Jen, then Ken: But not an endorsement for Labour

It's been announced this morning that the Green Party suggest voters give Ken Livingstone their second preference vote in the mayoral election, after our Green candidate Jenny Jones. This follows Ken Livingstone's own endorsement of Jenny Jones as his second preference.

I was at the meeting with Ken Livingstone on Monday night where this was decided, and what was interesting was that all parties agreed (including Ken) that this was not a second preference for the Labour party, but only for him personally. Indeed, he was quite openly scathing of the kind of New Labour politics being displayed by Lambeth Council and Streatham MP Chuka Umunna (who suggests that Blair was 85% right).

It is interesting to note that in 2008, Livingstone got 36% of first preference votes. However, when it came to voting for the Labour party, this dropped off significantly by around 10% when it came to vote for the Labour party list.

For the Greens, the reverse was true. The Green Party list got around 6% more votes than for our mayoral candidate, meaning that we got two London assembly members elected - Darren Johnson and Jenny Jones. It would seem that many people who vote for Ken, when given a preference where their vote will count under a proportional system, vote Green.

Putting the electoral maths to one side for a moment, what was very positive about the debate at the meeting on Monday was its level of political maturity. There was a feeling that the most important thing was values and policies, rather than tribal politics. There was an acknowledged risk that Labour might try and pretend that they were somehow being endorsed by the Greens, but it was also felt that this was a risk worth taking if we want a better, more grown-up type of politics and policy-making.

Lack of transport accessibility highlighted in Stockwell

On Friday we launched our accessibility manifesto at Stockwell tube station - including our aim to make a third of the tube system step-free by 2018 (both Boris and Ken has failed to fulfill their promises on this).

Both our mayoral candidate Jenny Jones and Jean Lambert MEP came down. It was great to see so much interest, especially from the broadcast media.

I am trying to get hold of a copy of the ITN piece, but in the meantime you can read this on the BBC website.

The tube map we produced, which shows what the tube map looks like if you have a mobility impairment has also been a big hit on social media networks.

It’s been great to see the growing issue of accessibility in London being highlighted in the run up to the paralympics.

Lambeth and Southwark are particularly bad in this respect – something which we have wanted to highlight during the London Assembly election campaign. Last year we got the Guardian newspaper to make the trip from Lambeth to the site of the Paralympics with disabled travelers to draw attention to the issue.

Of the 8 tube stations in Lambeth only 1 (Brixton) is wheelchair accessible. A freedom of information request that I submitted uncovered that the lifts at Brixton station have been out of order for 164 days since 2006.

Eight out of eleven overground stations in Southwark could also be impacted by cuts leaving them unstaffed and “no go areas” for many travelers. This is likely to make it the hardest hit area in the whole country if the proposals go ahead.

Channel 4 are now also taking up the theme with their “no go Britain” campaign.

You can read our accessibility manifesto in full here

Transport inclusion to be at heart of Lambeth & Southwark campaign

Green mayoral candidate Jenny Jones joined with me and other local people, including members of Lambeth and Southwark Green parties on Friday, for a flashride in Camberwell.

Together we staged a “go slow” of cyclists calling for a 20mph speed limit and safer streets along the new Cycle Superhighway 5.

This new Cycle Superhighway will run from Lewisham to Victoria along busy roads like Peckham High Street and Camberwell New Road with traffic driving past at up to 30mph, making it dangerous and frightening particularly for inexperienced cyclists. Many cyclists and potential cyclists are too frightened and daunted by the prospect of getting on a bike in the Capital.

It marked the start of the Green campaign in Lambeth and Southwark, which aims to highlight issues around inclusion and local transport.

Our research has found that the boroughs get one of the rawest deals in London when it comes to transport, with large numbers of local people excluded, pushed out or discouraged from using parts of the transport system through fears about safety or inaccessibility. Notably:

• Lambeth and Southwark account for half of the ten most dangerous locations in London for cyclists.

• Of the 32 boroughs in London Lambeth has the second highest casualty rate for both pedestrians and cyclists. Southwark has the fourth highest overall casualty rate.

• Of the 8 tube stations in Lambeth only 1 (Brixton) is wheelchair accessible. A freedom of information request that I submitted uncovered that the lifts at Brixton station have been out of order for 164 days since 2006.

• Eight out of eleven overground stations in Southwark could soon be impacted by cuts leaving them unstaffed and “no go areas” for many travellers. This is likely to make it the hardest hit area in the whole country if the proposals go ahead.

• Both Lambeth and Southwark’s Taxicard schemes, providing subsidised door-to-door transport for people with mobility impairments, have been slashed by 33% and 25% respectively. ( Details of Lambeth Taxicard cuts here. Details of Southwark Taxicard cuts here )

There is an apartheid that runs throughout our transport system which excludes whole sections of London, and nowhere is this more true than in Lambeth and Southwark - and the situation is getting worse not better.

