Europa jest ważna, a decyzje podejmowane przez tych, którzy negocjują i głosują, będą miały ogromny wpływ na nasze życie przez następne dziesięciolecia. Unia Europejska nie jest idealna, ale może być pozytywną siłą sprawczą i bazą, którą należy rozbudowywać, a nie niszczyć. W najbliższych latach na pewno zapadnie wiele bardzo ważnych postanowień – począwszy od polityki energetycznej, bezpieczeństwa żywności po swobodę przemieszczania się obywatelii Unii. Wpłyną one na nasze prawa, pracę urzędników państwowych, zatrudnienie – a także nasze bezpieczeństwo na lądzie, morzu i w powietrzu. Dlatego tak ważne jest, by wszyscy uprawnieni do głosowania wzięli w nim udział.

Prawdopodobnie jednym z najbardziej pozytywnych działań Parlamentu Europejskiego jest wpływ na respektowanie praw człowieka. Nasz wspólny parlament stoi w awangardzie walki o sprawiedliwość dla wszystkich ludzi zarówno w Europie, jak i na całym świecie. Unia Europejska została zbudowana na szacunku dla godności osobistej człowieka, wolności, demokracji i równości. W najbliższych wyborach te wartości są stawką. Należy zadbać o ich utrzymanie.

Lata zaciskania pasa sprawiły, że niektórzy politycy próbują znaleźć kozła ofiarnego odpowiedzialnego za pogłębiający się kryzys oraz brak równości społecznej wśród emigrantów i przyjezdnych niebędących Brytyjczykami. To nie międzynarodowe społeczności spowodowały kryzys, lecz zachłanność korporacji, nieodpowiedzialność banków i szkodliwa polityka, której celem była i jest ochrona nielicznej grupy uprzywilejowanych. Ksenofobiczna retoryka, zarezerwowana wyłącznie dla skrajnej prawicy, stała się niemal powszechną tendencją, co jest bardzo niepokojące.

Jestem dumna, że Londyn jest niezwykle zróżnicowanym miastem i centrum Europy. Musimy doceniać wielokulturowość, a nie tworzyć podziały.
Istnieje realne niebezpieczeństwo, że skrajnie prawicowe partie zdobędą poparcie w całej Europie. Prawicowi politycy wydają się mówić w imieniu zwykłego człowieka, jednak nie dbają o powszechne dobro. Prawa pracowników i sprawiedliwa płaca są dla nich luksusem, który należy zakończyć na rzecz silnych korporacji. Negują fakt, że następują zmiany klimatyczne i chcą zniszczyć naszą planetę w imię szybkiego zysku. Chcą nas pozbawić prawa do swobody przemieszczania się – z którego korzysta zarówno 1,5 miliona Brytyjczyków mieszkających w Europie, jak i wiele ludzi z innych krajów Unii, którzy osiedlili się w Wielkiej Brytanii. Ta ksenofobiczna retoryka wzbudza brak zaufania i powoduje rasizm, zamyka granice i ograniczna nasze decyzje – wszyscy stracimy, jeśli oni dojdą do głosu.

Nie zróbmy błędu – te wybory zadecydują o tym, w jakim kierunku będzie podążać w przyszłości Unia Europejska. Skrajna prawica jest zmobilizowana i jeśli zdobędzie władzę, zniszczy strukturę społeczną. Każdy postępowy głos – bez względu na to, którą partię popieramy i skąd jesteśmy – jest potrzebny, by mieć pewność, że posłowie, którzy pojadą do Brukseli, będą w imieniu nas wszystkich bronić wielokulturowego społeczeństwa, kreować zrównoważone miejsca pracy, dbać o odpowiednie standardy życia i mieszkania oraz prawa człowieka.

Dlatego nadchodzące wybory są tak ważne dla nas wszystkich i każdy, kto może, powinien wziąć w nich udział. Musimy mieć pewność, że nie obudzimy się nagle w sytuacji, w której skrajna prawica zdobędzie władzę. Musimy wspierać pozytywną wizję przyszłości Europy, w której szacunek i godność są najważniejsze.

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Highlighting where European Greens have made a difference – from capping bankers’ bonuses to fighting discrimination, Ms Lambert said Greens were the only party offering a positive vision for change – and warned of the dangers of a rise in right wing extremists.

Ms Lambert said: “Europe makes a difference – and Greens make a difference in Europe. From capping bankers’ bonuses to protecting workers’ rights, we are at the forefront of the battle for a fairer society.

