Stop the Far Right:
Vote Green in 2004
Contact Spencer Fitz-Gibbon, Green Party press office
Tel 020 7561 0282
Fax 020 7272 6653
Email press@greenparty.org.uk
1.1 Article 13 of the Treaty
of Amsterdam has established EU powers to tackle discrimination in the UK. We have a duty to tackle racism and all
Greens welcome that responsibility.
2.1 The groundbreaking EU
Racial Equality Directive provides a framework on equal treatment for all
Member States to implement by July 2003. The
Greens were instrumental in pushing it through and Dutch Green Kathalijne
Buitenweg headed Parliament’s response. The Directive covers access to
services and employment. Discrimination on the basis of race in the workplace,
and against application for loans, for example, will be illegal. Direct and
indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation will also be
illegal. The burden of proof will not
fall simply on the claimant and penalties will be tougher. The European Parliament can be an important force for anti-racism, and
all Greens elected this year will help keep it that way in the face of any
gains anywhere in Europe by the far right.
3.1 Racism takes
many forms, including economic disadvantage. For example, a large number of
temporary workers in London are from ethnic minorities, almost half of whom
work in that way because they cannot get a permanent job. Ethnic minorities are
three times more likely to be employed in temporary work than employed in
permanent work. Many are underpaid and
exploited and denied basic working rights and conditions. The UK’s Labour Government is resisting a new EU law that will ensure
agency-employed workers are guaranteed the same minimum rights as permanent
employees, including pay. They are
listening to business demands for “flexibility” and not to the thousands of
workers in conditions of poor job security, low pay, long hours, frightening
health and safety failures, bullying managers and no representation. By failing to listen to the voice of those
employed by disreputable temping agencies the Government risks maintaining an
appalling and discriminatory status quo.
The Government has only 12 inspectors for the whole industry! The
Greens are fighting in the European Parliament to make the UK Government change
its mind.
3.2 Greens fight for social inclusion. Social inclusion means giving
everyone an equal opportunity to participate in society. To participate, people
need a decent income, housing, education, environment and health. Ethnic minority groups are more likely to
work in low paid jobs, have poorer pensions, polluted environments, and be more
dependent on public transport. The
Greens seek to alleviate this situation, not only by campaigning for
environmental justice and better public transport, but also on employment and
social welfare. London Green MEP Jean Lambert has played a leading role in this
through her work on the Parliament’s Employment & Social Affairs Committee. For example, women in general receive worse
pension provision than men. As a Green, Jean believes that the battle for
decent, non means tested pensions is crucial.
This is why Jean is working with pensioners groups in her London
constituency to raise the profile of this issue in the European Parliament’s
Intergroup on Aging. For Greens, all these aspects of social inclusion link
together. Tackling poverty and
pollution, and fighting for decent pensions, must all happen in parallel.
4.1 Greens seek to work with ethnic minorities both in the UK and abroad.
Again to use the example of Green MEP Jean Lambert: in her work with
communities across London, Jean has fought for equality of treatment here and
improved human rights everywhere. Jean
has supported requests from community leaders to speak out against human rights
abuses in their country of origin, such as the case of Davinder Pal Singh
Bhuller, a Sikh on death row in India.
Jean has campaigned in the UK and in Europe for the Kurdish people’s
right to publish in their own language, and the rights of the Roma peoples to
receive international recognition and protection. No matter where people live, they should have the right to
dignity under the law – whether it is in Turkey, Tooting or Guantanamo Bay! Greens believe passionately in global
social justice and human rights.
5.1 Police forces sometimes exhibit institutionalised racism. Again to
consider London - the most ethnically diverse region in the UK Green MEP Jean
Lambert is a member of the European Parliament’s Anti-Racism Intergroup. She
has driven Parliamentary scrutiny of the high levels of deaths of black and
ethnic minority detainees in UK police custody. This Green achievement has led the EU to criticise the UK’s 2003 human
rights record.
6.1 Britain’s Green MEPs have spoken at many anti-racist events. Jean
Lambert MEP joined the Muslim Council of Britain, trade unionists and cultural
figures at the launch rally for Unite Against Facism. Caroline Lucas MEP joined
the Muslim Association of Britain to protest against France’s ban on
“conspicuous religious symbols” in schools. She told protesters that it was an
affront to civil liberties and the right to choose. In the North West, Green
Euro-candidates Cllr Vanessa Hall and Dr Spencer Fitz-Gibbon raised the profile
of this issue in Manchester, another ethnically-diverse city, and other Greens
have acted similarly elsewhere. Greens
support the right of everyone to practise their religion in an environment of
mutual respect.
