2. See www.greenparty.org.uk/elections/councilresults09.html

3. See www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2009-6-26-norwich-north-poll.html, citing an ICM poll for the University and College Union.

The government should go further. Under cross-default clauses, the Transport secretary, Lord Adonis, could strip National Express of all its contracts, now that the group has handed back one franchise.

The Green Party remains the only major party in Britain to call for the full re-nationalisation of the railways.

Rupert Read, candidate for Norwich North and Green Party spokesperson on public services, said:

"Train privatisation, from the beginning, was a very flawed model. We can't keep socialising private companies' losses and privatising their profits. We need a national train network under direct public control and with full public accountability."

"National Express must pay back whatever monies are outstanding from their rail franchise of the East Coast Main Line - it would be quite wrong for National Express to continue to profit on some lines, while the taxpayer has to foot the bill on others. To use the government's own rhetoric, this should be a zero-tolerance issue."

Sir Richard Branson, co-owner of the Virgin west coast franchise, has expressed an interest in bidding for the east coast franchise if it became available.

Read responded to this by saying: "Virgin would then have control of England-Scotland services, as well as London to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Doncaster. The entire idea of privatisation was to inject competition, and this would be substituting a public monopoly for a private monopoly. That cannot be allowed to happen, and as a Green MP for Norwich North, I would be absolutely steadfast in resisting it."

--

Notes for Editors:

Rupert Read is the Green Party candidate in the Norwich North parliamentary byelection, and can be reached for further comment on 01603 219294 / 07946 459066.

Dr Lucas said: "It's simply unacceptable to remove a president at gunpoint, and I want to see the UK and the EU make this absolutely clear.

"Gordon Brown needs to take appropriate action. He might consider withdrawing the British ambassador.

"It would also be appropriate for the EU to cancel next week's planned trade negotiations with the Honduran authorities." (1)

Business as usual, despite the coup?

EU "association agreements" with other countries contain democracy clauses that represent a condition for the EU's trade dealings with the country in question. Where a country is suddenly being ruled by an unelected president following a coup d'état, there are clear grounds for refusing an association agreement, said the Green Party leader.

Dr Lucas continued: "For Gordon Brown to do nothing would send entirely the wrong message. For the EU to attend trade talks as though nothing had happened would be even worse."

She concluded: "Removing an elected leader at gunpoint and expelling him from his country without trial is completely unacceptable, and the international community must make this clear to the temporary, illegal government of Honduras."

Note to editor:

(1) Association agreement negotiations, with a strong focus on trade issues, are due to take place with six Central American countries, including Honduras, 6-10 July 2009 in Brussels.

In the 2009 European elections, the Green Party secured more votes than any other party in the Norwich City Council area, gaining 25% of the vote. Local councillor and university teacher Dr Rupert Read, who narrowly missed election to the European Parliament this month, has been selected as the party's candidate for Norwich North.

Rupert Read said today:

“After the gloom of the economic downturn and the scandal surrounding MPs expenses, which has sullied all three main parties, the Greens are offering a fresh new approach.

“For the first time ever, the national spotlight will be on the Green Party in a byelection campaign and our prospects are being taken extremely seriously. The big three parties have everything to lose. The Green Party has everything to gain.”

Caroline Lucas' schedule for the day includes a visit to an NHS walk-in centre threatened with closure.

Caroline Lucas' itinerary

1145: Caroline Lucas visits the NHS walk-in health centre at Dussindale. More than five and a half thousand patients and medical staff have petitioned against plans by the Primary Care Trust for Norfolk to close this popular centre.The PCT intends to provide instead a polyclinic, probably in a city centre location, offering GP services and some hospital treatments. Rupert Read says: "Polyclinics are a Trojan horse for privatisation of the NHS. Only the Green Party stands firm against such privatisation and that's one reason why we are standing up for the Dussindale walk-in centre, which works brilliantly, just as it is."

1215: Caroline Lucas joins Green Party activists canvassing in Primrose Crescent, a short walk from the health centre.

1345: Dr Lucas spends a few minutes relaxing and meeting people at Thorpe River Green.

