Election byline from Sherief Hassan, Green Party Parliamentary candidate for Hemel Hempstead

Immigration is a divisive subject that is being used as a major flag waved by different parties. It raises some questions:

Why do people migrate?

The first one is easy. Escaping conflict. Loss of security from an invading force or local tyranny. I would hope that most people would see this as something we would help with and give sanctuary.

Second, persecution due to ethnicity, faith or sexuality. Again, I would hope that compassion would trump anything else.

Thirdly, economic. There is great poverty across the world – some of it caused by climate change, which we are all responsible for. Many try to find security and a better life by migrating. Why should anyone be allowed into another nation just for money? It isn’t new. During the height of the British Empire, many British people followed their dreams to raise themselves out of poverty by migrating to occupied nations across the world. We don’t think of the spread of empire migrants as similar to today’s economic migrants but they are very similar. Many Brits still emigrate for a better life in other countries. Do we owe something to the people of other countries whose ancestors were ruled by our ancestors?

Why do they go to specific countries?

Despite the misinformation, not every migrant heads to the UK. Most go to other countries like France and Germany. Why? Again, the elephant in the room is language. Many ex-empire/colonial nations retain the occupier’s language – sometimes as their first.

English is the standard second language across the globe – Maybe due to the massive influence of the Empire. The French and Belgian empires left the French language as a reason for many to migrate to those countries.

Migrants, refugees and those that have been granted asylum only give more to their new home. Statistically, they use social services less, and often serve their communities in sectors that we need like the NHS. The economic cases of more general migrants but may be granted leave to remain because they fulfil one of the necessary criteria on economic grounds. Whilst the number of undocumented migrants – who aren’t eligible for benefits, despite what the stories say, only number 52,530 in 2023 against 1.2 million people legally migrating into the UK. 532,000 people emigrated from the UK – including a significant proportion of Brits, leaving a net migration figure of 685,000.

You think it’s bad now?

Being aware of the environmental issues, it is clear that Climate Migration is something we aren’t prepared for. The global south will experience changes so extreme that areas won’t be suitable for human life. They won’t be able to grow the out-of-season fruit and veg that we expect from them. They will do what humans have done throughout our history.

They will migrate. Where to? The global north. Where we live.

What do we do about this? We can prepare for unbelievable conflict, or we can do what we can to reduce climate change and invest in a stable world.

Birthright?

As a person with a diverse ethnicity, I have a view and possible insight into the reasons for migration. My grandfather was born in Lahore, and a British citizen of the Empire. He never held any other nationality. As a doctor, he volunteered in WW2 to tend British Soldiers in North Africa and ran arms to the Libyans during the Italian Occupation. My father, Mamoun Hassan, was born a British citizen in Jeddah. After attending a progressive secondary school in North London, surrounded and nurtured by the children of Jewish refugees from the Nazis, he became interested in the liberal arts. I am proud to say, he rose to hold senior, prominent positions in the British Film Industry, where he championed filmmakers who wanted to tell stories about British life, in all its diversity.

Where did they belong? When the family settled in England, which was never meant to be permanent, they changed their name to avoid attention during the worrying rise in fascism in the ’50s by Oswald Mosely and his Blackshirts. My family’s name was ‘Israeli’. An old name that had a direct line that showed where we came from. My ancient name reveals that we were ‘originally’ a Jewish family from the Holy Land. Is that my homeland? Some would violently disagree!

My grandmother was from Syria. The family were traders throughout the Middle East, through southern Spain, around to Turkey (thanks to a little thing called the Inquisition) and back to Syria. Are any of those places my homeland?

My mother’s father was born in Antrim – a red-haired, blue-eyed son of Ireland who came to England as a boy when the family moved to follow my great-grandfather’s work as a toolmaker in the Royal Docks in Greenwich – Starmer isn’t the only one with family toolmakers. Is Ireland my homeland? Except they were Scots-Irish. Is Scotland my homeland?

My maternal grandmother, whose father served in the Royal Artillery in WW1, was from a true British heritage – with a few Danes added for good measure! Surely not Denmark?

I was born in London. An Englishman, yet I have lived with the certain knowledge, that in many people’s eyes, I did ‘not belong’. Anywhere. How often have I heard “Go back to where you come from”? Where would that be? My homeland is England – Britain. London and in the heart of the Cotswolds, and now nearly 30 years in Hemel Hempstead. I grew up singing English folk songs and was a junior Morris man! My family’s football team is Arsenal. My father watched the cricket every summer – cheering for England in the Ashes. How English can you get? It could have been different but, by fortune or fate, this is my home.

