DAI VERDI INGLESI A UNA NOSTRA ISCRITTA

August Bi-Monthly E-Newsletter Please see notices below Hello Marta I’m honoured to be able to send out my first Green Party bulletin as Green MEP for the South West! Firstly I would like to extend my thanks for all of your support and campaigning on my behalf. I will strive to do justice to your faith in me and your wonderful support for my campaign. The party has now reached 18,000 members and with hundreds more joining each week we are growing fast.  In these times of enforced austerity, thanks to the Coalition Government, more people are realising that we are a real alternative.  We continue to campaign hard on issues we feel are important and mobilise for the General Election 2015. Furthermore, I am so proud to say that we continue to challenge the government on its military co-operation with Israel. Caroline Lucas has written to Prime Minister, David Cameron, and Foreign Secretary, Philip Hammond urging the government to end UK arms sales to and from Israel. I was excited to represent our party on BBC Radio 4’s Any Questions last month and took this opportunity to draw attention to the way government policies are hurting women and to defend Trade Unions. I look forward to future similar opportunities to speak about the greens in the media. In the South West we are very excited about our potential in the general election to elect our first MP Darren Hall in Bristol West where we currently hold a 2% lead. In addition Baroness Jenny Jones brought to light Boris Johnson’s poor performance as Mayor of London in reducing carbon emissions and we have called on the international community to protect people in the deteriorating situation in the Middle East. We are also very pleased to have opposed the proposed new Universal Credit scheme. If passed the scheme will see people who lose their jobs having to wait at least five weeks for financial help. This is a huge leap from the current two weeks. The unemployed are not to blame for their situation, and the benefits system should meet the needs of those who rely on it. I encourage you to sign the petition with me promoted by the TUC to stop the five week wait here. One thing I will be doing in Europe is look at how the banking sector may be reshaped so that it operates for the common good. This comes after the announcement of below par plans to force badly-performing bankers to pay back their bonuses. The only way of removing the risk of another financial crash is to severely cut back the size of the sector and reshape it. Banking needs to be a utility that meets the needs of individuals and businesses. Our recent reportsets out the kind of reforms that we need within the banking sector. We will continue to keep you up to date with progress at the party in our bi-monthly newsletter, where we will tell you how we will go about the build up to next year’s general election. To keep in touch with the activities of Green MP Caroline Lucas please do visit her website. Thank you for your support. Molly Scott Cato Green MEP for South West England National Green Party Notices for Members VACANCIES 1. JOBS AT THE GREEN PARTY: The Green Party is recruiting for a full-time Community Organiser, part-time Finance Officer and part-time Regional Organiser. To see more about jobs at the Green Party please click here.  CONFERENCE 1. CONFERENCE: Bookings are now open for our Autumn conference in Aston University, Birmingham (5 - 8 Sept). Click here to see more details of booking, travel and accommodation info. Also if you would like to chair and deputy chair at conference please email soc@greenparty.org.uk.   Follow Greens on Twitter: The Green Party Young Greens Wales Green Party Natalie Bennett- Party Leader Caroline Lucas- MP Molly Scott Cato- MEP Chris Luffingham- Campaigns Director