1415: Meeting at the junction of Aylsham Road and Patteson Road, Dr Lucas joins canvassers in Mile Cross ward, a traditionally Labour area seized by the Green Party in the June 4th county council elections, to the surprise of other parties. The Greens moved from fourth to first place in Mile Cross in the space of a year. This sets an encouraging precedent, as the Green Party came fourth in Norwich North at the last general election.

Notes

1. Norwich Green Party has 13 of Norwich's city councillors. This is more than the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats combined. (Labour has 15 seats, the LibDems 6 and the Conservatives 5). Norwich Green Party also holds 7 seats on Norfolk County Council, which increased by 5 seats in this year's county elections.

2. In the 2009 European election, the Green Party secured more votes than any other party in the Norwich City Council area, gaining 25%.

3. Norwich City Council Green Party group leader, Councillor Adrian Ramsay, is the deputy leader of the Green Party of England & Wales. He hopes to win Norwich South in the coming general election, a constituency where the Greens already hold a majority of the council seats and outpolled all comers in the last city council elections.

According to media reports (1), a new document to be published this Wednesday (1 July) by the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) will argue that the government is "winning a few battles but losing the war" on matters like climate change.

Sir Jonathan Porritt, outgoing chair of the SDC, yesterday issued a powerful parting salvo against the government in the pages of the Independent on Sunday (2). Sir Jonathan said: "We have a terrible record of leading the world on rhetoric and then failing to deliver in our own backyard, and that's particularly true on climate change."

Responding today, Green Party leader Caroline Lucas MEP said the SDC's remarks were entirely justifiable:

"Tony Blair came to power promising the first ever green government, but it took him four years even to make a major speech about sustainability. By that time he was forging ahead with a £30 billion roadbuilding programme and encouraging airport expansions everywhere. One of his flagship green policies was a plan for 3,000 solar roofs within three years, at a time when Germany was aiming for a million and delivering thousands every month.

"Movement on the sustainability agenda has always been hindered by Labour's business-as-usual mentality. A lot of problems could be solved if only the government would accept responsibility for making sure things happen that urgently need to happen, instead of using market forces as an excuse for the failure of policy. For instance, we still produce little more offshore wind energy than Denmark, a country one-tenth of our size, and England's only wind turbine factory has just announced its closure. Labour is talking big and acting small, as always."

"Labour doesn't get it"

The Green Party leader, who hopes to win the Greens' first Westminster seat in the coming general election (3), said the Labour government had never understood the need to green the economy - nor the potential benefits of doing so. She said:

"Labour simply doesn't get it. Gordon Brown launched a so-called green stimulus package, but as the New Economics Foundation quickly pointed out it was in fact only 0.6 per cent actual new green investment. It was supposed to tackle the recession, but it included nuclear and so-called "clean coal," neither of which will deliver jobs in time to help deal with the recession. Green policies for renewables would start delivering large numbers of jobs immediately and in the long run would create far more jobs per megawatt than either nuclear or coal."

Seven years ago ago the Green Party published a critique of Labour's eco-policies titled Far More Spin Than Substance - and the Greens would say this still sums up Labour's eco-policy (4).

It's not just eco-policy but social and economic policy too...

The Greens believe Britain needs MPs at Westminster, partly to deliver the strong critique of the government's sustainability policy from within the House of Commons - but also because Labour no longer represents a progressive option. Dr Lucas said today:

"Labour has always lagged behind both the climate science and the Green Party's policies for tackling climate change. Significantly, the Green Party is also proposing far more job-creation through our million-jobs manifesto than Labour is through all of their proposals. While Labour has failed to get its head round sustainability, it has also lost its original principles about a fairer economy. Anything that used to be radical and progressive about the Labour Party can be found at the core of Green Party policy, while Labour is still way behind the Green Party on modernising the economy for a sustainable future."

She concluded: "The raison d'etre that Labour used to have now belongs to the Green Party."

Notes

1. See http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/britains-green-shame-1722451.html.

2. See http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/jonathon-porritt-economic-growth-at-all-costs-is-just-not-sustainable-1722450.html.