There are many ways to be part of a nation. I believe part of it is how you treat others and accept the responsibility of what we owe, not just to ourselves but, to the world.

Thank you for your support and for taking the time to read this article.

Sherief Hassan

Green Party Parliamentary Candidate for Hemel Hempstead

(Previously stood as Green Party Candidate for Hemel Hempstead in 2017 and 2019)

10th June 2024

hemel.hempstead@votegreen.uk

Promoted by Rose Sheridan on behalf of Dacorum Green Party, at PO Box 78066, London. SE16 9GQ

The Green Party policy on migration can be read here.

https://migration.greenparty.org.uk/migration-policy/

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Election byline from Paul de Hoest, Green Party Parliamentary candidate for Harpenden & Berkhamsted

The most common position I am hearing on the doorsteps is that “we just want to get the Tories out”.  However, the two leading opposition parties in the West Herts area, Labour and LibDem, are clawing votes from each other, not on the strength of their policies, but on the spurious claim that “they are the only party that can beat the Conservative candidate” and a vote for the other lot will “risk letting the Tory back in”.

As Greens we are used to voters liking our values and policies but falling for the temptation to vote for one of the other opposition parties in the hope that this can overturn the Tory candidate.  In the former constituencies of South West Herts and Hitchen & Harpenden in recent campaigns both Labour and LibDems have beaten each other in the attempt to gather sufficient anti-Tory votes to win, and failing.

Corbyn’s Labour Party recorded their worst defeat for 60 years in 2019 whilst now the opinion polls forecast a runaway landslide Labour victory this time.  Local elections suffer from very low turnouts and different voter motivations and so are a poor guide to General Election behaviour.  In these circumstances there is no reliable basis upon which to decide which opposition party has the best chance of winning in this area in the event of a collapse in the Conservative vote.

Nevertheless, we are hearing Green minded people variously considering supporting Labour and LibDem.  However, if Green leaning voters ‘lend’ their vote equally between Labour and LibDem then little is achieved other than artificially depressing the apparent voter support for Green progressive policies.

The Green Party is the only political party with net positive voter ratings

There are many good reasons for voters to ignore the superficial appeal of tactical voting and instead to vote according to their hearts and consciences.

First, the main opposition party will be the Conservatives and so it is vital that the opposition benches also include Green Party MPs.  The Green Party is the only one that will challenge a timid Labour Government that has already committed itself to maintaining Tory economic austerity policies and watered down its Green investment programme.  The Greens are targeting four seats around the country and there is a strong chance that some, or all, of these will be successful.  The Green MP’s parliamentary challenge to Labour will be vastly strengthened the more voters around the country they can speak for.  If the Green national share of the vote is only 5% then their impact would be much less than if the Green national vote share is 15%.

Second, the media take notice of national shares of the vote when allocating airtime to issues and spokespeople. If the Green vote is artificially depressed across the country, then there will be less Green views expressed everywhere in the media.  Given the terrible ecological, climate, poverty and public services crises in this country it is vital that we maximise the media time given to discussing these issues and expressing Green views in all media outlets.

Thirdly, the successful parliamentary candidate represents all members of their constituency, not just their own voters. MPs are aware of how many votes the other parties receive in an election and will often adapt their positions according their perception of voter opinion. Even if the Green candidate does not win, a strong Green vote share will make MPs of all colours more likely to consider Green issues during their own parliamentary deliberations.  We do often hear MPs supporting their own constituents even if this means sometimes going against their own party line?

Fourth, there is also a financial incentive.  Opposition parties receive what is known as “short money” named after Ted Short, a Labour Minister in the Harold Wilson Government of 1974. These are funds provided to opposition parties to help fund their activities (such as research into policy issues) in order to be an effective opposition.  The amount of funding is primarily determined by the total number of votes cast for each opposition party in the most recent election.  A 5% share of the vote would generate approximately £400,000 whereas a 15% share of the vote would increase this Short money to £1.2m.  This could make a massive difference to the effectiveness of Green opposition challenges.  In every individual seat, candidates require at least 5% share of the vote in order to retain their £500 deposit. If Green voters refrain from voting Green so that the vote share drops below 5% then this could cost up to £300,000 to party funds. The Greens are not funded by wealthy corporate, or Trades Union sponsors: almost all of our funds come from individual members, friends and family.