“The next few years are crucial for the future of Europe – whether we move towards increased division or enjoy our diversity. There will be struggles over energy policy, over citizens’ rights and freedoms, and to protect our public services from privatisation.

“We don’t need more MEPs who will defend the City of London but won’t combat poverty – or who will support fracking but not free movement. We need people who will protect decent standards of welfare, housing and human rights – who will fight to protect our environment and build a future economy based on sustainable jobs, not asset bubbles.

“After suffering years of appalling austerity policies people feel let down by politicians and think there are no real choices. This is happening in many countries, including here with the Coalition of the willing-and-the-slightly-reluctant, and Labour not looking any better. But this leads to the danger that the only choice they see is between the status quo and those right wing parties who’d erode our rights and leave Europe altogether.

“Make no mistake – the future direction of Europe is at stake in May. Greens want a place where people are treated with respect and dignity – we cannot let these xenophobic parties gain ground. We defend diversity, not bankers’ dividends.

“Greens are the only party offering a positive vision for the future of Europe, and who are making change happen. Europe needs more Greens.”

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Jean sent the following letter to The Guardian this week, along with other prominent London Greens, about the capital’s housing crisis:

Sir,

Amelia Gentleman’s article (The Guardian, Thursday 6th February) really does get to the heart of the problem currently afflicting London’s housing market. Boris Johnson, like the properties he continues to build for the super-rich, has his head in the clouds. He is willfully ignoring a major housing crisis that is developing on his own doorstep because he can continue to satisfy the financial interests of the developers and investors who are pricing ordinary Londoners out of the city they call home.

The problem is not just found in Hackney. It’s in every estate agent’s advert for a new £700,000 “affordable” home. It’s on every property developer’s website which stipulates “no social housing”. This Friday the London Green Party launched a new campaign, ‘Crumbs for London’, calling for investment in social housing and a fairer deal for rental tenants. Join us and bring an end to the investor’s feast.

Signed:

Jean Lambert, Green Party MEP for London

Caroline Allen, Green Party MEP candidate for London

Darren Johnson, Green Party London Assembly Member and Councillor for Lewisham

Baroness Jenny Jones, Green Party London Assembly Member

Benali Hamdache, co-Coordinator of the London Green Party

Noel Lynch, co-Coordinator of the London Green Party

An abridged version was published here .

The lertter was sent as part of the London Greens’ campaign on more affordable housing, ‘Crumbs for London’.

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The Green-proposed package was adopted anyway. It calls for an EU-wide social housing strategy and to tackle putting a roof over the head of some of Europe’s most vulnerable residents: the six per cent of EU residents who are classed as homeless.

London Green MEP Jean Lambert said she was shocked that the Tories had rejected the proposal.

“London has some of highest rates of homelessness in the whole EU – and with housing costs relative to wages rising fast the notion of having a long-term home is a an unattainable dream now for millions of Londoners,” she said.

“In this context, I can’t really believe that the UK Tories voted against even considering a strategy that could help.”

MEPs have today voted to find ways to prevent eviction of households unable to meet mortgage payments – and to adapt tax policies to favour the building of new social housing and to thus restrain housing speculation and provide much-needed jobs which can’t be off-shored.

Ms Lambert added: “Parliament has today underlined the urgent need for EU action to address the severe, long-term housing crisis, sending a clear political signal on the need to tackle this issue.”

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Jean said: “Every winter, decision makers and media commentators across Europe discuss the plight of the homeless, seemingly forgetting that people sleep on the street for twelve months of the year.  We cannot and should not sit back and ignore this social emergency: Europe has the means to act; what is missing is the political will.

“The Greens in the European Parliament will call for the setting up of a relief fund to help Member States that do not have the financial means to address this critical situation in the current financial crisis.  I also urge the Commission to implement, without delay, the EU homeless strategy adopted by the Parliament in September.  Ending homelessness is possible and must be an EU-wide priority.”

Note to Editor

1. The resolution can be read in full at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&reference=P7-TA-2011-0383&language=EN&ring=B7-2011-047

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On signing the petition, Jean, who is the Green Party’s spokesperson on social affairs, said: “At a time of rising unemployment and financial hardship, the government’s proposed housing benefit reforms will only serve to force people out of their homes and away from their support network of friends and family to areas with fewer jobs. In London alone, the decision to remove the link between housing benefits and the housing costs people pay [1] will see the proportion of neighbourhoods affordable to low-income private tenants fall from 75 per cent to 36 per cent [2]. A further 70,000 of social housing tenants in London will see their benefits cut by an average of £21 a week because they are ‘under-occupying’ their property.

