Guest Blog - The Outrageous Lies of the Barnet Eye blog about the Barnet Green Party - By A.M Poppy - Green Party Candidate

Roger, I enjoy your company, value your friendship, and appreciate your commentary on Barnet goings-on. I am hoping you will publish this rebuttal of some of the more outrageous statements you've recently made about Barnet Greens in your blogposts above.

The prompt was this comment you made on 23 May: “It is time for the Greens to wake up and smell the coffee. All they do in Barnet is scupper the chances of other progressive candidates.”*

What?! Who is scuppering whom around here? In all the wards but one declared last week, the Lib Dems and UKIP were also there, below Labour and the Tories “scuppering” the chances of the two big parties. Why are you picking on the Greens? I think I find my answer in the post of 18 May where you say: “I don't support the Green manifesto or agenda.” I suspect you never read them, but no matter you're entitled to feel hostile. Don't let that personal animus warp your accuracy.

You've stood for the Lib Dems. Does it pain you that we Greens are now firmly established as the third party in Barnet, displacing the LibDems in all the 2012 ballots in Barnet and in all but two of Barnet's wards declared last week? I could more credibly argue that those who get in the way of the Greens are scuppering the progressive cause.

Ah, that 'progressive' label – whom does it describe?

The Liberal Democrats who are working with the Tories to impose stringent austerity on local government, and whose credibility is blown to smithereens?

Labour who ushered in the privatisation of the NHS, were intensely relaxed about extreme inequality and who, in Barnet, voted for a 1% cut in council tax and, I discover reading your blog: “The Barnet Labour Party could have stopped [One Barnet] in its tracks. Local Trades Unions and Bloggers had dug up enough evidence to proove(sic) that the whole scheme was a disaster waiting to happen. Labour did nothing and said nothing. They never came out and opposed the scheme and never said they'd reverse it?”

We Greens are at the forefront of the campaign against the cuts and austerity (leading Green Romayne Phoenix is Chair of Coalition of Resistance, and with the People's Assembly), and are deeply democratic. We remain a bottom-up party, and we take no corporate money so are not beholden to big business and committed to that pernicious myth – the free market.

That democratic instinct drives us to offer people the chance to vote for a genuinely progressive party, rather than let the undemocratic diktat of first-past-the-post disenfranchise the progressives. Wishing to remove us from the ballot paper, as you suggest in your blogpost, is the counsel of despair seeking the least worst option. Who would that be? Ah, in the post of 25 May you tell us: “I think we can safely say that the Labour Party was shafted by the Greens in Hale.”

I share your profound disappointment that Barnet's Tories, who as richly as any local administration deserved to be booted out, are still our majority party. Being a bottom-up party, we are in a position to conduct discussions and make decisions in the collective interest. But not once has anyone sought to talk to us.

You wake up Roger, smell your prejudices, and see who is the leading progressive voice in Barnet this decade.

Poppy

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The nasty side of the Barnet Green party

On Saturday, I had the audacity to criticise the Barnet Green Party. Read this post :-

http://barneteye.blogspot.com/2010/05/barnet-greens-more-like-barnets-biggest.html

I wake up this morning to see Donald Lyven has left a comment. It seems like Mr Lyven doesn't like criticism very much. He says

Rog, your behaving like a complete arse again. I did not state in a letter anything of the sort. What is your problem? Is this the new politics? slagging off other parties because of your own twisted logic? You're the one who should be thoroughly ashamed.

Call me on 07939-021480 and I'll explain.

Donald Lyven - Barnet Green

Well for the purposes of clarity, lets set a few things straight. Firstly, if you read the original post, you will see that I put a link from the blog to Donalds letter to the Times. People can read what he said and decide whether I was being unfair (or an Arse as Donald so eloquently puts it).

The main thrust of my criticism is that the Green party in Barnet are not interested in the least well off people. This can be demonstrated by the fact that they stood candidates in well off areas like Mill Hill but didn't bother to put even one candidate up in Burnt Oak, probably the poorest ward in Barnet.

http://www.barnet.gov.uk/burnt-oak-elections2010-2.pdf

Now having said that I have a problem and my logic is twisted, Mr Lyven then invites me to ring him to explain. Why doesn't he just use the comments system to leave a clarification? He could say anything he likes and if he really believes that I've used twisted logic, he could give a fullsome explanation, which really would make me look like an "arse".

Mr Lyven says I should be ashamed. What for, for pointing out that Mr Lyvens party ignore the most deprived ward in Barnet? For putting a link to his own comments? He asks "Is this the new politics". Well sorry mate, I rather like the old politics. I preferred Labour when it was "Old Labour". I prefer it when people speak openly and frankly. Some of the people I admire most (but don't agree with) are Conservatives who are not afraid to speak their mind. Are they "arses"? No, they are just people who disagree with me. If Donny boy wants to be taken seriously, he'd better learn to deal with criticism in a more mature manner.

Mr Lyven's comments remind me of one of the "friends of freer" who often used to leave comments here claiming I'd "twisted things", whilst never ever actually providing any evidence (such as I do with links). I do wonder if maybe John Hart carried out his threat to buy the Greens a beer and used the opportunity with his sweet talking charm to persuade Donald to leave such a stupid comment.

P.S Note to Donald. I like a good row so bring it on.

Barnet Greens? More like Barnets biggest disgrace

I daresay that this particular blog will upset a few people. Sometimes harsh things have to be said. Don't get me wrong, I support many of the policies of the green party, but now the Green party have an MP and they want to be taken seriously, we need to have a closer look at what they are, what they support, what they stand for and who supports them. In a letter to the Hendon Times Donald Lyven, green party candidate states that they doubled their vote. Well I have this question, how many votes did the greens get in Burnt Oak? The answer , none. They couldn't be bothered to stand (Check for yourself if you don't believe me - http://www.barnet.gov.uk/burnt-oak-elections2010-2.pdf). Now is this because burnt Oak has the most superb environment in the Borough of Barnet? Is it because everyone in Burnt Oak already buys organic? Is it because everyone in Burnt Oak already drives a Prius?

Nope, none of these reasons would apply. If anywhere needs it's environment improving in Barnet it's Burnt Oak. Where are the legions of Green Party activists fighting for better conditions for kids in the most run down area of the Borough. Where is the campaign to preserve the habitats? So why ignore Burnt Oak and campaign in the next door ward of Mill Hill? Well in terms of the quality of environment, Mill Hill is clearly less in need of a bit of "greening" than Burnt Oak. Unlike working class Burnt Oak, middle class Mill Hill is seen by the greens as a happy hunting ground. You see when you are asking for cash, the population of Mill Hill has more wonga in their wallet. A nice green campaigner outside Waitrose, grabbing people as they emerge with their organic wholefood tofu burgers is far more likely to stick their hands in their wallets than a harrassed single mum buying her beans in Burnt Oak. You see the "highly principled" green campaigners don't care about the people who need environmental champions the most. They care about the people with the dosh.

On the election night I was having a bit of a laugh with Tory Mill Hill candidate, John Hart. He told me he loved the greens in Mill Hill "They are our fifth column". John knew that they would take votes most likely to go to the Lib Dems. John said that if he won he'd take them out for a drink.He then said something else. He said that Matthew Offord won the election in Burnt Oak. He said "The 600 votes we picked up there was the difference". John Hart understands the world of real politics. Even the Tories campaign in Burnt Oak. Even the Tories care more about the people at the bottom of the pile than the Greens. Whilst I will always fight the corner for the environment and the green belt, I consider the Greens to be a disgrace. Any supposedly national party which doesn't care about those at the bottom of the pile should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves. There really is no excuse.