3. Brighton Pavilion, where the Greens already hold a majority of city council seats and have outpolled all other parties in the constituency in recent local and European elections.

4. 1st edition September 2002: http://www.greenparty.org.uk/files/reports/2004/Labour%20record%201.htm. 2nd edition Feb 2003: http://www.greenparty.org.uk/files/reports/2003/Far%20More%20Spin%202.htm.

The poll shows the Conservatives ahead on 34%. Labour have fallen to second place, and their support has plummeted FIFTEEN points to 30%. Meanwhile the LibDems are worrying on 15%.

But the poll suggests the Green Party's support has shot up to 14%, putting the Greens hot on the heels of the Liberal Democrats. In UK-wide polls relating to parliamentary elections in the last year, the Greens have more commonly been on around 3% - and the previous record was 8%.

The by-election is being fought for the Greens by Dr Rupert Read, a Norwich city councillor and local university lecturer, who narrowly missed election as an MEP in the recent European elections.

College poll shows popularity of Green Party higher education policies

The poll, which was conducted by ICM and commissioned by the University and College Union, also questioned respondents about their attitudes to education - and Green Party policy proved popular.

Nearly three-quarters of adults (73%) agreed that giving young people affordable access to local education and training would reduce crime and anti-social behaviour - a view shared by the Green Party.

Over four-fifths (82%) of adults in the Norwich North constituency agreed that every local person who met entry standards should be entitled to a free place at a local college or university. Green candidate Rupert Read, who teaches at the University of East Anglia, said he would do everything in his power as an MP to help bring this about.

Rupert Read said today: "This poll is very encouraging for the Green Party.

"In the Norwich North by-election, the big three parties have everything to lose. The Green Party has everything to gain."

Note

The poll was commissioned by the University and College Union and carried out by leading pollsters ICM. It surveyed a random sample of 504 adults aged 18+ by telephone on 19-21 June 2009. More detailed results can be found at: http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=3987.

One report (1) says that while the UK is now "the largest global market for offshore wind" there has been "a sharp increase in capital costs" which mean "economic viability [is] now a major barrier to deployment of offshore wind projects" around Britain's coasts.

The second report (2) identifies a catalogue of problems holding back the UK's progress in developing offshore windpower:

• Planning delays
• Developer resource limits
• Waiting for transmission grid upgrades
• Weak economics
• Construction delays
• Shortage of wind turbines
• Grid access and limitations
• Reaching financial hurdle rates
• Availability of capital
• Cumbersome and unproven OFTO regime
• Consenting compromises on site area and capacity.

Development "being held back by market dogma and lack of government support"

The report warns that: "Although offshore wind will be a much more substantial market in the next 5 years than it was in the past 5 years, the absolute level of annual installation will remain inadequate to bring the industry to maturity (in terms of contractor competition) and provides limited potential for inward investment in UK facilities."

A Green Party spokesperson commented today: "It's appalling that the UK government would allow the situation to be so shockingly bad. According to the UN, climate change is already killing 300,000 people a year and rising (3). The wind industry is one of the main tools for tackling climate change, and Britain is supposedly a major player."

Barriers to progress that Green Party policies could easily remove

The BWEA says that one of the problems facing the offshore wind industry is competition from the onshore wind industry for common components (4). The Greens argue that government incentives and direct investment would ensure production facilities were adequate to supply both.

The BWEA also points to the problem caused by the collapse in the value of sterling (5). The Greens say this underlines the need for the UK to become far more self-reliant in manufacturing wind turbines for the British market. The Greens have recently blamed lack of government action for the closure of England's only wind turbine factory.

Progress is "at the mercy of market forces"

The BWEA says: "The offshore wind business remains at the mercy of the economic climate, the value of sterling and the pressure put upon it by onshore wind demand." (1)

But the Greens say the industry's problems could be solved "if only the government would accept responsibility for making sure things happen that urgently need to happen, instead of using market forces as an excuse for the failure of policy."

Industry consultation shows need for greater scale to cut costs

The BWEA's new reports were based on a wide consultation within the industry. "There was wide acknowledgement that capital cost reduction was needed for a healthy longterm industry," the BWEA said. But investor confidence remains too low to allow the industry to reach its potential (6).

