Summer Jellyfish Threat

It seems that it doesn't matter whether holiday makers visit the beaches of the UK or Spain the threat of the jellyfish is there!

Jellyfish head for UK in bumper numbers

Dangerous and even deadly jellyfish are poised to enter British waters in bumper numbers this summer, scientists are warning. Bathers on UK beaches are being warned to watch out after an unusually high number of early sightings, ahead of the usual summer peak.

Blooms of jellyfish covering 62 square miles (160 sq km) – or the size of 22,167 Wembley football pitches – have already been spotted off the coast of Wales. Experts believe the number of jellyfish in UK waters has increased sharply in recent years, possibly as a result of warming seas linked to climate change, or a decline in some fish stocks which reduces competition for food.

Jasper Copping, Daily Telegraph

Spain warns of summer jellyfish invasion on Mediterranean beaches

Visitors to Spain's beaches have been warned of an influx of stinging jellyfish off the Mediterranean coast this summer. Holidaymakers are being warned to be vigilant when they take to the water and beware of the stinging menace in the shallows.

For the first time in a decade the potentially deadly Portuguese Man o' War, which are not strictly jellyfish but floating colonies of microscopic hydrozoans, has been spotted close to the beaches of the Costa del Sol. Scientists fear the creatures could spread along the coast of Spain and invade waters around the Balearic Islands after venturing away from its north Atlantic habitat and through the Strait of Gibraltar.

Fiona Govan, Daily Telegraph

European Election Results - Orihuela

I would like to thank all those residents in the municipalities of Orihuela, Torrevieja and surrounding towns who voted for the Green Party by voting for Los Verdes - Grupo Verde Europeo in the elections on the 7th June 2009.

Unfortunately Los Verdes - Grupo Verde Europeo (LV-GVE) were not succesful in getting a MEP elected. A excellent total of 87,088 votes were received on Sunday. This would have been considerably higher, if it were not for the presence of some regional Green parties joining the coalition of the Europa de los Pueblos-Verdes (EdP-V {ERPV-EV}) and wasting Los Verdes votes by campaigning for it.

I hope the Green Party throughout Spain learns from this damaging lack of unity in these elections and gets its act together for future national elections.

Unfortunately the history of politics in Spain, and in particular the Green Party, results in the 'Old Guard' of the regional groups clinging to the protectionism of their positions, to the detriment of the Green Party as a strong and effective political force throughout the country.

The effective actions and reputations of local municipal Los Verdes parties, such as in Orihuela and Torrevieja, can so easily be diminished or negated in the minds of the electorate, by the regional separatism of the 'old world thinking' , supposedly, leaders of a modern forward looking Green Party. It is time to give way to the up and coming younger party members who are seeking for this national united Green Party.

Below are the results for the Orihuela and Torrevieja Municipalities for your information. You can see that the LV-GVE received more votes than the Edp-V coalition in both towns

Orihuela Results

Partidos	Votos	Porcentaje
PP	15789	65,64%
PSOE	6668	27,72%
UPyD	431	1,79%
EUPV-IR	234	0,97%
LV-GVE	233	0,97%
CDL	71	0,30%
AES	51	0,21%
ERPV-EV-(Edp-V)	45	0,19%

Torrevieja Results

Partidos	Votos	Porcentaje
PP	9267	53,72%
PSOE	6421	37,23%
EUPV-IR	365	2,12%
UPyD	313	1,81%
IZAN-RG	204	1,18%
LV-GVE	199	1,15%
ERPV-EV-(Edp-V)	47	0,27%

Greens make further progress in county elections

In the county elections in the UK on the 4th June the Green Party continued to make steady progress.

The party made its breakthrough onto four county councils - Cambridgeshire (1 seat), Devon (1), Gloucestershire (1) and Suffolk (2).

In Norfolk the Greens held 2 seats and gained 5.

In Lancashire the party successfully defended 1 seat and gained a second. Lancaster Greens also held a city council seat in a by-election, and continue to hold 12 seats on the city council.

Unfortunately the Greens had effectively lost 4 seats before the campaign began, due to council reorganisation and boundary changes (in Eastern and North East regions). The only unexpected loss was 3 out of the 5 Green Party seats on Oxfordshire County Council.

