Reasons to be cheerful

The Green Party achieved a great victory last night by electing Caroline Lucas, leader of the Green Party as the first Green MP.  Considering how flawed our current first past the post electoral system is, this is a great achievement.

It is unfortunate that we did not do as well in other constituencies.  Although we did get respectable results in some other constituencies such as Norwich South, Lewisham Deptford and Cambridge.  I can't help but think that we would have had better outcomes if the electorate hadn't been sold on the idea of tactical voting, and the belief that the Lib Dems were a serious threat to the 2 main parties, when in reality they came away with less seats than 2005.

As it stands it looks like our fears have been realised and Clegg is in discussions with Cameron to support a Tory minority government.  The discussions may end up being fruitless, but part of me feels that Clegg will be willing to sell out for a taste of power.

I greatly respect Caroline Lucas for refusing to enter any coalition or pact and to judge legislation on a case by case basis.

All we can hope for is that something good comes out of a hung parliament and we end up with a fairer voting system.

Caroline Lucas tops the league for of UK MEP's promoting transparency and reform

Open Europe have produced league table of MEP's based on their commitment to promoting transparency and reform. Caroline along with an SNP and Independent MEP came the top of the UK list and joint 10th across Europe's 785 MEP's.

With such disillusion among voters at the moment, this is a positive story we can sell to the UK voters.

Caroline Lucas in Palestine

The following is an extract from Caroline's blog, which she is regularly posting to while in Palestine from 25th Feb - 1st March:

We were met by staff of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), who were to be our guides for the rest of the day. As we drove into Gaza City, the scale of the destruction quickly became apparent. Whole neighbourhoods have been flattened, the concrete walls and floors of collapsed houses jutting out at impossible angles. The human cost of such devastation is almost unimaginable.

Yet one of the things that shocked me too was evidence of the deliberate targeting of Gaza’s industrial areas. Dynamite had been used to blow up enterprises like flour mills, a cement packing operation, even an ice-cream factory. And where tanks and bulldozers had failed to fully destroy the contents of buildings, fires were set alight to do the job instead.

Please take time to visit Caroline's blog to read about her experiences in Gaza.