Public Spaces Protection Order in Peterborough

news briefing

This is the latest public domain news on this topic which could be of interest to people involved in any or all of the following campaigns (all of which I support and would be happy to speak on to community or campaign groups, and residents associations)

  • getting rid of PSPO legislation entirely
  • getting rid of #BridgeStreetBan on Bridge Street (illustrated) so that cyclists can decide for themselves whether or not to dismount (yes it certainly does require cycle training) #Sustrans #bikeability
  • introducing 20mph speed limits, nicely, with community engagement  without bumps #20sPlenty
  • securing a useable cycle route through Peterborough city centre where the perfectly obvious place has been cluttered up with street furniture – this requires a strategic decision on whether or not cyclists should be diverted away from the shops in a city or calmed down (speed and manners) and invited into a welcoming retail space

latest

  1. Reported 18th March https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/peterborough-cyclist-fumes-at-extremely-harsh-80-fine-for-breaching-bridge-street-ban-1-8851437
  2. Schools4ClimateStrike took place in Cathedral Square on 12th April
  3. REDACTED VIDEO Reported 16th April  https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/video-shows-peterborough-enforcement-officer-who-threatened-children-with-80-fine-complaining-they-are-protesting-too-loudly-1-8891508
  4. 12th April for about two weeks @HowellOWGreens Cllr Julie Howell tweets Please note comments addressed to her about the legislative framework.
  5. Reported 25th April  https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/politics/controversial-private-enforcement-firm-to-be-removed-from-peterborough-s-streets-1-8904699
  6. Reported 1st May implications for neighbouring authority (btw Peterborough City Council is not the only one) https://www.wisbechstandard.co.uk/news/500-average-fines-and-costs-for-litter-offences-in-fens-1-6027286

Invitation

If you have information which you believe could be added to this, or otherwise helpful, please use the Contact tab, top right to let me know. Or you are very welcome to comment publicly below.

NOTE: If you are considering using a lawyer or want to take the council to court (with or without a lawyer), please don’t comment publicly: you might prejudice your own court case by doing that.

 

To people voting in the 2019 European Election

Fiona Radic in Norwich on the St Julian Bridge in the city centre

“I am thrilled to be standing in May 2019 for election in an unexpected European election with a simply outstanding team of candidates, any of whom would make a wonderful Member of the European Parliament.

We want to offer people across the East region the opportunity to

  • confront and tackle climate chaos
  • protect the beautiful land we walk on and depend upon for our sustenance
  • localise our economies & reduce our supply chains and our food and commuting mileages
  • reform government (yes: European as well). Democratic deficiencies open up cracks and we have crises of trust. So while people feel that they are being exposed to economic, climatic and political threats, voters are furious that their wishes as expressed at the ballot box are disregarded when they can see that politicians have no choice but to work together and across party lines.”

Fiona Radic stood for parliament in 2010 and celebrated a decade of campaigning with the Green Party by standing again in 2017’s snap election. She helped manage the successful Green Mayor Campaign in which Julie Howell kept her deposit, polling over 9% of first preference votes in Peterborough and proving strong core support in a city with strong environmental ambition. Julie Howell was subsequently elected to the city council in 2018 as Peterborough’s first Green city councillor.

Fiona campaigned to remain in the EU during the referendum and previously stood for election in East Region to the European Parliament in 2014. 

“My family is international in its connections and outlook. The EU referendum was divisive and profoundly destructive. It caused alarm and dismay at a time of unprecedented international economic stress and political upheaval. I stand firmly with those whose rights and relationships – personal and business – are being overlooked by the state. People are not bargaining chips. It isn’t acceptable for politicians to play to the gallery by discarding peoples’ hard won rights. It is one thing for the state to assert its right to govern itself (even if that right was never endangered). It is entirely another to put our current economic system at risk, and to threaten family life. And not just family life. Businesses are also being rocked by incompetent and self interested styles of government. If we are to leave the EU, let us be sure to make that a sensible and constructive process and make full use of Green Party thinking on local decision making and empowerment. But I am now absolutely sure that the decision about leaving the EU was founded on shoddy information and that those in power will have to give voters a sensible and fully informed choice. Of course voters will be cross: they are entitled to be furious. But fake news, anger and fear are not sound bases for complicated and difficult decisions and those who whipped it up should be ashamed of themselves and I hope that in this extraordinary European election which nobody thought would happen, that voters will hold them accountable by casting their vote for the Green Party.”

Fiona has campaigned on the NHS, on transport, planning and infrastructure, on nuclear power and Trident, air quality, green spaces, social justice and equality, maternity services and housing. Fiona has worked in universities, in companies massive and tiny in the financial and telecoms sectors and also as an unpaid activist and volunteer.

Photos for use by press (high resolution)  password available to press:  Contact me

Contact our Press Officer  link in preparation

You can read more about the list of candidates and how to support our campaign here

Contact the Green European Parliament candidate list.  link in preparation

Let’s Elect Catherine!