Lack of government investment, say the Greens, has resulted in a situation where action is needed urgently - but even action taken now would not deliver immediate results: " ... even if effective action is taken by Government and industry now, the benefits are not likely to have a deflationary impact on capital costs until 4-6 years from now due to the substantial lead time required to establish new facilities."

The way forward - greater investment by a Green government would mean lower costs for the industry

However, says the BWEA, action taken to increase supply chain confidence will result in reduced costs in the industry from 5 years from now: "Supply chain confidence is seen as a key factor in future costs and one which can be influenced by policy-makers and developers. In an otherwise neutral environment, projections show that good progress on this front will see capital costs reduced by 15-20% in 5 years time and on a strongly-reducing trajectory."

The Green Party will fight the coming general election partly on a promise of bringing massive investment into the wind energy sector through a combination of incentives and direct funding, to make the UK the world leader in wind energy and create literally hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Notes for Editors:

1. UK Offshore Wind: Charting the Right Course. Scenarios for offshore capital costs for the next five years, BWEA, 24 June 2009.
2. UK Offshore Wind: Staying On Track. Forecasting offshire wind build for the next five years, BWEA, 24 June 2009.
3. See: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/may/29/1
4. Charting the Right Course says: "A review of the historical offshore wind capital costs reveals several important influences that have been an upward spiralling trend from around 2005, which followed a period of relative stability from 2000 to 2004. Most important amongst these are those factors that have served to reduce supply chain competition, namely, the ongoing withdrawal of key contractors and products in combination with increasing demand pressure from industries competing for common supply capacity, in particular onshore wind. To reverse the upward capital cost trend in the long-term, a reversal in supply chain trends is important."
5. Charting the Right Course says: "More recently, currency and commodity markets have played an important role. Over 80% of UK offshore wind project capital value is imported, so the devaluation of sterling since 2007 has forced prices sharply up." ... "...since mid-2007 the precipitous decline in the value of sterling against the euro has had a direct impact on capital costs for UK projects, in the order of 15-20%."
6. Charting the Right Course says: "The offshore wind supply chain is maturing slowly and the extent to which confidence can develop or be accelerated has a substantial impact on overall capital costs with a 5-year horizon, or more importantly, the trajectory which capital costs will be following by 2015. If sufficient confidence is instilled for incumbent and new-entrant suppliers and contractors, a dedicated supply chain could be created for offshore wind for the first time."

The Health Secretary was instrumental in proposing the inclusion of compulsory water fluoridation in the Government's 2003 Water Act. He resigned from this position in recent weeks, but Dr Lucas MEP today joined with UK Councils Against Fluoridation (UKCAF) to question why Mr Burnham's links with the Society were not included in his register of interests, despite strict Parliament regulations stating such interests must be declared.

Dr Lucas MEP said: "It is of great concern that the Health Secretary was able to closely align himself with a body whose sole business it is to promote water fluoridation, at the same time that he was due to make key decisions about the future of the UK's water supply. Parliament's regulations on MPs' interests are supposed to prevent alliances which can fundamentally inform policy - but clearly they are not fit for purpose."

Earlier this year, the Green MEP warned that the region's health authorities were setting a "reckless precedent" for future fluoridation schemes in the South East with their decision to press ahead with fluoridation plans in Southampton.

Although 72% of people in Southampton voted against fluoridation in a poll conducted by the Strategic Health Authority, the SHA is pressing ahead with the scheme. A legal case regarding the highly criticised consultation process has been announced and legal aid has been obtained by the person bringing the case against South Central SHA.

Dr Lucas MEP commented: "The ill-advised decision to implement water fluoridation in Southampton demonstrates contempt for the views of many local people - and for the evidence against fluoridation itself.

"Water fluoridation has simply not been proven to be effective for teeth, and some studies have indicated links between fluoridation and serious ill health effects, including thyroid problems, skeletal fluorosis, bone cancers and mental problems.

