Walk It

Following in the footsteps of Transport for London's excellent journeyplanner, which makes pulbic transport so much easier when you are using an unfamiliar route, is WalkIt.com.

They only claim coverage for central London, but I've checked out as far as Archway and got reasonable directions. It recommended the exact route I take to work and while I wouldn't take their suggestion to my old office (I'd take a scenic route to avoid walking along the Holloway Road), it is probably the most direct way and easiest to follow if you don't know the area.

They give estimated journey times depending on your walking speed and as a bonus they calculate how many calories you will burn and tell you how much CO2 you've saved by not using a car or bus.

Selection Results

The count for the Green Party London Assembly list selection was held yesterday. The result is subject to validation by the London Green Party at its meeting on Monday 19 March, so I'm not publishing the result here, but the good news is that it looks like I've made it onto the list (just).

Don't forget to vote

Attention London Green Party members. The deadline for voting in the selection for the Green Party Mayoral candidate and London Assembly list is this Thursday (8 March), so you need to get your ballot papers in the post today if you haven't already.

Don't forget that the incumbents and well-known figures will receive lots of first preferences anyway, so the best way to ensure new blood in the winnable places at the top of the list is to give candidates like me your first preference rather than just putting us in your top four.

But whoever, you vote for, please do vote. Thanks.

NHS Day of Action - This Saturday, 3 March

Health unions, NHS campaigns and pensioners’ groups are joining together on a Day of Action in defence of our NHS on Saturday 3 March. There will be marches and rallies throughout the country.

BRENT Assemble 11 am Brent Town Hall for a demonstration (contact 07951 084 101, roundwood(AT)redmail.com)
LAMBETH, SOUTHWARK, LEWISHAM Assemble Camberwell Green 11 am to march to Kings College and Maudsley hospitals (contact southwarkkonhsp(AT)googlemail.com, 07765 848 444)
TOWER HAMLETS Assemble Royal London Hospital (Whitechapel Road, London E1 1BB) 12 noon to march to Hackney (contact 07950 575 731)
HACKNEY Assemble Hackney Town Hall 12 noon for a rally and march (contact NHS Together, c/o Staff Side Office, St Leonards, Nuttall St, N1 5LZ)
HARINGEY Assemble for a demonstration 11am Hornsey Central Hospital, Park Road, N8. (Also on Thursday 1 March, 7.30 pm: Public Meeting at West Indian Cultural Centre, Clarendon Road N8 (off Turnpike Line by 41/144 bus stop)
WANDSWORTH, MERTON, SUTTON Assemble 12 noon open space opposite St Helier Hospital, Wrythe Lane, near Rosehill, Carshalton.
ENFIELD Save Chase Farm Hospital demonstration Assembles 2 pm War Memorial, bottom of Windmill Hill, Enfield Town (More details: www.savechasefarm.co.uk)

There will also be a RALLY in Friends Meeting House, Euston Road (opposite
Euston Station) at 1.30 pm on 3 March - organised by NHS Together In London

Keep Our NHS Public, NHS Together

London's Green Fuel Source?

This week the Mayor of London and the Greens on the London Assembly launched the London Climate Change Action Plan, a key component of which is a switch to combined heat and power stations (CHP).

Local CHP plants are far more efficient than centralised power plants supplying a grid, for two main reasons: a) the heat produced when generating electricity is used for domestic or industrial heating rather than being treated as waste (so more of the energy released from the fuel is used) and b) because the electricity is used locally, the huges losses due to transmission over a vast national grid are reduced dramatically.

So even if they are powered by coal, oil or gas, CHP plants are a massive improvement on the current centralised generation system. But we can go one better and today's Guardian carries an excellent article spelling out the benefits of locally produced wood pellets, which are near carbon neutral.

Jenny Jones on the London Climate Change Action Plan

Jenny Jones responds to Ken Livingstone's Climate Change Action Plan for London.

London Assembly List - Personal Statement

This is my statement as circulated to all members of London Green Party as part of the London Assembly list selection process.


London faces a number of challenges between now and 2012. In the run up to the Olympics we will see the one of the largest redevelopments for many decades, affecting large parts of East London. I have years of experience of campaigning with residents to ensure maximum community benefit and environmental sustainability in the Arsenal stadium redevelopment. As the London Assembly candidate for North East London in 2004 I gained the highest Green vote in London – partly because of my work with community groups campaigning against the negative impacts of the Olympic bid. My experience will help us build on this work to secure the greenest possible games with maximum environmental and community legacy.

Over the next five years the global nature of the games will serve to keep the spotlight on the single largest challenge we face as Londoners and citizens of planet earth – the impact of climate change. We are already seeing the establishment parties attempting to jump on the green bicycle and peddle themselves as the solution to this crisis of their own making. Having Greens on the London Assembly has lead the Mayor to take some quite dramatic steps compared with other establishment politicians. But as capital of the UK and, more importantly, as a world city London must go much further and become a global leader in tackling climate change. That is why it is vital that we not only elect more Greens to the London Assembly, but that we elect Greens with a track record of successful campaigning.

We often talk about the Green Party as the party of the future. If we are to fulfil this promise we must aim to at least double our representation on the London Assembly and bring new blood into the winnable places at the top of our list. Although only 34, I have a wealth of relevant experience. I was elected national Vice-Chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament at 23; I have ten years experience as a professional campaigner and fundraiser in the field of peace and human rights and at the last General Election I secured one of the best Green results in London. I was Election Agent in Islington for the 2002 council elections and a lead candidate in Highbury West where we elected our first Green Councillor last May. I played a key role in producing election publications in the 2004 GLA/Euro elections and currently serve on the Party's National Executive as Publications Co-ordinator.

Only the Green Party can offer the practical solutions that London urgently needs to help dramatically reduce the city's ecological footprint, to ensure an adequate supply of sustainable, affordable housing and to strengthen our communities by defending public services and fighting for social justice.

I believe that my Green vision for London, combined with my abilities and experience would make me a valuable member of the winning Green team in 2008. Please vote Jon Nott – 1 on your London Assembly list ballot paper today.