Green Party mailing
CHRISTMAS NEWSLETTER 2021

Only a year ago, I was writing in my Christmas newsletter that 2020 had
been the most extraordinary year for all of us. I never imagined then that
as 2021 draws to a close, we would be entering yet another phase of the
Covid pandemic with the new Omicron variant, more necessary measures to
keep people safe and the prospect of more heartache. But I know that the
compassion and sense of community that people have shown over the past two
years will pull us through the challenges that Covid continues to throw at
us.

LOOKING BACK AT ANOTHER YEAR OF COVID

While 2021 has been a year of lockdowns, easing of restrictions, severe
pressures on our NHS and a phenomenal vaccine rollout, it's also been a
year of holding the Government to account for its handling of the pandemic.


I was part of a legal action against the Government over SECRETIVE PPE
CONTRACTS which went to the High Court in February. We won the case, with
the Court ruling that the Secretary of State for Health had broken the law
by failing to publish details of Covid-related contracts. When billions of
pounds has been spent on these contracts, much of it without a competitive
tender, we have a right to know who got contracts, why they got them and
how much they were paid - information that the Government has not published
in full.

As a member of the All-Pparty Parliamentary Group on Coronavirus, I've been
involved in a number of inquiries into the impact of the virus. One of the
issues we looked into was LONG COVID, which affects as many as 300,000
people in the UK. We called for more public funding for research, a Long
Covid compensation scheme and better support for people suffering from it.

The rise of the Omicron variant also underlines how important support for
businesses is - the Chancellor's silence is completely unacceptable. I've
urged the Government to commit to a continued low rate of VAT, extend and
expand business rates relief (with council reimbursed), new grant
programmes, a proper self-employed income support scheme and flexibility
over repaying existing loans.

I've spoken out [1] and written [2] about the INEQUITY OF THE COVID VACCINE
ROLLOUT which has seen rich nations procure enough doses to vaccinate their
populations many times over while poorer ones are left to pick up the
crumbs. I have pushed the Government to waive the intellectual property
rights for Covid vaccines at the World Trade Organisation so they can be
manufactured in the global south and made more widely available.

Shamefully, the UK government is among a small group of countries which
continues to resist this, putting the profits of Big Pharma before global
health.

THE CLIMATE & NATURE CRISES

The most important event on the climate emergency this year was the COP26
UN CLIMATE SUMMIT in Glasgow. The final agreement fell far, far short of
what's required in terms or ambition or urgency and failed to deliver
climate justice to countries on the frontline of the climate crisis, with
broken pledges on climate finance and no compensation package for the loss
and damage that those countries are suffering now. I spent just over a week
in Glasgow, where I joined 100,000 people in Scotland's biggest-ever
protest on the march for climate justice, and took part in a number of side
events at the summit.

I wrote comment pieces for the iPaper [3], the Evening Standard [4] and the
Independent [5]. In my column in Metro [6], I summed up what I thought the
summit had, and hadn't, achieved.

In the run-up to COP26, I led a debate [7] in Parliament on the climate
emergency and limiting global temperature rise to 1.5C. I introduced the
GREEN NEW DEAL BILL, to decarbonise the UK economy and reverse inequality,
and I continue to promote the CLIMATE AND ECOLOGICAL EMERGENCY BILL, which
I introduced as a private member's bill last year. It now has the support
of 118 cross-party MPs. I also led the first-ever Commons debate [8] on a
WELLBEING ECONOMY approach to tackling climate change - the issue that was
glaringly absent in the COP26 negotiations.

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

For the past 2 years, I have been working as a Co-chair of IPPR's
Environmental Justice Commission, to listen to ideas put forward by a
number of Citizens' Juries around the UK and then to make proposals on how
we transition in a fair way to net zero emissions and restore nature. Our
report [9], published in July, made clear that there must be a "fairness
lock" on the essential changes to come as this is key to winning public
support. If governments take a people-first approach with direct public
involvement in decision-making, the shift to a zero carbon future could
deliver better transport, good new jobs and better health and wellbeing.

CHALLENGING SLEAZE

The persistent allegations and instances of Tory sleaze are doing huge
damage to our democracy - the scandal over parties held at Downing Street
last year when the country was in lockdown are just the latest evidence of
this Government's attitude of one-rule-for-us-one-for-everyone-else. We've
had the lobbying scandal, questions over the refurbishment of the Downing
Street flat, the Government's attempt to change the rules to protect one of
their own and, in many respects worst of all, the Prime Minister's
persistent failure to tell the truth to Parliament. Misleading the House
used to be an automatic resignation issue. Under Boris Johnson, it's being
normalised with no consequences as he is the ultimate arbiter of the
Ministerial Code.

Earlier this year, I joined five other party leaders at Westminster writing
to the Speaker [10] calling out the Prime Minister's conduct and asking
that we be allowed to bring a motion challenging his failure to give
accurate information to MPs. I also raised this a number of times in
Parliament and wrote about it in my Metro column [11]. The rules for
governing conduct in public office need to change.

CHALLENGING GOVERNMENT LEGISLATION

It's hard to remember a year when more draconian bills have been put before
Parliament which pose real threats to basic democratic rights and freedoms.
I have spoken out against all of them.

