Animal rights & veganism is crucial to left-wing & environmental politics

Disclaimer: While I am a member of the Green Party, this blog post is not about changing Green Party policy, or the message of the party. This blog post is just about why environmentalists and people on the left should take animal rights and veganism seriously.

Recently I've been thinking about how a lot of my left-wing and socialist circles are almost entirely human-centric and discuss animal issues very little at all. As an animal rights activist this upsets me. Likewise a lot of animal rights activists don't consider human struggle any worth either. The environmentalist movement doesn't take veganism as seriously as it should considering animal produce is the leading industry for greenhouse gasses. I believe animal rights and veganism needs to be a big part of the left-wing and environmental movements, and I'd like to explain why.

First of all I think we need to understand animal rights before we can understand why it needs to be a part of left-wing movements. When I say animal rights, I mean abolitionist animal rights as opposed to animal welfare which is not the same thing. Abolitionism within animal rights means abolishing all forms of animal use, because there will always be animal exploitation otherwise. This means we all have to go vegan, zoos and animal circuses will be banned, animal testing to be abolished, and we stop all breeding of animals. This includes pets, which for some people I can understand is a difficult concept to get their head around. It certainly took me years of being vegan before I figured out why we shouldn't have pets. I will say this about pets though - looking after an animal from a rescue centre or animal sanctuary is giving that animal a better quality of life so most abolitionists don't have an issue with having rescued pets/companion animals. The basic idea is that if humans use animals then it is for their own gain and not for the animal's gain, and the animal doesn't have complete freedom. In other words, it's animal slavery. Animal welfare still supports animal slavery, just a "kinder" form of animal slavery. There isn't a single form of animal use which is necessary to human existence. We don't need to eat, hunt, be entertained by, play with, watch or do any of the other things we do with animals. I see no moral justification for not caring about animals this way. Furthermore, I see an important part of being left-wing is opposing all forms of discrimination, and that must also include speciesism. Speciesism is discriminating a being based on it's species, which it cannot help, the view that your own species is superior to other species.

I guess I could describe myself broadly as a green veganarchist. This means I favour a form of anarchism which looks after the interests of the environment and doesn't involve any animal exploitation. Veganism without anarchism is just another consumer lifestyle, anarchism without veganism is just another oppressive regime. I could also describe myself as an eco-socialist. Basically whatever you label give to my politics, I believe that there are several ways we could run society that I would be happy with as long as a few things are taken into consideration. I will not be happy with society until we have egalitarianism (an equal share of wealth and resources), a fully democratic society, an ecologically sound society and the abolition of all animal exploitation. If we are to create a society where all people are to be considered equal, and to be given equal rights and equal share of resources, then I find it hypocritical and wrong if we don't have a relationship with animals where they are also our equals. Humans and non-human animals are all sentient beings. We all share the ability to suffer. On this basis all animals should be given equal moral value. If it's morally wrong to exploit humans, why is it not also morally wrong to exploit other sentient beings? In my view, you can't have a truly left-wing society until all sentient beings have freedom and are not being exploited, and that must include all non-human animals.

 When it comes to the environment there is no excuse to ignore veganism and animal produce. The industries that produce animal products are the single largest contributing industry to greenhouse gasses contributing over 18% of greenhouse gasses (some people report the figure to be as high as 51%, but I'm unconvinced) which is higher than the entire transport industries, including aviation which in total produce around 13.5% of global greenhouse gasses[1]. I say the word greenhouse gasses because carbon dioxide is not the worst gas for climate change by a long way. Methane is at least 20 times worse than carbon dioxide and nitrus oxide is over 300 times more damaging than carbon dioxide. Cows, pigs, sheep and chicken all produce both methane and nitrus oxide. When you take into account that for 1 pound of meat it can take up to 1,000 times more water and 10 times more land than producing 1 pound of plant based food it really doesn't make any environmental sense not to be pursuing a plant based diet. Getting our food sources from animals is so much more inefficient than plant based food because through an animal's life they use up energy in moving, growing, digesting food, excreting, etc. This means that you have to feed an animal far more pounds of food than you get out of it. It is far more efficient and environmentally friendly to feed plant based food directly to humans. If animal product industries are causing nearly one fifth of all greenhouse gasses, more than any other industry, why isn't the environmental movement focused on veganism? Why does the environmental movement focus far more on aviation when the aviation industry causes a lot fewer greenhouse gasses? I've never been able to understand this. I'm not at all saying we shouldn't challenge the aviation industry, I'm just saying there's little point if we're not also challenging the bigger causes of climate change at the same time.

