Our nation’s single Green MP does far more for her constituents and the country in general than a dozen of the more regularised Members of Parliament. She’s represented Brighton Pavilion in the wider world as no-one has done before. The only criticisms I can make of her are that she (i) voted against supporting the people’s revolution in Libya; and (ii) she talks a bit too fast, as if she’ll never get the airtime again. In the former case, her vote was largely irrelevant because only 12 other MPs joined her. In the latter case, well, the Greens have spent so long outside of the mainstream that her initial urgency can be forgiven.
Have a look at the list below, summarising what she has been up to in the last 12 months. Bear in mind that she was elected 15 months ago. I admit that I am a Green Party activist but all that follows is factual and in the public domain. Ask yourself, does your MP work so hard for you? Are the other candidates likely to work so hard? Here’s what Caroline Lucas, Leader of the Green Party, and my MP has done for me: she’s set the benchmark by which other members of parliament can be judged.
- Shared her parliamentary office with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Energy Efficiency and Fuel Poverty.
- Held weekly surgeries for those she represents right across the constituency.
- Held two walkabout surgeries, a useful way to reach out to those who would not otherwise meet their MP.
- Spoken at a march and rally in Brighton & Hove against benefits cuts.
- Spoken at a Pheonix Community Association meeting.
- Opened the Chartered Institute for Housing’s Regional Conference.
- Opened the AGM of the National Bus Users UK Group.
- Spoken at the a public meeting entitled, “What Have The Banks Done To Britain?”
- Spoken at the Charleston Festival.
- Spoken at a Sussex University Stop the Cuts discussion.
- Spoken to the Rotary Club.
- Spoken at Student PRIDE (sorry for shouting).
- Spoken to a Public and Commercial Services seminar on ‘Being Green: A Trade Union approach’.
- Spoken to residents meetings in Hanover, Clifton, Montpelier and Powis.
- Spoken at a day of action to oppose attacks on teachers’ pensions (joining a picket line in the morning and then speaking at a rally in Hove Town Hall).
- Spoken at the launch of Fab Lab locally.
- Spoken at an event to celebrate Dorothy Stringer’s School Council.
- Spoken at a Brighton and Hove Business Club lunch on the subject of boosting the city’s small, independent businesses.
- Attended local meetings of Citizens Advice Bureau and…
- … Bike It.
- … Brighton Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
- … a local travellers’ support and rights group.
- … RIOTT (Randomised Injecting Opioid Treatment Trial).
- … Brighton Line Commuters to talk about local service.
- … the local Crime Reduction Initiatives.
- … Sussex Enterprise.
- … Brighton and Hove business forum.
- … the local Federation of Small Businesses.
- … Brighton’s Head of Tourism.
- … Sussex Beacon Women’s Group.
- … Brighton Oasis Project.
- … Zap Art.
- … Sussex Wildlife Trust.
- … Environmental Protection UK.
- … with the city’s Head of Museums and the Royal Pavilion and the Head of Culture.
- … Fareshare (a local charity that distributes ‘waste’ food donated by supermarkets and other retailers).
- … the regional office of the Environment Agency.
- … Mosaic (a black and mixed family parentage group).
- … the Community Land Trust about innovative housing models for the city.
- …. our local Tourism Alliance.
- She also with the Director of Albion in the Community for a tour of the Falmer Stadium and to learn more about their excellent community outreach programme.
- She regularly meets with heads of the NHS locally and…
- … the Chief Superintendent of Sussex Police.
- … the Chief Executive at the city council.
- Visited Westdene Primary School.
- Visited Dorothy Stringer High School.
- Joined a skills training day at the Citizens Advice Bureau.
- Taken part in the early morning shift with Brighton’s rough sleepers team.
- Worked with EAGA to host an event designed to give people advice about cutting their bills and making their homes more energy efficient.
- Visited a local pharmacy.
- Met with inmates and staff at Lewes prison.
- Took part in a fair-trade fortnight “act of random kindness” – giving out cups of tea in the Lanes – and an event at the Co-op on London Road.