Greens gain most at Labour and LibDem expense

The Green Party ended the campaign with 123 councillors on 42 councils, up from 119 on 41.

Of the Green Party's gains, 7 were from Labour, 2 from the LibDems and 1 from the Conservatives. This too continues a familiar pattern.

The party's steady progress in the 2009 elections was reflected in recruitment, with an 8.5% growth in membership during the six weeks of the campaign.

Greens look forward to the general election

The single most encouraging result was in Norfolk, where the Greens won more votes than any other party not only in the Norwich South parliamentary constituency, but also throughout the Norwich City Council area. This bodes well for the target constituency of Norwich South, which will be contested by Adrian Ramsay, the Green Party's deputy leader and currently leader of the opposition on Norwich City Council.

And in Lancashire, in the Lancaster and Fleetwood target constituency the Greens outpolled everyone except the Conservatives.

World Environment Day 2009

World Environment Day (WED) was established by the UN General Assembly in 1972 to mark the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment.

Commemorated yearly on 5 June, WED is one of the principal vehicles through which the United Nations stimulates worldwide awareness of the environment and enhances political attention and action. The day's agenda is to:

1. Give a human face to environmental issues;
2. Empower people to become active agents of sustainable and equitable development;
3. Promote an understanding that communities are pivotal to changing attitudes towards environmental issues;
4. Advocate partnership which will ensure all nations and peoples enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.

The theme for WED 2009 is 'Your Planet Needs You-UNite to Combat Climate Change'. It reflects the urgency for nations to agree on a new deal at the crucial climate convention meeting in Copenhagen some 180 days later in the year, and the links with overcoming poverty and improved management of forests.

This year’s host is Mexico which reflects the growing role of the Latin American country in the fight against climate change, including its growing participation in the carbon markets.

Mexico is also a leading partner in UNEP's Billion Tree Campaign. The country, with the support of its President and people, has spearheaded the pledging and planting of some 25 per cent of the trees under the campaign. Accounting for around 1.5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, the country is demonstrating its commitment to climate change on several fronts.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon states that the WED celebration will “further underline Mexico's determination to manage natural resources and deal with the most demanding challenge of the 21st century – climate change.”

How to Vote for 'Los Verdes' on the 7th June

I have been asked by many people over the last few days how they can vote for Los Verdes (Green Party) in the European elections here in Spain as the two main parties the PP and the PSOE have been sending out voting lists and they are concerned that nothing has been received from Los Verdes.

As you may be aware in Spain each party puts forward a 'Closed Party List', for the whole of the country, of candidates for the election, made up of candidates selected from different areas of the country. The PP & the PSOE being the two biggest and riches parties in the country have the funds to spend an enormous amount of money on campaign literature. This includes sending out copies of the party lists.

The LOS VERDES - GRUPO VERDE EUROPEO campaign unfortunately does not have the same level of funds.

On the 7th June, when you vote, in the polling stations there will be election lists for every one of the parties throughout Spain that are included in the election. When you vote you select the party list of your chose, put it in a voting envelope, and this is then put in the ballot box. It is the same procedure as the local elections. (Remember to take your passport as identification with you)

If you wish to vote to elect true Los Verdes (Green Party) MEPs then select the 'LOS VERDES - GRUPO VERDE EUROPEO' list. The first name on it will be Kristien Lesage, followed by Esteban Cabal Riera and then Josep Lluís Freijo Lizan. You can see the full list at the bottom of this webpage.

Unfortunately in this election there are coalition party lists that may purport to be Los Verdes (Green Party) but are not pure green. They are nothing but a coalition between what some may consider as leftist, separatist, or nationalist parties plus some regional Los Verdes parties who have come together to try to get elected using the green banner.

One such coalition under the name of 'Europa de los Pueblos-Verdes' (Castellano) or 'Europa dels pobles - Verds (Valenciano), comprises of the parties, ERC, BNG, Aralar, Los Verdes (some of the regional groups), Eusko Alkartasuna, Chunta Aragonesista and Entesa per Mallorca.