This also has a huge knock on effect around the world. In 3rd world countries around the world more and more land is being stolen for food production, without the the locals getting any of the food or being able to afford any. A transition to a vegan diet will mean that we require a lot less land to produce the same amount of food. This would mean more land in places like Africa and South America could be kept under local control rather than under control of massive multi-national food corporations. It could also prevent wars as there have been wars over land scarcity in places like Darfur.

To be an animal rights abolitionist, all you have to do is be vegan. I'm not saying that we have to go any further out of our way to help animals, all we have to do it just leave them alone. If you're committed to veganism, it will come easily to you. It's not as difficult as you might think and there's plenty of help out there. Once you're vegan it's up to you if you want to do more for animal rights and there are plenty of local groups all around the country. You can focus on human issues or environmental issues if you'd prefer to do that. Veganism can be a healthier diet as meat and dairy are generally not healthy for you. Either way, we can't continue to ignore veganism and animal rights if we call ourselves left-wing or environmentalists.

Further information on veganism and animal rights:

• The UK Vegan Society, the oldest vegan society in the world: http://www.vegansociety.com/
• Greens for Animal Protection: https://www.facebook.com/GreensForAnimalProtection
• UK animal rights gathering: http://www.argathering.org.uk/
• Animal Rights UK: http://animalrightsuk.org/
• Gary Francione, animal rights philosopher and founder of The Abolitionist Approach: http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/

Vegan friendly Lancaster

Okay, since the success of my recent post reviewing my favourite 10 vegan friendly places in Manchester, I thought I'd give another city dear to my heart a go, Lancaster. I'm not going to include Morecambe in this as I haven't been there properly since I was a kid. If you have never been to Lancaster before, please go. You will love this big historic hippy city (okay, it's small for a city, but it is very hippy). Visit the Castle and Williamson Park, and the canal, and the Lancaster Museum, and Dalton Square, and of course some of my vegan friendly suggestions here. Again the list changes all the time, and there's places I still haven't tried, and there will be new places set up every now and again. I'd like to dedicate this blog post in memory of Bohemian Wraps, one of the best places to go for vegan lunch in Lancaster which closed down last year. Here's 10 of my favourite vegan friendly places to visit in Lancaster:

10. Pizza Margherita

This place isn't the world's most vegan friendly restaurant, but if you order their vegetarian pizzas without cheese, they're vegan and they do serve vegan ice cream for desert. I haven't been to this place in years, but it still seems to have the same menu. The service is good and the food isn't bad either.

Website: http://www.pizza-margherita.co.uk/

9. The Novel Cafe

This is a really nice coffee shop in the heart of Lancaster that also sells lots of great second hand books. There is a children's area and internet access. They serve soya milk with hot drinks. You can also get fruit juices and other soft drinks. Very reasonable prices. All in all, a great coffee shop.

8. Lush Lancaster

As ever, Lush cosmetics, 100% vegetarian and over 90% vegan offer great vegan cosmetics and toiletries. The last year has seen them fight proposed laws that will force the ingredients of their products to have been tested on animals. Lancaster has had a Lush for around the same amount of time as their campaign against animal testing, around about a year or so. If you fancy a nice relaxing treat, have a try of one of their bath bombs!

Lush Lancaster Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LushLancaster
Lush website: https://www.lush.co.uk/

7. Go Burrito

Go Burrito is a cheap fast food cafe that serves burritos (oh you guessed that did you?). There are plenty of vegan options, and they are all yummy. They also do nachos too. You can sit in or takeaway, or order for delivery. They do catering as well and are soon to open a cafe. Open 11am until very late at night, this is the perfect fast food option on a night out in Lancaster.

Website: http://www.goburrito.co.uk/

6. Health'n'Brew

In a nutshell, this is Lancaster's independent answer to Holland & Barrett (and that's with Lancaster having the largest Holland & Barrett in Lancashire and South Cumbria). Like most independent healthfood and wholefood shops these days, Health'n'Brew stock from Suma, the country's largest workers co-op, a wholesaler which deals in vegetarian products. That fact instantly makes it better and more ethical than Holland & Barrett. I first noticed this place when I first tried a sugar free diet (it didn't last long unfortunately), and noticed that they sold Plamil sugar free chocolate spread, which is great for sugar free. Reasonable prices, and by the looks of it are 100% vegetarian.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YourHealthStore
Website: http://www.youronlinehealthstore.co.uk/

5. The Sultan of Lancaster

Situated 2 minutes walk away from Lancaster's famous Dalton Square and Lancaster Town Hall, The Sultan is a great curry house, which offers a little more than what you usually expect at an ordinary curry house. I believe it to be run by Muslims so the entire restaurant is alcohol free and as a teetotaller I love that fact, plus it makes it a bit more children friendly. As you entire, you will notice how beautiful the building is. It looks like it was once a church, or at least a church hall (could some from Lancaster clarify this for me please?). Excellent service, excellent food, good starters, good mains. Plenty of choice for vegans, but they do also serve meat and diary products.

