| 1. London and UK European elections. The European election is on Thursday 4 June, and London residents who are EU citizens or from a commonwealth country are eligible to vote. The election is decided by proportional representation, so every vote will count. EU citizens need to complete an additional EC6 form even if they are on the electoral register. More information can be found at http://www.aboutmyvote.co.uk with details for EU citizens here. If you are busy or not in London on 4th June, you can still vote by applying for a postal vote via this link.The deadline for EU voters and applications for a postal vote is Tuesday 19 May. During the elections, more information about my activities can be found on my Facebook page http://www.tinyurl.com/jeanlambert, my blogspot http://re-electjean.blogspot.com, and the national and London Green Party websites. Poles to Polls. As part of the drive to encourage Londoners to register and vote in the European election, I participated in an event targeting London's Polish community. More information about the campaign can be found at http://www.polacyglosuja.org.uk. I will shortly be including some Polish language pages on my website at http://www.jeanlambertmep.org.uk/polski. 'Low-pay - no way!' I joined students, staff and union activists from the university colleges in Bloomsbury on this march on 1st May, International Worker's Day. Organised by the newly-formed Bloomsbury Living Wage Campaign, we are calling for employers to ensure that all employees are paid a Living Wage, currently agreed to be at least £7.45 per hour in London. Currently many workers, often catering and cleaning staff, are paid less than this. More information can be found here. (See also the photo at the top of this e-newsletter.) Birthplace of feminism. 2009 is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Mary Wolstencraft, the mother of feminism. I was therefore delighted to be invited to speak at a debate 'Political Power for Women: How Far Have We Come? Why Does It Matter?' at the Newington Green Unitarian Church, on the Hackney-Islington border, which Mary Wolstencraft attended. More information can be found here. Refugees and the environment. I spoke at an event in Holloway, organised by the Evelyn Oldfield Unit, supporting their project with the London Community Recycling Network. This involves putting refugee and community groups in touch with each other to develop environmental projects - from recycling to horticulture or neighbourhood renewal schemes. I'm pleased to support this initiative which should help a greater diversity of London residents get involved in environmental activities and issues. More information can be found here. G20 Protests. I attended the Put People First march in central London, which had a strong trade union presence and was supported by a huge number of organisations. The event focused on jobs, justice and climate change as political priorities. During the midweek G20 protests, I issued a public statement supporting peaceful protest and criticising the police behaviour. More information can be found here. Sri Lanka. I continue to receive a large volume of letters on the violent situation in Sri Lanka and the extreme impact upon the Tamil community. I attended a large demonstration in central London, and have attended the ongoing protests in Parliament Square on a number of occasions. I also met Tamils in Lewisham, as the Sivan Temple, where I spoke at a community meeting. I will continue to speak out in the interests of peace and a political solution. More information can be found here. To mark World Press Freedom Day, I wrote an article for New Statesman Online about Sri Lanka, which you can read here. Nigerians in Southwark. I spoke to the New Nigeria Movement at the Southwark Pensioners Centre, Camberwell Green, focusing on the issue of corruption in Nigeria and the need to promote democracy. The EU has a useful role to play, and I have raised this issue with the European Commission and will continue to press for greater action. Pensioners. I attended the National Pensioners Convention demonstration at the Department of Work and Pensions on 6 April, National Pensions Action Day, where I supported NPC's demand for a £165 per week state pension. This would end pensioner poverty. Kingston walkabout. I visited Kingston-upon-Thames to discuss issues of concern with local residents. I heard about problems of insufficient school places, controversial town centre redevelopment plans, and new waste collection arrangements. I also talked to residents about the need for investment in new jobs, many in green industries, to tackle the recession. More information can be found here. Waltham Forest LINk. I attended the launch event for the Waltham Forest Local Involvement Network. This was particularly interesting to me as I am a Walthamstow resident. Majlis Ansarullah/Ahmadiyya charity dinner. I attended this event in South Norwood, which was a pre-fundraising dinner for the organisation's Croydon charity walk, being held on 7 June. Animals. To mark World Day for Animals in Laboratories, I attended the annual march and rally marking, in central London, with fellow-Greens. My colleague, Caroline Lucas spoke at the event, calling for EU legislation to end animal cruelty and for a ban on primate experiments. More information can be found here and at http://www.jeanlambertmep.org.uk/animals. Group visits to the European Parliament. I hosted a visitors group from the John Fisher school in London and spoke on a panel of London MEPs to a group of European Politics students from the London School of Economics. |