"The scheme in Southampton amounts to a mass medication of the population. I have made a formal complaint to the European Commission regarding the failure of the UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) to properly classify hexafluorosilic acid, used in fluoridation of drinking water under the UK Water Act 2003, as a medicinal product. The correct classification would likely mean the UK's water fluoridation schemes would contravene EU law.

"In place of mass fluoridation, the UK Government could be improving the health of our teeth through targeted schemes such as providing free toothpaste for poor families. This decision in Southampton sets a reckless precedent for future fluoridation plans in the South East, and we must be vigilant of further attempts to affect our water in this way."

ENDS

Notes to Editors

For more information on UK Councils Against Fluoridation, visit www.ukcaf.org 

Lucas said: "The election of a new Speaker must not distract us from the urgent need for sweeping electoral reform to make British democracy more representative of the diversity of British people and their opinions."

Voting for the new Speaker of the House of Commons begins at 230pm today, by secret ballot. Many of the leading candidates for Speaker are as implicated as anyone in the expenses scandal.

For example:

- Margaret Beckett submitted 121 gardening bills totalling £10,969 for her cottage in Derbyshire. (1)

- Sir Alan Beith claimed £117,000 in second home allowances, while his wife claimed £60,000 in House of Lords expenses for staying at the same address. (2)

- John Bercow claimed a total of £143,455 in second home allowances between 2001 and 2008. (3)

- Parmjit Dhanda voted, in 2007, for a Private Member's Bill that would have kept details of MPs' expenses secret. (4)

- Sir Alan Haselhurst was paid £104,050 a year as Deputy Speaker, yet charged the taxpayer over £14,000, from 2004 to 2009, to maintain his garden at his farmhouse in Essex (5)

Caroline Lucas concluded by saying that: "Any person elected today will be an insider to the political system. We need an independent commission to establish new rules for MPs housing and expenses, not politicians creating new rules to govern themselves."

==

Notes to Editors:

1) http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2493079/Margaret-Beckett-is-favourite-to-land-Commons-Speaker-job.html

2) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5364659/MPs-expenses-would-be-Speaker-Sir-Alan-Beith-and-his-wife-claimed-177000.html

3) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5364847/MPs-expenses-John-Bercow-claims-maximum-allowance-for-540000-flat.html

4) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5589236/MPs-expenses-Parmjit-Dhanda-repeatedly-claimed-wrong-mortgage-payments.html

5) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5587385/MPs-expenses-Sir-Alan-Haselhurst-in-angry-exchanges-with-fees-office.html

Peter, a Scotsman who lives in Merseyside with his partner and young baby, said he was "gutted" that he hadn't managed to stop Nick Griffin. He said: "We were less than five thousand votes behind, out of a North West electorate of five million."

Greens already planning campaign against neo-Nazis

He added: "But we have an even greater motivation now than we did before the election. We need to make sure we take that seat off Nick Griffin in 2014 - and we've started planning our campaign already, because it will be a long haul."

"During the next five years we need to make sure the fascists don't make progress in North West England. We need to take them on at every opportunity. We need to fight hard."

"We will not let the BNP undo all the progress Britain has made towards being a more enlightened society. We need to eradicate racism once and for all."

Green Party needs more members and candidates from ethnic minorities

And he called for more people of all racial backgrounds to join the Green Party. Peter said:

"The Green Party is a party that genuinely celebrates cultural diversity. We believe Britain is stronger and better for it. But we don't have as high a proportion of members from ethnic minorities as we would like."

"So we appeal to every member of Britain's ethnic minorities to please think about joining the Green Party. We stand for social justice, a fair economic system, and environmental sustainability. If you believe in those things too, then join us, become part of us, and let's make this country a better place in every sense."

==

Notes for Editors:

Peter Cranie and other leading Greens are available for interview (Green Party press office - 020 7561 0282)

A hi-res photograph of Peter Cranie can be downloaded from: www.greenparty.org.uk/people/peter-cranie

"We are delighted that the Liberal Democrats have made this decision, and we call on the government and the Conservative Party to follow.

"The LibDems have come a long way since they supported the original Trident, and Nick Clegg is to be congratulated for winning the argument within his party.