- Helped collect petition signatures about plans to open a Sainsbury’s at the former Taj site.
- Joined parents and children to ask for a voluntary “toll” at the hazardous junction with Surrenden Crescent and Draxmont Way to highlight the problem of road safety.
- Visited a local Travellers’ site in August and worked with local councillors to try and develop a long term viable policy that reflects the need to balance the rights of everyone living in our city.
- Visited Preston Barracks to understand better the potential to use the site more productively eg for temporary office/workshop space.
- Visited the Royal Sussex site to discuss plans for redevelopment.
- Visited a local care home to meet residents.
- Visited Mears Housing (a social housing provider in the city).
- Met the Big Lemon bus company.
- Became the 5,000th member of East Sussex Credit Union.
- Organised a number of meetings with key figures about taking forward a Green New Deal for Brighton and Hove.
- Heard Brighton Peace Choir in the House of Commons singing in early February.
- Met the young people and their teachers from local primary schools.
- Secured a commitment from the Minister at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport to visit next year’s Digital Brighton festival.
- Focused on three priorities in Parliament: energy (which covers climate change and nuclear), housing and drugs & alcohol.
- Other key areas of Parliamentary work included animal welfare, parliamentary reform and tax reform.
- Become a member of the Environmental Audit Committee
- Served on the Energy Bill Committee: a temporary – although very demanding – role and an opportunity to influence the terms of the legislation, which is back in the House of Commons for its remaining stages this week.
- Spoken in a Parliamentary debate on the recent riots and…
- … the Comprehensive Spending Review.
- … fixed term parliaments.
- … growth and the economy.
- … electricity market reform.
- … daylight savings.
- … a ban on wild animals in circuses.
- … plans to sell off the forests.
- … the schools sports programme.
- … education maintenance allowance.
- … measures to protect bees.
- … the Strategic Defence Review.
- … drugs policy.
- … fuel prices.
- … housing benefit.
- … News International and media ownership.
- … intervention in Libya.
- … unauthorised traveller and gypsy encampments.
- … Afghanistan.
- … badger culling.
- Submitted amendments to the Health and Social Care Bill and…
- … to the Voting System and Constituencies Bill (including for the referendum to ask about other alternative voting systems such as Proportional Representation).
- … the Postal Services Bill (including opposing the privatisation of the service and calling for a formal link with credit unions and access to small scale credit).
- … the Energy Bill (including on efficiency standards in the private rented sector, on oil drilling and on proper funding for the Green Deal, especially households in fuel poverty).
- Asked Parliamentary Questions and proposed Early Day Motions on nuclear safety and…
- … the red tape challenge.
- … tax and inequality.
- … fuel poverty.
- … housing benefit changes.
- … empty homes.
- … work capability assessments.
- … forced marriage.
- … live exports of animals.
- … the criminal age of responsibility.
- … sexuality and asylum cases.
- … heroin overdoses.
- … feed in tariffs.
- … train fares.
- … the use of drones.
- … Brighton’s elm trees.
- … disabled access to public transport.
- … fracking (a means of natural gas extraction employed in deep natural gas well drilling).
- … tax and equality.
- … animal testing.
- … GM crops.
- … aviation fuel.
- … disability living allowance.
- … land value taxation.
- … palm oil.
- … apprenticeships.
- … PFIs.
- … domestic violence.
- … blood donations.
- … transphobic bullying.
- … phonics teaching.
- … conscientious objection.
- … child poverty.
- … epilepsy.
- … supporting for ESOL teaching provision.
- … the EU Israel Association Agreement.
- … parliamentary reform.
- … Brighton’s creative industries.
- … the policing of protests.
- … nuclear non proliferation.
- … cycling.
- … chlamydia screening.
- … the Green Investment Bank.
- … access to legal aid.
- … education maintenance allowance.
- … climate targets.
- … tuition fees.
- … coastguard services.
- … immigration removal.
- … water pollution.
- … pensions.
- … HIV diagnosis rates.
- … the Millennium Development Goals.
- … incineration.
- … female genital mutilation.
- … standards in schools.
- … the Robin Hood tax.