“Unable to afford their rents, where will these people go, who will they turn to for support? The government plans to scrap rules that mean your council has to find you a stable and secure place to live if you lose your home and restrict the free legal advice you would get if you couldn’t afford a lawyer.

“Shelter is a fundamental right, a stable address is a vital part of helping children reach their educational potential and important for accessing many training schemes and the possibility of gaining or retaining work. If the Government wants to reduce poverty, reduce social problems and improve children’s educational chances it has to make decent, stable housing a priority. This is achievable by investing in new social housing and making housing afforable, as my Green Party colleague and London Assembly member Jenny Jones has campaigned tirelessly to demonstrate, and by saving and strengthening the threatened housing safety net.”

Notes:

[1] The Welfare Reform Bill proposes to update Local Housing Allowance by the Consumer Price Index

[2] Cambridge Centre for Housing & Planning Research:

http://www.cchpr.landecon.cam.ac.uk/

[3]http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/social-sector-housing-under-occupation-wr2011-ia.pdf\\\\\

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Jean, whose report Hothouses called for a radical rethink on insulating London’s housing stock to reduce carbon emissions, said that although the government had begun to take steps addressing the issue of loft and cavity insulation, they were still failing to address the problem of solid wall houses.

In London, Jean’s constituency, emissions from the domestic sector count for 37 per cent, that’s higher than transport emissions and the greatest of any English region. This figure stems from London’s energy inefficient solid wall housing stock, which makes up more than half the total, that’s about 1.7million houses.

Speaking at the conference, which addressed retrofitting, the process of insulating older houses, Jean said:

“Whilst there has been some progress on aspects of cavity and loft insulation, the existing programme needs to be speeded up and the Green Party favours a much more ambitious free insulation policy. Furthermore the government lacks ambition on older, solid wall houses, the bulk of the London’s housing stock.

“We know what needs to be done on retrofitting houses. We know that there are easy wins to be gained on carbon reduction and long-term social and environmental benefits, such as reducing fuel poverty and creating jobs, and yet still the government is dragging its feet.

“What we need is a comprehensive programme of coherent high standards and consistent funding with the government, energy companies and landlords all working together to reach ambitious targets.”

ENDS

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Find out in this leaflet, a summary of Jean Lambert’s Hothouses report, how London’s housing is a major contributor to the climate crisis and what needs to be done to reduce domestic emissions across the capital.

Climate change is a major challenge of our time. There is growing agreement that we need to make real and rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. This means investing to reduce energy demand and increase energy efficiency. The urgency of the situation means we need action to get the fastest possible reductions as well as greater progress in more difficult areas.
Jean Lambert MEP

Download the leaflet here: Climate Change and London’s Housing

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Jean, who is Green MEP for London where emissions from the domestic sector account for 37%, higher than levels from transport and the greatest level of any English region, said that Government policies and initiatives to reduce such emissions simply were not robust enough.

Calling on the UK Government for more joined up thinking and leadership to apply best practice from elsewhere in the EU, Jean said; “Energy use in and by homes across the UK amount to about 30% of our carbon emissions but this could be reduced by a minimum of 60% by 2050 or earlier if the right energy saving policies are applied.  The mechanisms in place to increase insulation and other forms of domestic energy savings however, are simply not fit for the purpose and will not make the required impact.

“With different Government departments and other agencies delivering a range of schemes, working to different standards, there is a lack of co-ordination. What we need to see is higher targets and expectations for Decent Homes, Warm Front and other Government run schemes.”

This summer the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive comes into force in the UK with the potential to reduce emissions by requiring all homes that are sold or rented to be energy rated in a similar way to that of fridges and other white goods.

To make the directive a success one of the 27 recommendations from Jean Lambert’s new report is to ensure the public can access consistent information, funding and advice on energy efficiency through ‘one stop shops’.

Jean continued; “If we deal with energy-inefficient homes through extensive insulation programmes we can also combat fuel poverty which has doubled since 2003.  By making homes both comfortable and sustainable we can tackle climate change and meet a social need.

“The urgency demanded by the threat of climate change and the problem of fuel poverty however requires a greater and more focused commitment to drive this agenda forward.”

ENDS

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Hothouses is designed by www.lifework.biz

Hothouses: climate change and London’s housing

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