The Liberal Democrats have been prevaricating over Trident for some time. As recently as September 2008 the LibDems were talking about "A major reduction of [the UK's] nuclear arsenal by approximately 50%, retaining no more than 100 warheads, with each Trident submarine carrying no more than 24 warheads when on deterrence patrol," and "Announcing its willingness to renounce the Trident system and any successor by agreement at the 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty review." (1)

And as recently as 30 March 2009, Lord Lee of Trafford, Liberal Democrat defence spokesperson, said that "the Trident nuclear system should be continued and maintained, and its operational life extended. The final decision of any successor system should be taken around 2014 when significant capital spend would begin to be incurred." (2).

Adrian Ramsay, offering the Green Party's congratulations to the Liberal Democrats, concluded:

"The Trident missile system was redundant before it was introduced, and it has wasted tens of billions of pounds that could have been much better spent. But it's a case of much better late than never. Now we very much hope that Labour and the Conservatives will follow the lead taken by the Greens and the Liberal Democrats."

Notes

1. Security and Liberty in a Globalised World: Liberal Democrat Policy Paper 86, ISBN: 978-1-85187-786-7 © June 2008, which can be found at:

Security and Liberty in a Globalised World.

2. This was found at http://www.libdems.org.uk/home/lib-dems-call-for-swift-action-on-nuclear-proliferation-215815113 ;show, but appears to have been removed from the LibDem website.

Jenny Jones, a London Assembly member and former deputy mayor of London, says in today's online Guardian (1):

"That the party which blazed new trails and pioneered joined-up thinking was caricatured as single-issue was against all logic, and against all the evidence. In fact it's one of the biggest ironies of modern British politics."

Now, she says, the media needs to present the full picture of the Green option facing the voters - because there are social and economic policies which only the Green Party is now offering, and which the public want to hear about.

In her comment piece, Ms Jones, who will contest the general election for Camberwell and Peckham against Harriet Harman, adds:

"Most of the time, most of the people get most of their information about politics from the mass media. It's a relief to see that the media has recently been giving more attention, for instance, to the Green Party's economic policies. Indeed, one highly respected journalist in the Daily Telegraph last week congratulated the Green Party for being ahead of the economic curve with its Green New Deal (2)."

But, she added, the myth of the "one-issue Greens" has reappeared in the media even in the last few days.

Voters deserve to hear about the options - not just about three "increasingly similar and equally unappealing" parties

Jenny Jones said today: "Good democracy is based on good information. The voters deserve to be told about the options open to them in an election - not just about the increasingly similar policies of the biggest three parties.

"When the media gives 99 per cent of the coverage to just three parties, it's no wonder those parties win most of the seats. And when those parties are widely seen as equally unappealing, because they all have basically the same policies, it's no wonder so many people don't bother to vote."

She concluded: "The media could do British democracy a massive service. Let the voters see there is a very distinctive option in the form of the Green Party. The Greens are offering policies on transport and the NHS and the Royal Mail and job-creation that we know are popular - and it's not good for democracy that these policies are drowned out by over-reporting of Labour and the Tories."

--

Notes

1. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/16/green-party-policies

2. "These green shoots mean business," Geoffrey Lean, Daily Telegraph, 12th June 2009, in which he said: " ... the Greens' pitch is plausible, so much so that decidedly brown Governments around the world have endorsed similar programmes of their own" - although Gordon Brown has "paid little more than loud lipservice to it." See: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/5516785/These-green-shoots-mean-business.html.

"Anything that brings Israelis and Palestinians closer to a permanent peaceful settlement must be applauded.

"However, I can understand why Palestinians would be very unhappy with Mr Netanyahu's preconditions. For a new state to have no control of its borders or its airspace would simply not be fair. To recognise a state on condition that it has no armed forces and is not allowed to make defensive military alliances is not really recognising its sovereignty."

Dr Lucas added: "The Green Party obviously recognises Israel's need for security. We unequivocally condemn all acts of terrorism against Israelis. We vehemently oppose anti-semitism."