For decades the Green vote has been artificially suppressed and the result is that western governments have done too little too late to address the climate and ecological crises: we have already surpassed 1.5 degree warming, our waters are full of sewage, wildlife has been decimated and our crops are failing.  If your conviction is that it is high time that this country had a more powerful Green voice in politics then I urge you to go with that conviction and Vote Green in this General Election.

Thank you for your support and for taking the time to read this article.

Paul de Hoest

Green Party Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Harpenden & Berkhamsted

(Previously stood as Green Party Candidate for South West Hertfordshire, a seat that has been altered by the boundary commission to create the new seat of Harpenden and Berkhamsted)

3rd June 2024

paul.de-hoest@votegreen.uk

Promoted by Rose Sheridan on behalf of Dacorum Green Party, at PO Box 78066, London. SE16 9GQ

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Paul de Hoest and Sherief Hassan return as the prospective parliamentary candidates for the constituencies of Berkhamsted & Harpenden and Hemel Hempstead respectively.

Paul has served as a Town Councillor in Berkhamsted and from his time in the Bank of England, he has a keen understanding of the economy, business and the way that a green future can, and must, be the way forward for us all.

Sherief’s on the ground work in the constituency has included his committee work with the Boxmoor Trust, and well as being a Trustee of the Halsey Field Nature Site, Committee of the Dacorum Environmental Forum.

Both have run in previous general elections and have been active in campaigning across the borough.

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Dacorum Greens continue to build a presence on local councils in Hertfordshire with the election of two new councillors in Berkhamsted on 4th May 2023. 

Leslie Tate (left), former teacher, now a climate activist and author was elected in Berkhamsted Castle and Kevin Fielding (right), a local science teacher took a seat in Berkhamsted East. 

Kevin and Leslie’s success is part of a bigger story. The Green party started the day with 537 councillors UK wide and now have 737.  This is the largest number of councillors the Green Party have ever held.

The Green Party has seen a net gain of 200 seats, 13 local councils have had breakthroughs, and now we’re the largest party in these councils across the country: Bristol, East Suffolk, Mid Suffolk, East Hertfordshire, Babergh, Lewes, Folkestone and Hythe, Stroud, Forest of Dean and Warwick. And in Mid Suffolk not only are we the largest party, but we’re the first Green majority led council.

In Hertfordshire, Greens are making strides.  The Green Party became the largest on East Herts District Council. The Greens had two seats on the authority before the local elections, which took place on Thursday, May 4. But the party now has 19 seats, more than the Conservative previous incumbents, who have 16.

The post Election wins on Berkhamsted Town Council appeared first on Dacorum Green Party.

Kevin Fielding – Dacorum Green Party candidate for Berkhamsted West

Dacorum Green Party are fielding candidates in the upcoming by-elections in Berkhamsted West and Hemel Hempstead – Boxmoor.

Kevin Fielding is standing in Berkhamsted West.

I first moved to Berkhamsted in 1999, have raised my family here, and care deeply about this community and its surrounding environment. I have also worked locally as a Science Teacher and Laboratory Technician at Ashlyns School and been involved in many social and sporting activities, such as regular attendance with my son at the Sunnyside Rural Trust, and being an active member of the local golf, orienteering and running clubs.

I care passionately that residents’ views are heard, respected and acted upon by local decision makers. I promise to bring new energy, and an independent voice to council meetings. Decisions made by councillors affect our local environment and community. However, the wishes and interests of the town and its residents were ignored in some past decisions. I will fight against any further attempts to damage our town and its surroundings and actively support any scheme that promotes a cleaner, happier, and more prosperous future for us. I promise to listen to your views, and I will bring them to bear at council meetings.

With your vote, I can win here, and enhance your voice in the decisions that will affect how Berkhamsted will develop in the coming years. Residents in Berkhamsted have already recently voted in two Green town councillors, so let’s get your voice heard at Dacorum Borough Council too.

Postal voting cards are being sent on 20th January, so this is your chance to vote for Kevin.

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Now Dacorum is under a new threat to, not just environmental destruction, but also independent applications from developers with plans to add huge estates that place pressure on already strained local services.