Website: http://www.sultanoflancaster.com/

4. The vegetarian food stall at the Charter Market

Okay so I can't find any photos or website for this as it's just a guy selling vegetarian food twice a week at the Charter Market. He does lovely falafel wrap with good salsa. He also does good vegan potato cakes. You can watch them all be fried for you in from of your eyes. Brilliant. Usually found outside Lancaster library on Wednesdays and Saturdays in a green trailer. He's a really nice guy as well.

Lancaster Charter Market website: http://www.lancaster.gov.uk/community-and-living/markets/charter-market/

3. Dominick's @ The Gregson Centre

There is one reason to go to The Gregson to eat and that is vegan pizza complete with vegan cheese. Amazing stuff. They also sell Lancaster Brewery vegan bottled beer. It's not in the city centre either, just a short walk on the way to Lancaster Cathedral. I like to go here on birthdays as it's one place that's open late into the evening. Lots of people just go there to drink as well. The Gregson Centre has a hall at the back where bands play and other events happen every now and then. Upstairs they have their own cinema, which if you bring enough people and your own DVD you can watch whatever film you like for free there. Next door is Donimick's takeaway where they sell the same food but for takeaway. The main downside is they do serve meat and diary products.

Dominick's website: http://www.dominickatgregson.com/
The Gregson Centre website: http://www.gregson.co.uk/

2. Whale Tale Cafe

The first ever vegetarian cafe I ever visited. My parents used to take me here a lot before I was vegetarian and before I knew that it was a vegetarian cafe. Here you'll find the best vegan breakfasts in Lancaster. They've even won a PETA award for the best vegan breakfast in the UK, although I don't quite agree. It is good though. The Whale Tale salad is easily the best salad I've ever had. Actually it's a selection of different salads, and not just your usual salads either. If it's good weather when you visit this place, I'd advise having your food out in the back in the garden. I usually can't resist a tofu BLT with vegan garlic mayonnaise. Followed by an amazing vegan chocolate cake of course, with vegan ice cream obviously.

Website: http://www.whaletailcafe.co.uk/

1. Single Step Wholefood Co-operative

Down a busy side street full of cafes, charities shops, hairdressers and a pub there is an alleyway. Down the alleyway there is a shop. This is no ordinary shop. This is a non-profit workers co-operative selling ethically sourced wholefood goods. This is the best treasure in Lancaster.

So like Unicorn Grocery and 8th Day featured highly on my top 10 in Manchester, a 100% vegetarian wholefood co-op features highly on my list of vegan friendly places in Lancaster. Nowhere cares more about how our food is sourced and sold to people than independent wholefood shops. Single Step has been around since the mid 1970s, making it one of the oldest surviving co-operatives in the region, if not the country. Single Step own the entire building they sit in, which also includes the Whale Tale Cafe and Lancaster Resource Centre (aka LaRC).

You can buy herbs and spices by weight at Single Step. You can buy lots of fresh bread, fruit and vegetables. You can buy vegan chocolates and sweets, lots of different vegan milks, vegan cheeses (including Vegusto), vegan condiments and oils, vegan fake meats, vegan ice cream, vegan toiletries, etc etc etc. They sell a range of vegan and vegetarian cook books. There are 2 magazine racks full of left-wing & anarchic magazines, animal rights & vegan magazines, permaculture magazines, etc. At the start of the shop there is very large notice board full of notices for all sorts of radical things happening in and around Lancaster. Opposite there is a large display of leaflets advertising lots of local groups and events. Single Step is a special place.

Website: http://singlestep.org.uk/

Manchester's top 10 vegan friendly places.

Update: this post is at least 2 years out of date, new places exist and some of these places have sadly closed down. I've made a new list of  Top 10 vegan places in Manchester 2015 so click that link for a more up to date list.

