if it really wanted to be ambitious and stand up for rights, improve the rights of those from non EU countries – leveling up policy instead of leveling it down. Removing, for example, the toxic minimum earnings requirement that divides families of so many nationalities.

It could also – in the interests of good governance – make the Home Office fit for purpose. But I quote the words of many on this, including John Lennon – you may say I’m a dreamer in wanting to go for that. But there should be a right for good administration so people actually have their rights protected and can access justice. So closing the door to free movement – restricting the possibilities for international students for example, failing to stand up for the rights of your residents, is a negative sign to the world. Not least to the many countries with which the UK hopes to develop successful trade agreements.

I want to come back to this issue of democracy, and what happens at the end of this process of negotiation between the UK and the European Union. Within this process, the EU has been transparent. We know that at the end of this process I, as a Member of the European Parliament, will have a meaningful vote on the deal. I want a similar meaningful vote for people in Westminster – not a gift from the Government, but a right. And I and my party also want a vote for the people of this country. Because even basic consumer protection says you have a cooling off period, and a time to consider whether what you’re being offered fits your needs and your ambitions. So a vote for the people, not just the politicians. Thank you.”

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