The most recent is from Fairfax developers, who have run a long term campaign to smooth the way for a development in the Gade Valley, which would pressurise Gadebridge shop centre, increase traffic, and endanger the delicate wildlife that relies on access to open green spaces. The promise of affordable homes would be beyond the pockets of our children, with new homes being more attractive to those in London.

We responded to their planning application, which was submitted just before Christmas to avoid the attention of Gadebridge and Piccotts End Residents:

On behalf of Dacorum Green Party, I am presenting the parties views and to object to this development on very simple grounds .

The development itself presents a real and present danger to the delicate balance of wildlife in the Gade Valley, both to flora and fauna in the surrounding area, and to the delicate water courses over the River Gade and the chalk stream network that it is part of. The plan fragments existing ecosystems that are delicate and could not be easily replicated. A like for like development of another ecosite is unlikely to be successful without long term management and investment.

Public footpaths that currently run through the site would cease to have the recreational value it has, as it would be absorbed into the development.

The Dacorum Borough Council and Hertfordshire County Council have both made a Climate Emergency Declaration as central to their policy and planning criteria. This development contravenes this position. The 2003 assessment of the High Gade Valley (area 123) states that the area should be conserved, and the natural environment developed to strengthen the diversity of wildlife. There is no part of this plan that recognises this recommendation.

Permitting the site would weaken any future Local Plan in its effectiveness as it would set a dangerous precedent. To approve this plan would display a level of political hypocrisy that Dacorum has so far never seen.

The development sits by itself with very little opportunity for connecting with the rest of Gadebridge as the only pathways are currently through protected woodland or immediately adjacent to a recognised nature site that has been awarded a high-grade status by the CPRE. Even if pathways were restricted through this route, it would still have increased footfall, more potential for dog mess, and increased litter. If the pathways and access were developed, the delicate ecosystems could not survive being next to a paved area, let alone one that has electrical lighting for safety.

As this development has no services included, it would have to rely solely on the local amenities within Gadebridge, Grovehill or Highfield. This would increase the pressure on road traffic and put immediate pressure on local schools. The suggested contribution to refurbish current amenities is a very obvious cheap inducement that does not outweigh the already overloaded parking facilities that it serves. The suggested roundabout access the Leighton Buzzard road would create extra traffic impedance and increased accident risk due to its position.

This plan sits firmly within the Green Belt, and as the current political will has reduced the number of new dwellings that need to be built, this site should be dismissed as a protected greenfield area, with focus on brownfield within Dacorum.

Observations and comments by Consultees have consistently missed the holistic effects on not just the site itself, but the surrounding area and the potential risks from future effects that the Local Plan was trying to set in place.

Submitted by Sherief Hassan on behalf of the Dacorum Green Party. Sherief is the Green Party candidate for Boxmoor in the upcoming Dacorum Borough Council By-Election on 3rd February 2022

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Credit: Sophie Jones – Unsplash

Dacorum Green Party is pushing for a rapid upgrade of local electric vehicle (EV) charging points. Councillor Paul de Hoest (Berkhamsted) and Green Party campaigners Joe Stopps (Tring) and Sherief Hassan (Hemel) are working with EV companies and local councillors to upscale Dacorum’s inadequate charging facilities.

We have companies such as Osprey and Instavolt keen to install rapid chargers right across the area! These companies will install their devices at no cost to the taxpayer and will also pay the council a lease to site them on council land such as public car parks.

Is Dacorum on track with ev charging?

According to Government figures, Dacorum is woefully behind the nation on EV charging facilities. Paul, Joe and Sherief have reached out to various companies to identify suitable sites and are now in the process of working with other local councillors and council officers to make this possible.

The research suggests that over the full life-cycle from manufacture to end-of-life driving an EV creates far fewer emissions and air pollution than the fossil fuel equivalents. Embracing this new technology should not be solely for those privileged to have a private driveway.

The experience of EV in Dacorum

Speaking about this, Joe Stopps said, ‘I own an electric vehicle and live in a Victorian house with no private parking in the Tring Triangle.” Joe went on to say, “With no decent public charging facilities in the town it has proved difficult for me to charge my car, I believe it’s the council’s duty to encourage local people to own EVs, especially when the damage air pollution is doing to our people and our environment is so great.”

If you are the owner of an EV or if you are considering moving to one but are concerned about the lack of EV chargers please reach out to your local councillors and help Paul, Joe and Sherief in their mission to improve EV facilities in Dacorum.