For the first time ever on my blog I thought I'd do a review of something. I have recently moved back to Manchester after 2 years of living back in Lancashire. As a vegan, I have been delighted by the choice of vegan friendly shops, cafes and restaurants there are in Manchester. I thought I'd do a review of my top 10 places to go in Manchester for vegans. Since I've been asked why places in Greater Manchester are not on this list, I will clarify that this list is for the City of Manchester only. I might end up doing a Greater Manchester (excluding the city) list at some point when I've tried more places. This list will probably change order, and 2 or 3 of them will not even make my top 10 on another day. Plus the fact that new places pop up every now and again will mean the list will change even more. There are even some places I have yet to check out. Here's Happy Cow's list of veggie-friendly places in Manchester: http://www.happycow.net/europe/england/manchester/

Runner-ups:

• Dough Pizza Kitchen, City Centre
• YeoPans, Chorlton
• Hunters, City Centre
• Go Falafel, City Centre & Fallowfield
• Bistro 1847, City Centre & Chorlton
• On The Corner, Chorlton
• Falafel, Rusholme/Curry Mile
• Odd/Odder/Oddest, City Centre/Oxford Road/Chorlton

10. This & That, City Centre

This & That is the best place in Manchester to buy rice and 3. Haven't ever heard of rice and 3? Well it's simple, you get a portion of rice and then you get to pick 3 different curries from a range of curries. It's usually less than a fiver and there are 3 or 4 places around the Northern Quarter and the Green Quarter that do this.

9. Safad, Gay Village

Plain and simple, the best falafel and houmous wrap in Manchester. Quite cheap as well. Otherwise Safad is just your average kebab house. Situated on the street behind Canal Street, it is a perfect place to eat after a night out at Satan's Hollow.

8. Mod's Veggie Cafe @ The Thirsty Scholar, City Centre (near Oxford Road Train Station)

Mod's cafe has changed venues over the years and was best when it's was Mod Pop Cafe on Oldham Street at a shop called Pop, however it has since moved back to Thirsty Scholar. A great place for a quick burger and chips at a cheap price in a central location. The beer's not bad either. Run by ska and northern soul DJ Mod, whose partner runs Manchester Vegan Society. Not entirely vegan, but entirely vegetarian.

Thirsty Scholar website: http://www.thirstyscholar.co.uk/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MODSVEGGIEVEGANCAFE

7. Earth Cafe, City Centre

Earth Cafe is 100% vegan, except for the fact they offer cow's milk with tea/coffee. Based in the Northern Quarter, Earth offers lots of rich, filling and healthy vegan meals. Really wholesome food. It's a shame this place isn't open late because I would love to eat out here before doing something in the city centre.

Website: http://www.earthcafe.co/

6. Fuel Cafe Bar, Withington

This cafe was the first place I ever tried sweet potato wedges, and along with sweet chilli sauce it is amazing. This is probably the most southern entry to this list. One of the best places for a vegan breakfast, or a vegan falafel burger. The room upstairs is free hire and lots of people put bands on there as well as artsy sort of events. The bar is excellent, and has lots of organic choice (although I don't drink alcohol so what do I know?). By public transport you just need to get any bus from city centre to Didsbury and get off at Withington and it's on the main high street, Wilmslow Road. A really nice treat.

Website: http://fuelcafebar.co.uk/

5. Anand's Vegetarian Deli & Pan Centre, Rusholme/Curry Mile















Sitting on Manchester's curry mile, Anand's is a great cheap place to get some Asian cuisine, particularly assortment of various deep fried deli delights. They also have a large range of fresh curries, but not the usual ones you get in Indian restaurants. You can even take things home with you cold as if it's a shop. Really good value for money and well worth the visit. 100% vegetarian, but not 100% vegan, but they are very helpful if you tell them you're vegan. Please request soya milk with your tea/coffee so they stock it more often if the demand is high enough for them.


Facebook (I can't seem to find a website): https://www.facebook.com/AnandsDeli

4. The 8th Day Supermarket & Cafe, City Centre/University area

This was one of the first veggie places I ever discovered in Manchester. Sitting right next to the student's union of the university I went to, Manchester Metropolitan University on Oxford Road, I went to this place for my lunch on an almost daily basis. I first started going here on the way to seeing bands at the Manchester Academies. Run as a workers co-op with lots of ethical principles. Upstairs is a vegetarian supermarket full of all sorts of ethical brands, downstairs is a vegetarian cafe. The cafe has quite a varied menu and range of cakes, nearly half of them vegan. 8th Day cafe is my favourite place in Manchester to have a vegan breakfast, without a doubt. As well as various groceries the upstairs has a deli counter where you can get lots of  vegan cake or pasties heated to take out if you just want something quick and cheap on your lunch. It is towards the more expensive end of places that are vegan friendly however, but not too extortionate.

