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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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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Each town in Dacorum will be affected in different ways by the Local Plan, but the impact of an unchanged plan would change our communities in fundamental ways.

Our general response to the Local Plan can be seen in a previous post.

Sherief Hassan is the prospective Herts County Council Election candidate for Hemel Hempstead North West, and he made observations and comments that we included in our official response to Dacorum Borough Council:

Hemel Hempstead will bear the greatest increase in houses across Dacorum, with a total of 5,945 homes built on Green Belt land of the 16, 899 proposed development across the whole of Dacorum.

Inadequate thought and enforceable commitments on the Council and Developers to the pressures on water supplies, water waste, traffic needs, medical facilities, education, recreation, recycling centres and employment needs (to name but a few crucial infrastructure requirements) have been made.

The Garden Communities document is a good piece of groundwork, but it lacks the power to halt inappropriate development.

Specific Issues to Hemel Hempstead include:

1) Hemel Hempstead would be affected in a similar way to Tring . The pressure on crucial infrastructure it is difficult to justify. The increase in traffic around the existing road network would cause major issues and increases in emissions (contravening SA Objectives 4 & 5 of the Local Plan)

2) Whilst it is recognised that development of this scale would require water extraction that would have a serious impact on the land and environment , it is also true that once the development is approved the water companies are required by law to provide water and waste provision. There is nowhere in the local plan that recognises this serious environmental impact .

3) The largest block of development to the North of Hemel Hempstead is on Green Belt land that is vital to absorb rainfall, which in turn mitigates future flooding. There is inadequate recognition of the effect of run-off water to the delicate protected chalk stream of the Gade that the plan would bring. Similar concerns have been ignored in the LA3 development which predates the new Local Plan.

4) The development stops short of building on areas recognised as being of outstanding natural beauty but fails to recognise that it is within the view of the aforesaid area of natural beauty which would impair the value of what is left .

5) The assurance that developers would replant after the destruction of existing mature forest and Woodland does not recognise the pressures that rewilding would require during development and furthermore does not give any compulsory use of locally sourced saplings that would mitigate the risks of introducing arboreal disease that has been prevalent in other replanting that has been sourced from the continent (meeting SA Objective 1).

6) Increasing public transport needs to be a compulsory ironclad guarantee within the development, with any infrastructure such as roads recognising the need for bus routes to be considered. Despite the production in ‘on the ground retail opportunities’ within housing developments, there must be ‘village centres’ that are a hallmark of the rest of the previous development of Hemel Hempstead. These should include places of worship .

7) To avoid natural spaces that have been referred to as ‘landscaping’ becoming purely dog walking spaces, there must be minimum dimension spaces to allow for natural growth and biodiversity which also includes woodland.

8) Existing cycle paths in Hemel Hempstead are not joined up, starting and stopping in strange places. This only encourages leisure cycling and discourages cycling as a safe form of transport. A guaranteed commitment to a fully integrated cycling network must be part of the plan for Hemel Hempstead.

9) There is a concern is that with an increase of housing/population that is being suggested, there is inadequate Hospital provision. Even if the plan is adjusted to recognise the government’s own data of a reduced volume of housing, an extension to the local plan must include some form of Hospital and A&E provision.

10) New blocks of development are separated from the rest of the town by the industrial zone or by having no natural routes to connect with existing areas without serious disruption and unreasonable pressure on existing infrastructures.

The post The Dacorum Local Plan – A focus on Hemel Hempstead appeared first on Dacorum Green Party.

Sherief was selected as candidate at a joint meeting of Dacorum Green Party and Three Rivers Green Party.

Sherief has lived and worked in Hemel Hempstead for over 20 years where both of his children were born in Hemel Hospital. As well as working self-employed as a media consultant, Sherief volunteers with Radio Dacorum as a presenter, is on the committee of the Friends of Halsey Field Local Wildlife group, and acts as Child Protection Officer for the Boxmoor Playhouse where he has been a member since 2012.

Sherief has been campaigning for the Green Party in Dacorum for several years and given a commitment to never stop fighting for a clean future for the generations to come.

He said, “Hemel Hempstead is in desperate need of reliable trains and buses – and the situation is getting worse. If our rapidly growing town is to be sustainable, we have to fix this long-term problem now!”

Sherief stated, “This election is being called for one reason: Brexit, a subject of vital concern to us all. However, for Greens the real challenge is the Climate Emergency. As a Green MP I will fight for the right of the British voting public to approve the Brexit withdrawal agreement through a People’s Vote. I believe that the bonfire of regulations and safeguards that are proposed can only harm our fragile environment and continue our failure to meet our much-needed targets.

“We are witnessing a very worrying decline in our environment, oceans, and air quality. We desperately need a Green New Deal to address climate chaos, prioritise renewables and public transport and to deliver a better way of life. Our planet needs people in power who recognise that we are living in a climate emergency and are dedicated to taking action.”

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