7.1 The Government recognises
that migration into the UK is desirable given that there is low unemployment
and a need for workers to fill gaps in the labour market. However, despite the
fact that migrants bring money into the UK economy, (they account for 8% of the
population but contribute 10% of the GDP), they are often made to feel like
benefit ‘scroungers’. London’s Green MEP Jean Lambert is the European
Parliament’s specialist on cross-border social security coordination and has
been at the forefront of pushing for equal entitlement for non-EU workers.
7.2 The Greens have campaigned for Environmental Refugees to be given legal
status under international law. She has called upon Governments to review
the push factors for economic migration, such as climate change, and to examine
whether a proportion of economic migrants – forced from home by environmental disasters – have any home to
return to.
8.1 The Green Party’s record on defending the right to asylum is second to
none. Victims of persecution have the right under the Geneva Convention to
seek asylum in safe countries. Green MEPs have heard first hand the
difficulties faced by asylum seekers. Caroline Lucas, Green MEP for South East
England, has campaigned for the closure of the Campsfield detention centre in
Oxfordshire and has supported the cases of asylum seeker detainees held there.
On visiting the Sangatte refugee camp in Calais before its closure, London
Green MEP Jean Lambert said closing the
camp will not solve the problem. Leading Green Euro-candidate in Eastern
region, Margaret Wright, has been highly active on the issue of the Oakington
detention centre near Cambridge. And in the European Parliament recently, MEPs voted in majority for a progressive
asylum report for which a British Green MEP, Jean Lambert, was rapporteur. All this shows that there are still
politicians who wish to support principles, not populism. Even in a minority opposition, Greens
use their elected office to campaign in support of asylum seekers and refugees.
8.2 Labour’s restrictive immigration policy brings misery to many. By
making legal entry into the UK virtually impossible, the Labour government is
aiding human traffickers. Green Party MEPs have demanded changes to the UK’s
asylum law and detention policy, so that it protects those who are most
vulnerable. In February 2004, Jean Lambert MEP joined a sleep-out in Trafalgar
Square, London to draw attention to the human cost of the UK Government’s
draconian Asylum and Immigration Bill. Jenny Jones AM, one of the Green Party
Group in the London Assembly and currently deputy mayor of London, has
campaigned hard on the issue of trafficking.
8.3 Jean Lambert MEP is the
European Parliament’s rapporteur for the high-profile EU Directive setting out
definitions for refugee status. She has called for a moratorium on further
efforts to expel and repatriate asylum-seekers until the Council of Ministers
manages to agree who is entitled to stay. The Greens also want to see economic
opportunities opened up to asylum seekers. Jean was instrumental in calling on
the European Union to extend its funded training programmes to asylum seekers.
9.1 Britain’s Green MEPs have
publicly condemned extremist groups and have campaigned against the rise of the
far right across Europe and in some areas of the UK. They have challenged these
racist doctrines which have also been echoed in some sections of the media.
While Labour and the Conservatives pander to right-wing tabloid newspapers,
Jean Lambert MEP joined demonstrators outside the Daily Mail headquarters following negative representations of
asylum seekers in their newspaper. The Green Party’s media team have complained
to broadcasters about the amount of coverage given to far-right parties, which
only helps the far right to get more votes. As the spokesperson on asylum and
migration for the Green Group in the European Parliament, London’s Green MEP
Jean Lambert regularly speaks in the media on asylum issues, and has maintained
strong links with UNHCR, the Refugee Council, the Commission for Racial
Equality and Joint Council for Welfare of Immigrants. Greens proudly and publicly stand by their anti-racist principles.
9.2 The very existence of
far-right parties slashes a scar across the face of Britain's political
landscape. It sets a challenge to all
democratic and progressive people to tackle the underlying causes of the
existence of the extreme right. As politicians, we must not pander to the right. Instead we should be presenting a strong
force for the well-being of all humanity.
10.1 The Green Party has a
particular role to play in this year’s European Parliament elections, which are
fought under a regional list voting system. Most seats will go to the biggest
three parties. The Green Party is next in line, and must garner enough votes to
stay ahead of the far right parties. In these European elections, the Greens are
the barrier between the far right and the European Parliament.
10.2 The Greens are committed
to work for these anti-racist and socially-inclusive ideals. The resurgence of
the extreme right shows that there continues to be a challenge for those of us
who have worked against racism and for equal opportunities over the last few
decades, and that this challenge has to be taken up by each generation. In the elections of 2004, the Green Party
seeks the anti-racist vote on the basis of its strong track record.
Published
and promoted by Spencer Fitz-Gibbon for the Green Party, both at 1a Waterlow
Road, London N19 5NJ