Website: http://8thday.coop/

3. Teatime Collective, Hulme

Originally just a way of someone sharing food with friends, later progressed to catering at fairs and festivals and protest camps and as of September a new cafe & vegan ice cream parlour based in St Wilfred's Centre in Hulme. The latest edition to Manchester's vegan family. This cafe is really cheap and very good quality. At the moment the menu changes every day, as does different the flavours of the ice creams. They do a lot of pies, sandwiches and stews, etc. Very cheap food, but quite a small cafe if the weather is bad outside. Takeaway is available.

Website: http://www.teatimecollective.co.uk/

2. V Revolution, City Centre

One of the latest entirely vegan cafes in Manchester, opened around a year and a half ago. Based on Oldham Street not far from Aflecks Palace. Set up as a place for punk and vegan lifestyle, selling punk and hardcore records as well as lots of vegan junk food. Yes foodwise, this place in Manchester's answer to Vx in London. If you ever wanted to try a vegan Mars bar or a vegan Reeses peanut butter chocolate cupcakes, you can get them here. They also do lots of ace vegan burger bar style food. Burgers, hot dogs, bacon, cheese toasties (they have Vegusto and Veganic brands!), soft drinks and cakes. Their prices are fairly reasonable. Oh and they also sell some cool zines. This is a place you can take a non-vegan and they probably wouldn't complain much.

Website/Facebook (they fail at having a real website): https://www.facebook.com/vrevolutionuk

1. Unicorn Grocery, Chorlton

Unicorn Grocery in Chorlton is a co-operative grocery supermarket which happens to be 100% entirely vegan. This month Unicorn celebrates it's 17 birthday. Founded in 1996, Unicorn is owned and managed entirely by it's permanent members of staff who all get an equal say in how the business is run and an equal pay and share of the profits. Unicorn has a strict set of principles which involves ethical sourcing of products; healthy, sugar free and animal product free products; sustainable employment for their members; as low an environmental impact as possible (no items are ever flown in by plane) and supporting the local communities. 1% of their wage bill goes to local projects which fit their principles and 4% of their wage bill goes to helping poor people in the economic south of the world set up their own businesses.

The model Unicorn apply involves buying as much raw ingredients as possible in bulk (by the pallet) and packaging it themselves. This way they manage to keep their products at prices competitive with supermarkets. They offer almost every type of food you could want in a vegan kitchen, and also alcohol, children's clothes, toiletries, gardening supplies, a vast range of teas/coffees, etc etc etc. They support lots of local and regional small organic growers and food suppliers. Their annual turnover is more than £4 million. All in all, excellent ethically sourced vegan wholefoods at really cheap prices. I believe this to be the single best supermarket in the entire of the UK. If your town or city would like one of these, Unicorn have produced a guide to setting one up and would also be happy to speak to you and give you advice.

Website: http://www.unicorn-grocery.co.uk/

The Tories are coming to Manchester!

So it's conference season again and we've already had Greens & Lib-Dems conferences with Labour's conference ending tomorrow. This Sunday the Conservative Party are coming to Manchester until next Wednesday. This will mean for perhaps a whole week several roads will be closed to give way for delegates to the conference. It also means there will be a lot of people protesting in Manchester. This Sunday the TUC have organised a march against the NHS reforms the coalition government has brought forward where I'm expecting at least 5,000 people to show up.

The Conservatives came to Manchester just 2 years ago to the same venue, Manchester Central (formerly the GMEX Centre) and I was at the march then. Difficult to estimate figures of how many people turned up, but it was several thousand. Now that we've seen a lot of the reforms which were promised 2 years ago, I expect a lot more people to show up this time round. I was at the back of the march with the animal rights activists who oppose the government's plan for the badger cull, which has now gone ahead in 2 pilot zones (see my previous post on the badger cull here: http://jakewelsh.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/why-badger-cull-should-not-go-ahead.html). There were roughly 500 animal rights activists. Stuck at the end I wasn't sure if we were getting the most coverage that we could. But at least we were together and not all over the place, mixed up with everyone else.

Lots of people up and down the country are angry with what this government is doing. Sweeping welfare reforms that have torn families apart. The bedroom tax that means some people have to move out of a cheap 2 or 3 bedroom house and move to a much more expensive 1 bed flat all in the name of saving money while multi-millionaires who have 10 spare bedrooms don't get any penalties. The introduction of Universal Credit will make it harder for people to budget, and will reduce the amount of benefits people could claim. New private contracts in the NHS which signal the deepening of privatisation of the NHS. The badger cull will murder over 70% of all wild badgers in England. Major cuts to the budgets of almost all councils in the country. All this while the richest people in the country have been getting a 5% tax break. There's more than enough reason to come out and protest.