During the election campaign, Greens in Lambeth and Southwark will highlight the different features of the exclusion, and put forward proposals to tackle it.

Come and hear Green mayoral candidate Jenny Jones this Wednesday

Green Party mayoral candidate and London Assembly member Jenny Jones will be coming to visit Lambeth Greens this Wednesday.

All are very welcome to come and hear what Jenny has to say, as well as meet her and ask questions about anything relating to her work or the London campaign.

We'll be meeting from 7.00pm upstairs at The Priory Arms, 83 Lansdowne Way, Stockwell, SW8 2PB

This will also be our Lambeth AGM, so a great opportunity to come for the first time if you haven't been to a meeting before, and meet other local members.

But besides roads, civil partnerships, climate change, economic equality and protecting small business, what have the Greens ever done for London?

Since the London mayor and Assembly were first elected in 2000, there have been two or three Green Party Assembly Members (AMs). These are just some of the things that they have achieved:

2000 Civil Partnerships
At the first ever Mayor’s Question Time assembly member Darren Johnson called on the Mayor to introduce a registration scheme for same-sex partners.
What happened next? A successful scheme was introduced, paving the way for civil partnerships legislation at national level.

2001 Thames Gateway Bridge
Greens began campaigning against Ken Livingstone’s plans for a new six-lane road bridge. As a price for supporting the Mayor’s 2005 budget the Greens called for the mayor to fund the objectors in order that the environmental case could be properly presented at the public inquiry.
What happened next? The public inquiry failed to give the go ahead for the bridge and the new Mayor Boris Johnson then abandoned it altogether.

2003 Climate change budget
Greens criticized Mayor Ken Livingstone’s budget for devoting just £300,000 per year to making London’s homes and buildings greener.
What happened next? In a series of budget deals with the then Mayor, Green AMs got the climate change budget at the London Development Agency increased to £8 million per year.

2004 Living Wage
As part of a budget deal Greens called on the Mayor to establish a Living Wage unit to tackle poverty pay in the capital.
What happened next? The GLA and a growing number of public and private sector bodies now pay the London Living Wage as a minimum.

2005 Leaking water mains
An investigation led by Darren highlighted the fact that a third of London’s drinking water was lost through leaking mains pipes.
What happened next? Following pressure from the Assembly Thames Water began a major mains replacement programme.

2006 Cycling budget
Green AM Jenny Jones commissioned a report which led to the setting of a target to increase cycling by 400% through the introduction of cycle hire, cycling superhighways and cycling hubs in outer London.
What happened next? The Green AMs secured budget commitments from Ken Livingstone which led to a tripling of the budget for cycling and walking.

2008 Opposing Heathrow expansion
Darren Johnson led the Environment Committee investigation into Heathrow expansion. The report showed that the economic benefits were exaggerated and the environmental impacts understated.
What happened next? In 2010 the new Government abandoned Heathrow expansion, the Assembly’s all-party report playing an important role in establishing a broad political consensus.

2009 Road safety
Green AM Jenny Jones fought the closure of the Metropolitan Police Commercial Vehicle Education Unit, which instructs HGV drivers on road sharing and awareness of vulnerable road users.
What happened next? This unit has now been reinstated within the traffic police section.

2010 Protecting small shops
For the Assembly’s Planning and Housing Committee, Green AM Jenny Jones led an investigation looking at what could be done to protect London’s small shops.
What happened next? Mayor Boris Johnson agreed to put policies for the protection of small shops in his new London Plan, the overall planning document for London.

Imagine what a few more Green Assembly Members could achieve in 2012...

London elections – a choice between policy and celebrity

The news that ‘I’m A Celebrity…’ participant Brian Paddick is to stand as the Lib Dem candidate for mayor, seems to confirm that next year's contest for London mayor will be a clear choice between policy and celebrity.

The attraction to the limelight of both Livingstone and Johnson is well known. Indeed, Lembit Opik, who was unsuccessful in his bid to be the Lib Dem candidate stood on an explicitly ‘celebrity’ platform, arguing that his party needed someone of similar status.

“Boris and Ken are celebrity politicians. I fear the party doesn't grasp the implications of this”

...he told the Standard, as he conceded defeat. His point? Paddick is a celebrity of sorts, but the Lib Dems needed a bigger one.

But the choice of celebrity politicians with which Londoners are now faced, should be of concern for a different reason entirely. As we have seen with Boris Johnson over the last few years, celebrity can be compensation for some very uncreative, and poor policy-making. It also appears to contribute to a lack of accountability. It makes it easier for policians to charm their way out of difficult situations, without addressing the issues that really matter.

As Green mayoral candidate Jenny Jones has pointed out, what London needs is not more of the same, but fresh ideas for the economic and social climate which London now faces. If celebrity was ever affordable in easier times, it certainly isn't now that the stakes are so much higher.

As the cuts bite, times get tougher, and the election approaches, the importance of the choice between policy and celebrity will become even clearer.