"And by exactly the same reasoning, we cannot support the idea that a government with a track record of illegal aggression and illegal occupation should be allowed to impose conditions like these on its neighbour."

She added: "We note that Benjamin Netanyahu continues to support the building of homes and infrastructure in territories that do not belong to Israel. We must therefore question his sincerity."

"A peaceful future for Israelis and Palestinians must be built on the basis of mutual respect and equality between nations. You can't have a normal, respectful relationship between two states where one of them insists on the right to be able to dominate the other, and to recognise its existence only with unreasonable conditions attached."

"The Green Party's view is clear: everyone in Britain must be free to follow their chosen faith, or none, fully confident that their right to do so will be vigorously upheld by government."

"Racism is a blot on the face of civilisation, and must be wiped out."

"Singling-out a particular racial or religious group and victimising them is completely unacceptable and must not for a second be tolerated."

Dr Lucas, who was recently re-elected as an MEP for South East England, and who will contest the Brighton Pavilion constituency in the coming general election, signed up to a statement issued by a number of politicians and other prominent figures.

The full statement reads as below:

--

Muslims in Britain are facing attacks on many fronts. These include:

* The high-profile arrests under terror legislation of Muslims who are subsequently released without charge, creating a climate of fear and harassment

* An increase in violent attacks on Muslims in the streets and on Muslim places of worship;

* The targetting of Muslims by the far-right British National Party;

* Aggressive policing of Muslims on demonstrations, apparently designed to deter them from participating in peaceful protests;

* The racist misrepresentation of Muslim views and practices in the mass media;

* The political harassment of Muslim leaders by government ministers.

These and other developments threaten to create a climate of hostility towards Muslims in Britain in contradiction to traditional tolerance and damaging to community cohesion.

We believe that all people should come together in support of Muslims in Britain, and not leave them to confront these challenges alone. We call for a broad-based campaign to confront the growth of racist attitudes towards Muslims and rising governmental and state harassment of Muslim citizens.

Note

1. Figures from the BBC website. The Green Party of England and Wales had a vote share of 6.06% in 2004, versus 8.71% of voters in 2009, a leap of 43.7%.

‘We are confident we can repeat our performance in the General Election and the Goldsmid by-election,' said Cllr Bill Randall, Convenor of the Green Group of Councillors.

‘In the elections to the European Parliament, we finished 10 per cent ahead of the second placed Tories, and polled more than double the number of votes cast for Labour, who came in a poor third.

‘Our only regret is that Cllr Keith Taylor narrowly missed out on becoming the second Green MEP in the South East Region. Under a fairer voting system he would now be on his way to Brussels with our Green MEP Caroline Lucas.

‘The success is testament to the huge amount of work by our growing number of members and supporters across the city and by the performance and industry of our 12 Green city councillors and Caroline Lucas.

‘The days of Labour claiming that only they can keep out the Tories are over. Goldsmid and Brighton Pavilion will be two straight fights between the Tories and us. We believe we will win both, and we are already campaigning for victory.'

‘Indeed, on the basis of these election figures we must now fancy our general election chances in Brighton Kemptown and Hove more than ever.'

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

For more information, please call Cllr Bill Randall 07968 970 609 or Green Group Political Assistant Charlie Woodworth on: 01273 290452

(1) Number of votes cast by party in the European Elections in Brighton and Hove are:

Green 19727

Conservative 13891

Labour 9113

UKIP 7570

Lib Dem 6410

BNP 1796

(2) The percentage shares in Brighton and Hove are:

Green 31

Con 22

Lab 15

UKIP 12

Lib Dem 10

BNP 3

(3) The unfairness of the voting system can be measured by the number votes cast per MEP elected:

Plaid Cymru 126,702

SNP 160,504

Con 167,936

Lab 183,212

Lib Dem 189,147

UKIP 192,171

BNP 472,000 (approximately)

Green 651,873. 

Party spokesperson Spencer Fitz-Gibbon said today: "An increase in the number of Green MEPs would be very good for this country. It would mean the bigger parties would have to take more note of Green policies, not least our million-jobs manifesto for tackling the recession and the climate crisis at the same time.

