On with the news!
Election: the Wales Green Party has launched its manifesto for the general election, aiming to help Wales stand tall again. Party leader Anthony Slaughter said: “If we want to bring our public services back from the brink, we need investment. And after years of soaring inequality, that money has to come from the richest individuals and companies.”
Election: BBC Radio 4’s Hits the Fan took a look at how the parties are presenting their cases to the public, particularly in the televised leader debates, and concluded: “Carla Denyer is the great surprise of this election” (to them!). They added: “Just listen to that brilliant cadence, clarity, strength of voice. I think Carla Denyer seized her moment in the two TV debates, which is exactly what she had to do. Pollsters say they might get 2 million votes for the first time ever in this election, that's a big number.”
Dodgy: a second Conservative candidate - Laura Saunders in Bristol North West - is being looked into by the Gambling Commission over a bet relating to the timing of the general election, the BBC says. And now many more people than the leading Tories already identified are being investigated by the gambling regulator in relation to bets on the date of the General Election. The Gambling Commission has widened its inquiries to investigate whether people with inside knowledge may have asked a third party to place a bet for them.
Energy/environment: most people in the world’s biggest fossil fuel producing countries want their countries to transition quickly to clean energy to fight the climate crisis, according to the largest ever climate opinion poll, conducted by the UN.
Palestine/Israel: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said Israel appears to have “consistently violated” the requirement to use methods which avoid or minimize harms to civilians in its war against Hamas.
Election: co-leader Adrian Ramsay’s interview with Sophy Ridge aired on Sky News. Adrian said: “Labour's on track to get a big majority in the next parliament, but if Keir Starmer has such a huge majority that he can continue to make U-turns - as he already has on climate, on funding for public services - he won't have anyone to hold him to account. If we have a strong group of Green MP’s in there - if people vote with their hearts - we can push Labour to be bolder on the big issues of our time, whether that's on climate or whether that's on funding for the NHS.” Watch the whole interview on You Tube.
Manifestos: the BBC has launched a guide to where parties stand on a range of issues. So you can see just how great the Green Party’s policies are compared to others!
Election: the Conservatives’ former net zero tsar, Chris Skidmore, has revealed that he intends to vote Labour for the first time because Rishi Sunak has been “siding with climate deniers” to politicise the energy transition. Other parties with even better climate policies are available, Chris...
Environment: the Supreme Court has ruled a local council should have considered the full climate impact of burning oil from new wells, in a landmark decision which could put future UK oil and gas projects in question. The case brought against Surrey County Council by Sarah Finch (a Green Party member), on behalf of campaigners could threaten new UK fossil fuels projects.
Environment/election: the Green Party has the top ranked policies for dealing with the environmental crises, a coalition of groups has declared. Co-leader Carla Denyer said: “If you want green, then you need to vote Green." Read our full press release here.
War: “The US Is Preparing For WWIII While Expanding Draft Registration”
Environment: the Vote Climate website has done a deep dive into party pledges and found the Greens the "come out streets ahead" on reducing climate emissions.
Week in Review by Alice Rothchild, MD
Wildlife: thousands of people marched through central London to urge political leaders to take more decisive action in tackling the UK’s wildlife crisis.
Environment/water: a huge citizen testing blitz of rivers across Britain this summer has found 75% are in poor ecological health as a result of pollution from water companies and agricultural runoff.
War: “Genocide is My Red Line”
Environment/water: water companies in England and Wales have averaged five serious sewage spills into rivers or seas every day over the past decade, the Observer revealed.
US Military/global finance: “De-dollarisation could spell the end of the military industrial complex”
Promoted by Harriet King on behalf of the Green Party both at The Gate, Keppoch Street, Cardiff CF24 3JW.