The march is starting at Liverpool Street and sets off around 11am. The march will finish at Whitworth Park at the beginning of Rusholme/Curry Mile so hey we can all go for a curry of falafel afterwards! I'll possibly be there with the anti-badger cull group again, but there's plenty of other groups you can join in along the march. I'll see you there, right?

Privatise the Royal Mail? Not even Thatcher tried that!

The Royal Mail is up for sale. At least that's what the government's Secretary of State for Business,
Innovation and Skills Vince Cable is saying. It was announced last week that the Royal Mail will be floated on the stock exchange in the upcoming weeks[1]. Under the plans, workers at the Royal Mail will be offered 10% of the shares of the company, with outside shareholders given the chance to buy the remaining 90% of shares. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) which represents around 100,000 Royal Mail staff has announced a ballot of it's members on the question of a strike in protest of these plans. Results are expected on 3rd of October[1].

Last November I started a casual Christmas job with the Royal Mail at the Preston Mail Centre, and I filled in a CWU membership application form on the day I started work. I found the regional office for the CWU by accident on the way home from the interview for the job, seeing a big sign with the words "Royal Mail is not for sale" outside a building. I knew that was something I had to be involved in during my time at Royal Mail so I went into the office and asked for literature straight away. During my time at the Royal Mail I learnt a lot about changes going on there over the last decade or two. One worker told me that highly paid members of staff whose work was largely bureaucratic office work and not necessary work were made redundant, saving the company money. A fellow Christmas casual who had been doing Christmas work there for over a decade told me that when he first stated working there, the number of casual workers were outnumbered by regular members of staff and each year since the numbers of regular staff had decreased while the number of temporary casual workers had increased and now outnumbered regular staff. Other regional mail centres such as Bolton MC and Warrington MC had closed down in recent years, putting more weight and pressure on remaining sites and leaving Preston the only mail centre between Manchester and Carlise. In recent years the Royal Mail has delivered post and packages for other companies who collected the mail (and payment) and paid the Royal Mail to deliver it on their behalf. Now more than half of Royal Mail deliveries are for other companies.

I soon found out how effective and radical the CWU is. It was the first workplace I had entered where there were whole noticeboards for a trade union. The union also had a library installed in the workplace. I actually got to work with my trade union rep. In October 2012 one worker was suspended from Preston Central Delivery Officer for having "an argument" with a manager. Workers at the office went on strike in protest and called for the manager to be suspended while an investigation took place[2]. This was the sort of union I wanted to be involved in. It was refreshing as I had heard that most unions are happier to compromise in negotiations with employers than ballot it's own membership for a strike, with USDAW having a "no strike agreement" with Tesco.

Our government is arguing that the Royal Mail needs to be privatised so it can raise more money so it can properly invest and compete with modern companies. I agree that it could definitely benefit from more investment, but I don't see why this has to come from the private sector? I don't even believe that the private sector would invest in the Royal Mail, I haven't seen evidence that this will happen. What I fear is more likely to happen under privatisation is the freedom to cut more costs. This will mean lower wages, less jobs and less benefits at the work place for workers. The same Tory message was spread in the 80s under Thatcher - privatised companies based purely on making as much profit as possible no matter what will deliver a more cost effective and cheaper service. However, most privatised industries (take for example trains) have made services more expensive. Private companies serve only to make as much money for their owners, directors and shareholders. Public industries serve to provide services that are needed or of use to people. If public services are not run well, that isn't an argument for privatisation, it is an argument for better public infrastructure, management and investment. If the Royal Mail needs more investment, then that is an argument to raise taxes so the public can pay for it. There is a hidden agenda with Tory-led governments and that is to privatise public industries so that taxes can be lowered, and rich business owners have more freedom to keep earning big amounts of money while paying employees as little as they can get away with. Low tax, small government.

However, not even Thatcher dared to sell off the world's oldest postal service (founded in 1516) to the highest bidder and she was known for viciously privatising our public sector. This government is pushing the boundaries of what's acceptable to be privatised and what isn't. There have been some services which have in modern history been in public hands, and it has generally been accepted that they belong in public hands - schools, the NHS & hospitals, the police, fire fighters, roads, tax collection, prisons and your local postman (or postwomen) and post office. This government has started privatising some of these. G4S now do the security in prisons. NHS health contracts have been given to private companies. The head of your local police authority is now elected by voters and will have greater influence on how the police force is to be run in your area. Now the Royal Mail will be added to this list. We can't afford to let this happen and give a gateway to further public services being handed over to the private sector.

