Comments on: Opinion: What does the Green Alliance want the Lib Dems to do?

By: Jock Macdonald

Jock Macdonald — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 13:53:50 +0000

I shall be voting for Caroline Lucas. Our MEPs put green issues far too low. Sarah Bowles’ recent glossy puts something right at the end, but the less important stuff fills her pages. Martin Tod, our PPC in Winchester, is sound, but ever since Chris Huhne stopped being our Environment spokesman, we seem to have been saying nothing.

We are losing the plot on something that is going to be even more important in 2009/2010

By: Mouse

Mouse — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:37:58 +0000

I heard the Green Alliance comments reported on Radio 4. I couldn’t think of any green policies the Lib Dems had dropped, rather Nick Clegg had just announced the appollo moon landing for renewable energy.

It seems a typical self perpetuating “pressure group” not wishing to dirty it’s hands with politics and therefore being “fair” by criticising “everyone”.

Overall, not very helpful to advancing green policies.

By: David Evans

David Evans — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:24:37 +0000

So their conclusions are
a) Labour is rubbish, and so is not good enough;
b) Cameron is all image, and so is not good enough;
c) We are well ahead of the others, but we are not racing ever further ahead and so are not good enough.

Of course, it is often found to be easier to damn everyone who is trying to do something than to get stuck in and do it.

The question the Green Alliance needs to ask is “As what we believe is so vital to the future of mankind, why are we failing to take the political parties with us and how can we best get involved to take them with us in future?” Now the answer to that would be interesting.

By: Anders

Anders — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:03:07 +0000

Our profile could get even worse if (and although it is a huge if it isn’t impossible) the Greens elect an MP at the next General Election.

I can just see lazy journalists thinking that if they have a story on the environment then they have to speak to the Green MP. We won’t get a look in then.

By: Andrew Porrer

Andrew Porrer — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 07:47:07 +0000

I agree, although I’m not sure whether the fault is with the reporting or the fact the put in that weaselly cricism of us “Waning leadership” allowing the MSM to say we were all the same. The report also “applauded” us for being “brave and bold”.

I’ve blogged about it also:
http://libcync.blogspot.com/2008/09/green-report-critisises-parties-equally.html

By: Geoffrey Payne

Geoffrey Payne — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 07:47:00 +0000

I don’t think the Green party has much influence here. They are not even in the report.

By: Mark Wright

Mark Wright — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 22:07:14 +0000

Increasingly populated by Green Party members, perhaps?

By: Cheltenham Robin

Cheltenham Robin — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:26:39 +0000

Can I suggest we use this quote in our literature:

Although David Cameron made the environment a “defining issue” in his first 18 months as Tory leader, the groups say his party’s approach has been “strong on presentation and weak on substance”

By: Geoffrey Payne

Geoffrey Payne — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:53:45 +0000

Come to think of it, I think that the Green Alliance have had a low profile over the past year…

By: James Graham

James Graham — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:43:01 +0000

It is also notable that despite the fact that the Woodland Trust, WWF, Friends of the Earth and CPRE are all signed up to the Sustainable Communities Act, this report makes no mention of it. Given that every local authority in the country will be invited to participate in this initiative this autumn, one would have thought this would be an ideal opportunity to encourage politicians to do something positive!

By: James Graham

James Graham — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:37:30 +0000

There is a real issue here. Environmental pressure groups have a bad habit of turning the perfect into the enemy of the good. This year in particular, their criticisms are nonsensical. It amounts to saying that Lib Dem policy on the environment is good, but because there isn’t any new policy (except for all the new policy there is), they deserve to be spanked. WTF?!

If I were a senior party official of whatever hue, the message I would have picked up from today’s report is this: “It doesn’t matter how good our policies are on the environment, the environmental lobby won’t give us any credit. Therefore, we might as well not try.”

For a group of organisations lecturing others on responsibilities, that is almost criminally negligent.

By: Steve Webb

Steve Webb — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 18:36:35 +0000

Quite agree with this Geoff. One of the problems with the report is that it gives very little weight to what the Lords and Commons teams have been doing on legislation this year, especially re energy bill and climate change bill. If the Commons accepts my 80% cuts by 2050 amendment next month, the real impact on the environment could be greater than a truckload of policy papers, speeches and motions!