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To tie in with the COP26 summit in Glasgow, Dacorum Borough Council are hosting the first annual event for the Dacorum Climate Action Network (Dacorum CAN) on Wednesday 3rd November.

The event is aimed at local people and will give you an opportunity to network with people and organisations to apply local initiatives with global impact – or ‘think global and act local’!

This is an opportunity to learn more about what you can do to improve your carbon footprint and live more sustainably.

Tickets are free, but there are limited spaces – so if you want to attend, you will need to register quickly and make sure you have proof of a negative lateral flow test within 48 hours of the event on entry.

If you can’t attend in person, you can select a ‘virtual ticket’ to attend online

You can register via this link

Political Parties aren’t going to be represented – Dacorum Greens weren’t approached – but some of us will be attending as active members of other local green initiatives. We hope to see you there!

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A piece about rewilding written in a personal capacity by Kevin Fielding, a Trustee of Berkhamsted Common

Have you ever wondered what we can do locally to combat the devastating effects of human-caused mass species extinction and climate change?  Or perhaps you have simply enjoyed some of the beautiful scenery in Dacorum and want it to be available for the generations that will follow us?  If so, please read on; together I hope we can help protect what we still have, and perhaps even enhance it for the future.

Berkhamsted Common is a privately-owned local wildlife site (LWS) covering several hundred acres of the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). It lies just north of the town of Berkhamsted and effectively forms a continuation of the Natural Trust Ashridge Estate.  I am one of nine trustees that manage the common for the benefit and use of local people.  The common consists of a bio-diverse habitat mix of acid grasslands and successional forest. As a legacy of its common land status, the public have rights to air and exercise, making it a great place for a walk, ride, picnic, or just to chill out surrounded by nature. It is also the home for a wide variety of wildlife; from deer and muntjac in the forests, to frogs and newts in the ponds, and from bees, butterflies and badgers in the fields, to kestrels, owls, buzzards and bats in the skies above.

An Orange Tip Butterfly on Berkhamsted Common Bluebells in May. (Picture credit: Kevin Fielding).

For the last ten years, this land has been managed following a plan originally devised by the Hertfordshire and Middlesex Wildlife Trust (HMWT).  This management scheme ends in October 2022, and the Trustees have commissioned an updated report from HMWT to cover the next ten years.  However, I am also canvassing opinions from as many other interested parties as possible to forge a consensus on how best to manage this landscape going forward.  As with all areas of public access land, there may be conflicts between agendas based upon enhancing public amenity, improving biodiversity, contributing to national climate targets, and minimizing management costs.

The acid grassland and successional forest habitats of the Western Slopes of Berkhamsted Common. (Picture credit: Kevin Fielding).

Recently, I have been involved in running a set of guided walks with interested individuals and local organisations trying to find a consensus on how we should manage the complex ecosystems present on the Common.  Local people were invited during the Berkhamsted Green Week, and other visitors include Berkhamsted Golf Club members, the Chorleywood Common rangers, members of HMWT, and reciprocal visits with The Friends of Halsey Field (a local wildlife site near Hemel Hempstead).  I have learned a lot from these visits, including ways to improve wildflower variety, the best way to promote heather restoration, improving pond and water-margin management, and the importance of increasing over-wintering insect habitats by leaving a portion of the grassland uncut each autumn as part of our grassland management plan. One repeating theme is the need for continuity of habitats, connecting the living spaces for our wildlife to allow them to roam and flourish.

Sometimes life does not have to be in conflict, and my hope is that we will be able to marry all these objectives over the next ten years.  If we can make the common a great place for wildlife to live, and so improve its biodiversity we will be able to increase the common’s contribution towards national climate targets and improve the amenity to local people.

Please contact Dacorum Green Party if you have any comments on how Berkhamsted Common is currently managed, or if you have ideas for how it should be managed in the future.  Kevin Fielding, one of the Trustees of the Common, will be happy to provide interested Dacorum Green Party members with a guided walk.

The post A walk on the common: working together for a greener future appeared first on Dacorum Green Party.

Sherief says,

He speaks about his commitment to public transport here:

Sherief Hassan, Our county council candidate for Hemel Hempstead NW, has made a series of short videos that look at issues that affect us all, and his view for the future.Posted by Dacorum Green Party (UK) on Sunday, 2 May 2021

Vote for Sherief Hassan for Hemel Hempstead North West on 6th May

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