The POLICING BILL would restrict the right to peaceful protest, hand huge
powers to the Home Secretary and give police the right to ban protests
which are too "noisy" or cause "serious disruption" - my speech against it
is here [12], and I also challenged the PM at Prime Minister's Questions
[13]; the NATIONALITY & BORDERS BILL criminalises refugees who reach our
shores by anything other than an official route (most of which have been
closed down) and gives the Home Secretary the right to deprive someone of
their UK citizenship without even telling them; the ELECTIONS BILL is a
blatant attempt to deny people without photo ID the ability to vote and
ends the PR system for the only elections in England which aren't run on
the deeply unfair first-past-the-post system - I wrote about a column for
the Independent [14] about the dangers this bill poses to democratic
rights.

Other important bills which I have opposed or tried to amend are the FIRE
SAFETY BILL [15], which leaves leaseholders in buildings under 18 metres to
pick up the costs of fixing unsafe cladding and fails to address other
fire-safety issues which affect residents in a number of blocks in
Brighton; the NHS BILL [16] which gives private health care companies
including US health giants a foothold in our NHS; and the ENVIRONMENT BILL
[17] which weakens environmental protections we once had and creates a new
regulator who is not fully independent of ministers.

THE AFGHANISTAN REFUGEE CRISIS

The sudden fall of Kabul to the Taliban in August has created a huge
humanitarian crisis. Like many MPs, I've been inundated with desperate
pleas for help from constituents who have close family members trapped in
Afghanistan or who are trapped themselves. The Government's response has
been lamentable, with the promised Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme
still not operational four months after it was announced. My Early Day
Motion [18] on this has support from MPs of all parties. I held a special
face-to-face surgery in September and have raised the issue of family
reunions and the plight of refugees in the Commons with the Prime Minister
[19] and the Home Office [20]. During the emergency debate in August, I
spoke [21] about how the Nationality & Borders Bill would criminalise, or
deny full refugee status to, someone fleeing Afghanistan and making their
own journey to seek asylum in the UK and wrote [22] about this too.

OTHER WORK IN THE CONSTITUENCY

Throughout the year, I've tried to support constituents to resolve some of
the issues and problems they face. The messages I receive from them
sometimes highlight further national policy flaws that need changing. At
other times, I try to support individuals who are battling organisational
bureaucracy in their attempts to resolve disputes with various companies or
government departments like DWP and HMRC.

I've been able to help constituents who have been victims of fraud to
recover money from their bank and I've pushed HMRC to resolve a dispute
over a historic and wrongly calculated £2,000 tax credit 'overpayment'.
But this year a lot of my time has been spent trying to chase up processing
delays. Covid has stretched many Government agencies even further, leaving
the DVLA, the Probate Service, HMRC, the Home Office, and many others at
breaking point. The impact of this can be significant, so I've tried to
support constituents in getting applications processed, documents returned
and cases expedited on compassionate grounds.

One of my biggest concerns locally, which is reflected in my constituency
case work, is the crisis in child and adolescent mental health services
(CAMHS). I'm continuing to do what I can to support constituents, as well
as looking for opportunities in my parliamentary work to keep this urgent
issue on the agenda.

DEFENDING MARINE PROTECTED AREAS

In July, I went out with Greenpeace activists to see for myself the huge
damage being caused by fly-shooting fishing trawlers in the seas off Sussex
- an area which is designated as a Marine Protected Area but where this
destructive form of fishing is still legal. It was shocking to see how the
huge nets trap everything in their wake leaving the area a virtual marine
desert. Government pledges to protected 30 percent of land and marine areas
for nature are meaningless if this kind of fishing is allowed to continue.

MEDIA

 I've appeared on BBC, C4, C5 and Sky news programmes as well as local
news outlets over the past year. I've written comment pieces for the
Guardian, Independent, iNews, Prospect, New Statesman and other
publications. I write fortnightly for Metro [23] and have a monthly column
in the Brighton & Hove Independent. Thank you to everyone who follows me on
Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.

Finally, thank you to every organisation in Brighton which has welcomed me
to their workplace or home, or invited me to attend an event in the past
year. Representing Brighton Pavilion in Parliament is a huge privilege and
meeting constituents is one of the best things about the role.

Wherever and however you are celebrating, I wish you all a happy Christmas
and a peaceful New Year.



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Contacting Me

If you are a local resident and need help with case work or to find out more about my activities locally please do contact me at the office of: Caroline Lucas MP, Brighton Media Centre 15-17 Middle Street, Brighton BN1 1AL.
Tel: 01273 201 130. Email: [email protected]

I hold regular surgeries across the constituency. If you would like to book an appointment at a forthcoming surgery please call Liz Collis on 01273 201130.
She coordinates my constituency office and is able to help with most local enquiries.

If you would like to know about my parliamentary work please get in touch at the House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA.
Tel: 020 7219 7025. Email: [email protected]

You can also keep up to date with my news on:

Twitter: @carolinelucas

Facebook: /carolinelucas.page

My Website: www.carolinelucas.com

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