- … child benefit.
- .. Living Wage (applauding the Brighton & Hove City Council’s action).
- … the arms trade.
- … Guantanamo Bay.
- … reform of the banking system.
- … GP consortia.
- … nuclear power.
- … cosmetics testing.
- … parliamentary modernisation.
- … teenage pregnancy rates.
- Written to Ministers about issues raised by her constituents, covering many of the topics listed above and other subjects such as equal marriage rights and…
- … protection for overseas domestic workers.
- … the torture enquiry.
- … assisted dying.
- … the National Curriculum.
- … public spending cuts.
- … universal jurisdiction.
- … biofuels.
- … the Brighton i360 tower.
- … planning reform.
- … carbon floor pricing.
- … national landlord accreditation.
- … local library provision.
- … food labelling.
- … mental health.
- … the Digital Economy Act.
- … school places.
- … whaling.
- … CDC and fraudulent investment.
- … human rights abuses in Palestine.
- … human rights abuses in Bahrain.
- … human rights abuses in Syria.
- … human rights abuses in Uganda.
- … human rights abuses in Tibet.
- … human rights abuses in Iran.
- … recycling.
- Made a series of Freedom of Information requests about energy company secondments to Government department.
- Met Ministers to regarding changes to funding for sixth form colleges (attended by the Head Teachers of the Brighton & Hove City’s colleges).
- Met Ministers to regarding medicine waste (with local pharmacists and Link).
- Met Ministers to regarding her proposals for tax reform.
- Met Ministers to regarding visa rules for students coming to language schools in Brighton to learn English.
- Tabled a Private Members Bill to tackle the problem of illegally logged timber.
- Tabled a Private Members Bill to require companies operating in the UK to submit tax returns so the tax they owe can be calculated.
- Secured adjournment debates on deep water drilling and…
- … drugs policy reform.
- … the Sustainable Communities Act, resulting in an immediate Government announcement about the next stage of the process, including new participation from community groups and local authorities.
- Achieved a very high media profile by getting reported in …the local rag, the Evening Anus, on the issues of the Lewes Road grant, air quality, rail fare rises, the proposed badger cull, benefits for disabled people, the AV referendum, student protests, the impact on families of cuts to housing benefit and cuts to Sussex Police. The paper also ran a letter on drugs policy and on alcohol from her. She has also been reported in…
- … the Brighton based Latest magazine.
- … a faith programme on BBC Sussex.
- … the BBC Politics Show South East.
- … Sussex Life.
- … Juice Radio.
- … So Brighton and Hove.
- … The Daily Mirror, regarding her my decision not to cross a picket line during the public sector strike.
- … the Daily Telegraph, highlighting her work on tax evasion and avoidance and the New Home Front climate change campaign. It also ran an article from her on the green economy as part of its Age of Energy series.
- … the Guardian, with coverage including being quoted in articles about cuts to quangos, fracking and a public interest campaign organised by Compass, a head to head piece with George Monbiot about nuclear power after Fukushima, and pieces about solar energy and air quality.
- … The Observer carried a piece quoting her on population,
- … the Independent, which published one of her letters about illegal logging.
- She writes a regular blog for Guardian Environment and contributes to Comment is Free, which included a piece from her about the riots.
- She also been interviewed for New Review by the Independent on Sunday.
- She was interviewed by the Huffington Post as part of its UK launch.
- Appeared on Radio 4’s Great Lives.
- Appeared on Decision Time.
- Been interviewed by ITV Meridian’s Last Word and…
- … BBC Radio 5 Live.
- … Woman’s Hour.
- … the Daily Politics Show.
- … Gaydar amongst others.
- Appeared twice on BBC’s Question Time
- Appeared on Radio 4’s Any Questions?
- Appeared on Channel 4’s 10 o’clock Live.
All of this is on top of being a very active Leader of the Green Party, which sees her attending every conceivable meeting of the Party that she can. Let me be clear, we Greens expect our representatives to work this hard. We have 130 councillors and two Members of the European Parliament. We expect them all to work this hard. We deserve this level of commitment from our public servants.