Why the badger cull should not go ahead

Did you know that the UK government wants to kill the majority of wild badgers in England? This vicious act is known as the badger cull and the excuse given is to combat bovine TB. Over the last couple of weeks they started 2 trial zones for culling badgers - Somerset and Gloucestershire. If the trials are successful, then the cull will be taken to the majority of the country. The plan is to murder over 70% of our wild badgers across the country.

Let's look at why this is happening shall we? England has high levels of bovine TB in cattle that has been on the increase since the 1980s. It is true that wild badgers can carry bovine TB and can pass it onto cattle. DEFRA (Department for Environmental and Rural Affairs) is suggesting that culling badgers will lead to a 16% reduction in bovine TB cases[1]. DEFRA and the government is using that as the reason, or the excuse for the badger cull. Bare in mind that this is a Tory-led coalition government and the Tories are well known for being in favour of killing wildlife for fun. They were fierce opponents to the ban on fox hunting and have threatened to repel the ban. David Cameron enjoys shooting deer and only last month was moaning about a bad back which prevented him from going deer stalking[2]. I contacted the MP for Wyre and Preston North where I am registered to vote, Tory MP Ben Wallace and I received a lengthy reply stating that while he doesn't like to see wildlife culled, we must protect British farmers from the dangers of bovine TB carrying badgers as the economic consequences of doing otherwise are unaffordable. I also spoke to the MP for Preston where I was living at the time, Labour MP Mark Hendrick. He told me that he had worked on a report in the 90s with Margaret Becket (or Harriet Harman, I can't quite remember) which showed that culling badgers does not solve the problem of bovine TB and in fact can increase cases of bovine TB. So there is scientific evidence to suggest that culling badgers does not get rid of bovine TB, and that such a cull could increase cases due to dispersing populations of badgers. Some badger activists have suggested that since it's supposed to be illegal to hunt foxes, the Tories want to provide a different animal which can be hunted for pleasure. Others have suggested that the government are using the badger cull as a scapegoat for the real cause of bovine TB - bad farming practices.

Lots of countries across Europe have high populations of the European badger, yet do not have high levels of bovine TB. Why is this? Well, frankly it's down to different farming methods. The UK is the 4th most densely populated country in Europe, after San Marino, Holland and Belgium. We are also one of the largest consumers and producers of meat in Europe. This leads to having intense farming practices where bovine TB can be spread much more easily. Following the foot and mouth crisis in 2001 farmers restocked their cattle without checking the new cattle for bovine TB and that has never really been dealt with properly since[3]. And if the government's own report suggests a badger cull will reduce bovine TB cases by around 16% then surely badgers must not be the main cause of bovine TB. In fact, the majority of badgers are healthy and not infected with bovine TB, and it is very difficult to distinguish between healthy and infected badgers. How else are we going to deal with the other 84% of bovine TB cases? Here's one suggestion - vaccinations. David Cameron has stated that vaccinating badgers would cost more than a cull of badgers. But this is simply not true, the government have estimated a cost for vaccinating badgers £2,250/sq km/year but the combined estimate for the cull and cost to police the cull will reach a total of £2,429/sq km/year[4]. There currently isn't a vaccination for cattle that is safe and ready to use, but one is being tested and will be ready in around 5-10 years time.

How will the cull take place? Farmers in the pilot areas are to go out at night and shoot badgers. Some badgers will be trapped before being shot. The farmers are not allowed to shoot in the day time for fear of being too close to members of the public. Farmers are going out in secret so it's difficult to find out where they will be.

So what can you do to help badgers? Firstly and from my point of view most importantly you can turn vegan. Turning vegan is not only good for your health and the environment it can help save the badgers. Reduce the demand for beef and dairy and you reduce the demand for cattle to be bred. If we had no demand for cattle then there would be no excuse for the badger cull.

Now is the time to act as culling has started in the pilot zones. Contact your local hunt sabotage group (search through the list here: http://hsa.enviroweb.org/index.php/get-involved/localgroups) and see if they're going to visit the pilot areas. Farmers cannot shoot if members of the public are around so activists are going out at night wearing hi-vis clothes. There are camps in both areas where activists can stay if they want. You can join Brian May's Badger Team campaign: http://www.teambadger.org.uk/. You can get involved in your local Badger Trust group (find your local group here: http://www.badger.org.uk/content/groups.asp). On Sunday 29th of September at 11am in Manchester you can join us on the Tory conference march and tell the government to stop this brutal slaughter of our innocent wildlife. I will be there along with Greens for Animal Protection (GAP, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreensForAnimalProtection Twitter: https://twitter.com/Greens4Animals) and other Green Party members opposed to the cull. For more information visit the Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/498833810194210/. I'll see you there, come and say hello!