JOIN OUR CROWD!

I am delighted to introduce Catherine:

https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js
Eastern Green Party Crowdfunder from Daniel on Vimeo.

The Green Party is the East of England’s Remain Party and the UK’s biggest pro-European party in the European Parliament.

We have launched our campaign to mobilise one of the strongest pro-European movements anywhere on the continent. Our campaign is proudly standing up for free movement, for gold standard climate action and for the rights of all Europeans. Now is the time to decide what kind of Britain we want to have and what our values are.

We are asking you to #JoinOurCrowd of backers.

If we can grow our fundraising crowd big enough we will raise enough to leaflet every home in the region (yes: that is millions!), and we will be able also to fund a social media campaign to ensure that everybody can see what we are standing for in this election. By all means give us a big donation. Or if you can’t do that, give us a small donation: whatever you can afford. But please whatever you can or can’t do in the way of money, please give us a share. Sharing will take this post to people not in my social media network already and if they also share to people we’ve never reached before. Please share this with people you think might be delighted to support our hard working team to win our first seat in Eastern. So important for our region to bring European Green cooperation, constructiveness and creativity into our part of the world.

Join us: help us: we can make this happen.
  • If 150 people gave just £350 we’d hit our target.
  • If just 70 people gave us £500 we’d hit our target.
  • If 35 people gave us £1,000 we’d hit our target.

Go here to find out how the Crowdfunder is doing:

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/help-elect-the-east-of-englands-first-mep

And for more about our candidates in Eastern Region and our campaign:

https://eastern.greenparty.org.uk

Blame won’t pick it up

Last night, Councillor Fitzgerald (who lives in Orton Longueville and represents West ward (and before that a Bretton ward) ward decided to blame residents of Central and Park wards on Twitter and not only that, but to pick on the newest Labour councillor in Park Ward (who as he explains wasn’t there to respond).

Fitzgerald cited a fly-tip “heat map” which shows fly-tip incidents in Peterborough unitary authority area over the past three years as “hot”. The heat map was discussed in cabinet but all this particular councillor took away from the meeting was a magnificent opportunity to blame the Labour Party on Twitter for the hot spots.

Given the recent resignations of Cllrs Mahabadi and Ferris from East and Park wards respectively, and especially noting what  they said in their resignation address, you’d expect him to think for a minute or two before launching into his usual blame game. But apparently not.

political advertising and social media part two

Social media offers politicians a very tempting way of doing all sorts of things. To my mind, there is nothing wrong with that. On the face of it.

But what people reading things on social media don’t always know is that there are laws governing political messaging and advertising, and also that social media offers ingenious ways of getting round rules.

One of the UK rules is to do with imprints: basically an imprint allows the reader to understand who is behind what they are reading. In turn this allows the reader to check who is behind whatever or whoever is being promoted. Look for the small print on any political flier which is delivered through your letterbox. You should find it. It is a legal requirement.

This “imprint” is key to finding out who is being promoted (usually a candidate) and (with this knowledge) who is funding a political campaign, and yes, there is also UK legislation surrounding political donations to UK campaigns. Another legal requirement is to obey the laws about donations.

Campaigners in Peterborough found a piece of printed material which lacked an imprint during the EU Referendum campaign. This was reported to the Electoral Commission. It is an offence to omit an imprint, although this A5 flier wasn’t impressive and at first glance this is not a big thing. It could always be someone who is a newcomer to political campaigner and who doesn’t know any better. That’s wrong, but understandable. But….

The imprint rules for social media advertising by political entities have no legal force behind them. They are merely recommendations laid down by the Electoral Commission indicating basic standards of good practice. This leaves people who know very much better than a beginner able to advertise on social media, deliberately concealing the organiser, the cause, the funder and the objectives. One I think fits this description crossed my path recently.

Here’s me, picking up on someone’s comment that an image in a facebook advertisement featured comes from a Third Reich archive. It reminded me of a certain Prime Ministerial field of wheat.  Even the wheat is old fashioned: we don’t grow it tall like that any more. We’re in the realms of nostalgia.

Here’s his tweet:

…….

…….

What seized my interest is that I’ve already seen the image out of the corner of my eye. It has already crossed my facebook feed, but as I was doing something else (as I usually am) I paid it no attention: I registered the image, but didn’t read the text. This is how subliminal advertising works. But now that someone has said something astonishing about the picture the advertisement, text and picture, now has my full attention.  So (apologising for the format – it looks so much better on twitter!) here we go:

This looks like an operation to collect email addresses and to raise funds: but it will have to be funded by someone, somewhere. I and every other person who encounters this should be able to see who is doing what and for whom. We can’t.

Part one was an email, and isn’t on my blog.

Happy to be corrected: I looked at this a few days ago and just went over what I did. Nothing much has changed, except the organisation now claims it is in the UK (but doesn’t provide an address) and the entity the website claims is editing it is apparently also in the UK:  https://twitter.com/rjdavies7 I have no idea if these two accounts relate to the same human being.