"And it would be a very important signpost towards the breakthrough we hope to make in the next general election."

County results give grounds for optimism - and also a warning

The Green Party's target constituencies for the general election include Brighton Pavilion and Norwich South, to be contested by party leader Caroline Lucas MEP and deputy leader Cllr Adrian Ramsay respectively. In both these constituencies the Greens hold a majority of the local council seats. And in Thursday's county elections, Norwich Greens reinforced their challenge to Labour by capturing five new county seats, taking a bigger share of the vote than any other party not only in Norwich South but throughout the entire city of Norwich.

The Green success in Norfolk, and the party's simultaneous breakthroughs onto Suffolk and Cambridgeshire County Councils, give the Greens grounds for optimism in Eastern region, where Norwich city councillor Dr Rupert Read heads the regional Euro-list.

And strong Green votes in the Lancashire and Cumbria county elections - including a second Green seat on Lancashire County Council - were a positive indication for the North West Greens, whose leading candidate Peter Cranie hopes to deny a seat to BNP leader Nick Griffin.

However, this weekend the racist BNP was predicting that it would win up to four seats, based on its county election results which included the far-right party's first ever county council seats, one each in Hertfordshire and Lancashire.

Danger ahead?

Spencer Fitz-Gibbon commented: "If the BNP wins seats in the European Parliament, this will be the biggest step forward for the far right in British history. The BNP will have achieved what Oswald Mosley's fascists failed to achieve in the 1930s - success in national elections."

He added: "I don't believe that most of the BNP's voters understand how thoroughly racist the BNP actually is. A rising BNP vote is partly attributable to the way so many people feel utterly let down by the three biggest parties, which increasingly look the same. But it's also partly attributable to the fact that much of the media coverage of the BNP has failed to show what the BNP is really about.

"It's true that a lot of the media coverage during the campaign has pointed to BNP members' links with neo-Nazi parties in other European countries, holocaust denial, criminal convictions and so on. But there has been relatively little scrutiny of the BNP's most outrageous policies. And that includes its flagship policies of 'voluntary repatriation' and the dismantling of racial discrimination laws."

Fitz-Gibbon concluded: "Whether the BNP wins MEP seats or not, some very important things need to happen. We need a complete reform of British democracy in ways that will involve and engage people far more, and make sure parliament really reflects the views of society as a whole, not just those of the biggest two parties. And we need a Green New Deal to tackle the recession and lay the basis for an economic system that's fairer as well as sustainable for future generations."

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.

TV and movie actor Colin Firth, one of the judges, presented Tatchell with his award.

In his acceptance speech, Mr Tatchell paid tribute to "the many human rights campaigners worldwide who risk their lives and freedom, in countries like Russia , Iran , Zimbabwe, Iraq and China. It is an honour to work with and support them," he said.

Speaking after the event Mr Tatchell added:

"During the 1980s and 1990s I was often demonised by the popular press, lambasted by the political establishment and targeted for violent attack by neo-Nazis. Undeterred, I carried on campaigning. After more than 40 years of activism for gay rights and for other human rights causes, it is immensely gratifying to receive this accolade. My transition from public enemy number one to campaign award winner has been extraordinary.

"I want to thank everyone who supported me through the difficult, turbulent years when I was a minority voice and frequently reviled. Their kindness and solidarity is treasured. It gave me the strength to carry on the fight for justice and has helped bring me the recognition I have won today.

"During the last year, my campaign schedule has included arrest at the recent Gay Pride parade in Moscow, support for persecuted ethnic minorities in Iran and Pakistan, publicising the murder of LGBT Iraqis by Islamist death squads, challenging homophobia in football, assisting asylum seekers fleeing persecution, lobbying against the ban on same-sex marriage and helping secure the acquittal of two Baluch human rights campaigners who were framed on terrorism charges in London.

"I do my bit for human rights, as do many others. Together, we make the change," he said. 

Observer Politician of the Year was won by Caroline Lucas, Member of the European Parliament and leader of the Green Party of England and Wales. 

Naturalist and TV nature programme presenter, Sir David Attenborough, was given a Lifetime Achievement Award.