The NEED for a living wage.

In Britain today we have several different minimum wages.  Every October minimum wage is supposed to go up, ideally but not always in line with inflation. This year minimum wage for over 21s will rise by 12p to £6.31 an hour with the rate for 18-20 year olds going up by 5p to £5.03 per hour. Minimum wage for apprentices will rise by 3p to £2.68 an hour. This rise is below inflation rates. The Living Wage Foundation calls for the minimum wage to be replaced with a living wage, a wage that truly reflects the genuine minimum costs to have an acceptable standard of living. To this end they call for the living wage to be set differently for the London region as London is a more expensive place to live and work in. They are calling for a living wage of £8.55 per hour in London and £7.45 per hour outside of London.

The minimum wage was introduced in the UK under Tony Blair's Labour government with the National Minimum Wage Act 1998. It was in part a response to the declining trade union movement which led to less bargaining power for workers and thus lower wages. Initially it had two levels of minimum wage, £3.60 for adults aged 21 or over and £3.00 for those aged 18 to 20. There was opposition from Conservative MPs and business owners claiming that businesses will have to sack people as they would not be able to afford to employ them any longer. Fortunately however this did not happen on mass when minimum wage was introduced. In 2003 a minimum wage for 16 and 17 year olds was introduced at £3.00, while 18-20 year olds had £3.80 and over 21s £4.50. In 2010 a minimum wage for apprenticeships was introduced and set at £2.50 an hour. This may look like a good thing, but having a minimum wage for apprenticeships much lower than normal minimum wage has resulted in many jobs being described as an apprenticeship so that a company can get away with paying someone less money.

There is one big problem with the minimum wage. Before the minimum wage was introduced companies had to pay a competitive rate of pay. Since minimum wage has been introduced many employers have lowered their pay to minimum wage, or slightly higher. Competitive rates of pay in some industries have become about how much above minimum wage a job will pay. Often companies will justify low pay by stating something along the lines of "well it is a whole 50p above minimum wage". This wouldn't be a problem if the minimum wage was more than enough to live on, but it barely is.

Years of minimum wage being increased below inflation levels has brought more people and more families into poverty. This has pushed low paid workers into poorer areas, which are often further away from work which increases both travel time and travel cost. There are vast areas of London and the rest of the country where people on minimum wage just cannot afford to live in. God bless any minimum wage worker with children as they are unlikely to be able to afford to treat their children to a holiday or other such things many of us have taken for granted in our childhood. Child poverty really gets to me, and is a strong reason why I am an eco-socialist. People need to be paid a decent wage so we can help avoid child poverty. All children deserve a good happy childhood.

Another big problem with minimum wage is that it is set so low that workers on minimum wage can claim benefits which costs the government a lot of money. Working Tax Credits, currently set around £50-55 a week to any low paid worker over 25 years old working 30 hours or more is proof alone that minimum wage should be increased by at least £1.66. £29.91 billion was spent on tax credits in 2011-12, a whooping £25 billion more and more than 6 times higher than all job seeker's allowance[1]. This money is basically subsidising businesses who should be paying a higher wage. There are a whole host of other benefits that are going to people in low paid jobs. Housing benefit is the second largest state benefit after state pensions and a lot of this is being paid to people currently in work. Subsidising low wages is an expensive job for the government. Increasing minimum wage to the living wage would lower the amount the government spends on helping out low paid workers.

The idea that increasing the pay of the lowest paid will lead to financial ruin for businesses is absurd. The industries which employ people on minimum wage are also the industries with the largest turnover of staff. A high turnover of staff leads to more time and money spent on training up new members of staff. A lower turnover of staff and a higher satisfaction level for staff leads to higher productivity in the workplace. The living wage offers just that - happier and more productive workforces. It would save some businesses money rather than cost them extra money.

The Living Wage has a lot of support throughout society. The Green Party's policy supports the living wage in absence of a citizen's income:

"WR361 To these ends we propose (i) a Citizens Income payable to every citizen as a basic right, funded by an ecological and genuinely progressive taxation system, and (ii) a significant role for unions and workers to ensure decent wage levels. In the absence of a fully developed Citizens Income scheme, we support (a) the idea of minimum wage legislation, set at a level to combat social and economic injustice and the poverty and economic insecurity associated with low pay, and (b) the payment of decent benefits to low-and un-waged people.[2]"

Many councils across the country are becoming living wage employers, including the Green administration in Brighton and Lancaster where the Greens hold the balance of power. The London 2012 Olympics was the first ever living wage Olympics. It's time for the government to seriously consider making the minimum wage the living wage.