Do not be fooled this is not a pure Los Verdes (Green Party) list. There are some Los Verdes candidates on the list, from different parts of the country, but only 6 out of a total of 50 are Los Verdes. The first Los Verdes member, Pura Peris, is only in the 4th position of candidates, after the candidates for the ERC, BNG, and Aralar parties. The remaining 5 are allocated much lower in the list.

Under the propotional representation voting system, if this coalition list was to receive sufficient votes to be included in the Spanish national allocation of MEPs, which is very doubtful, in my opinion, then the other party's candidates in positions 1 to 3, with leftist, seperatist or nationlist ambitions would be elected before Sra. Pura Peris.

Don't be fooled by their use of the word 'Verdes' or 'Verds'. They may also use the sunflower logo to tempt you.

In my opinion if you want to vote for the European Green Party policies, and you want your vote to count, and not be wasted, then choose the pure Los Verdes (Green Party) list headed 'LOS VERDES - GRUPO VERDE EUROPEO'. on the 7th June 2009.

Buoyant Greens launch last big push

Green Party campaigners will be be pulling out all the stops this week, encouraged by the, 31st May 2009, Sunday Telegraph/ICM poll which puts the Greens on 11% - ahead of UKIP nationally for the first time this campaign.

With 11%, the Greens would expect to return two or three new MEPs, as well as holding their existing seats in London and the South East.

In the county elections, the Greens remain confident of gains in Norfolk and Lancashire, capitalising on the strength of city council Green groups in Norwich and Lancaster. But in the South West, Devon Greens may be about to bring off a surprise result, a party spokesperson said today.

A poll published in the Daily Express two weeks ago, commissioned by UKIP and conducted by ComRes, put the Greens on 16% in the South East (including Eastern region) - in third place ahead of both UKIP and the LibDems - but the Sunday Telegraph/ICM poll is the first of this campaign to put the Greens ahead of UKIP nationally.

Green politicians are "least likely to put self-interest before country" - new poll

A YouGov poll published on the 28th May 2009 suggests the British public trusts Green politicians far more than those of other parties.

Over 2,000 people were asked - regardless of the party they normally voted for - which party's politicians they thought were most likely to put their own financial interests before the interests of their country. Allowed to choose three parties, only 5% named the Greens as likely to put self-interest before the country's.

The survey also shows:

• Labour appeared to be the least trusted, with 45% of respondents naming Labour politicians as likely to put financial self-interest before their country.
• The Conservatives were almost as bad, with 40% naming them.
• Next were the BNP, the LibDems and UKIP on 20%, 16% and 15% respectively.

Read the full report here.

Green Party MEPs rated best for animal rights voting record

In an analysis done by Protecting Animals in Democracy, the Green Party scored joint best amongst UK MEPs on animal rights.

Both Caroline Lucas (Green MEP for the South East) and Jean Lambert (Green MEP for London) received a score of +15 (only matched by Plaid Cymru's Jill Evans).

The analysis was based on recent votes on a new EU law on animal experiments. The votes took place recently (on 5 May 2009), and there were 15 votes taken into account for the analysis.

The Conservative Party scored the worst, with a score of -13.07.

UKIP was 2nd worst amongst political parties from England and Wales, at +1.38.

Labour MEPs scored +7.95, whilst Liberal Democrat MEPs averaged to +3.55.

The analysis cites Caroline Lucas as having "been especially active for animals and helps to table pro-animal laws. The Green group is now an influential force in the European Parliament, and UK Greens can rally their colleagues to help make a major difference for animals."

It also notes that the Euro-manifestos for Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives do not mention animal protection as an issue at all.

You can read the Green Party's full policy on animal protection here,

Green leader comes top in Open Europe's "premier league" MEP poll

Caroline Lucas MEP, leader of the Green Party, has been rated best British MEP on transparency, accountability, democracy and waste by campaign group Open Europe.

And Britain's Green Party MEPs were ranked above the groups of all other British parties.

Open Europe published a ranking of all 785 Members of the European Parliament, scoring their record on promoting transparency and reform in the European Union over the last five-year term.

Green Party News - 1 Million New Jobs

The Green Party wants to create 1 million new jobs renewable energy, home insulation, local agriculture and public transport.

If you're voting in the European Elections in the UK vote Green on the 4th of June.