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Brighton has become an object lesson in why it is a disaster to vote Green.



Garage_Doors

Originally the Swankers
Jun 28, 2008
11,789
Brighton
Don't shoot the messenger.

I didn't write the article.

http://www.spectator.co.uk/features...lesson-in-why-it-is-a-disaster-to-vote-green/

The eco-comrades have experimented with a series of bizarre policies
Tim Stanley 18 October 2014


I have just moved back to Brighton, and I am happy to report that it remains as shambolic as ever. The estate agent said before opening the door to a prospective flat, ‘I’m obliged by law to tell you that the previous tenant was an alcoholic and died here.’ I replied, ‘I am not surprised and that is not a problem.’ No one who knows Brighton expects puritanism.

Unfortunately, we have grown to expect dreadful politics. Since 2010, both the MP and the council have gone Green, turning the town into a laboratory for their kooky ideas. Given that they are being called the Ukip of the left — an outsider party on the verge of an electoral breakthrough that could make them bigger than the Lib Dems — the Green experiment in Brighton ought to serve as a warning to the entire country.



There have been some silly gimmicks reminiscent of the 1980s loony left: a proposed ‘meat-free Monday’ in council-run staff canteens (reversed when the bin men demanded their bacon back), gender-neutral toilets, and allowing people to identify as Mr, Mrs or Mx on council forms (Mx means Mixter, meaning someone who doesn’t define as male or female — not to be confused with the MX, which was a nuclear missile in the Cold War). Many of their mistakes are due to naivety. Faced with cuts, council leader Jason Kitcat proposed a 4.75 per cent tax increase to be endorsed in a referendum. Labour called it a silly political stunt, as the cost of the vote — estimated at £900,000 — would itself plug many of the gaps. The idea was quashed.

Such is their incompetence that the Greens often hurt the very causes they push. While I was staggered to find that I might face a £50,000 fine if I put something plastic in the paper-only recycling bin outside my house, I was amused to discover that most people just ignore the warnings and dump away — with the result that Green Brighton now ranks 302nd out of 326 councils for its recycling record. The problem is a mix of poor information, a strange recycling collection programme open to abuse, and ceaseless disruptions to the service that mean people have given up trying to do ‘the right thing’.

Last year, the Greens failed to prevent a strike among bin men, with the result that Brighton underwent its very own winter of discontent. Gulls feasted amid the piled-high rubbish. Inevitably, some of the Greens sympathised with the oppressed refuse collectors and joined them on the picket line. There’s an intra-party split every 30 seconds among the eco-comrades.

This year the Greens worked in concert with the Conservatives to secure funding for an architectural monstrosity: a 574ft tower to be erected on the beach opposite Brighton’s burnt-out West Pier. It will be hideous. A giant up-yours to the landscape that would look audaciously phallic in Tokyo, it is totally out of place in a town where the buildings are no more than three storeys high. This particular act of cultural sabotage says a lot about the Green agenda. They aren’t interested in conserving what they inherit so much as transforming it to reflect their progressive ideology. Not for them the countryside of traditional farming and hunting, nor the ramshackle urbanity of Georgian Brighton. No — they dream of an integrated eco/bio/renewable future of steel and glass that will render the inefficient past obsolete. Why else have they welcomed the construction of a huge windfarm off the Sussex coast? Covering more than 60 square miles, the forest of offshore turbines will number over 100 and stand 700ft tall. The only upside is that they might kill all the gulls — leaving any uncollected rubbish to rot unmolested.

How did the Greens, with no real experience of governing, get the votes to do all this? It’s down partly to the collapse in traditional support for Labour post-Blair. But it’s also due to the migration of middle-class London liberals to the south coast, with its cheap houses and easy rail access. And in this regard, the Greens are indeed the inverted image of Ukip — and not only in the sense of being philosophical opposites. Where Ukip represents a revolt of natives against newcomers, the Greens represent a revolt of newcomers against natives. Old Brighton was a working-class seat that voted Conservative until 1997. The new Brighton is becoming a colony of Islington: it’s what the entire country would turn into if it were run by the people who bought Russell Brand’s new booky-wook. Trendy, yes. But they are impractical and very irritating.
 


Pantani

Il Pirata
Dec 3, 2008
5,445
Newcastle
In other news the Socialist Worker thinks unions are a good thing!

Come on PS, The Spectator is hardly an unbiased media source. What would you expect The Spectator to say about the Greens? This article does not bother to point out any of the successes that the Green Party have had in Brighton because it does not suit their agenda.
 






Westdene Seagull

aka Cap'n Carl Firecrotch
NSC Patreon
Oct 27, 2003
20,938
The arse end of Hangleton
Such is their incompetence that the Greens often hurt the very causes they push. While I was staggered to find that I might face a £50,000 fine if I put something plastic in the paper-only recycling bin outside my house, I was amused to discover that most people just ignore the warnings and dump away — with the result that Green Brighton now ranks 302nd out of 326 councils for its recycling record. The problem is a mix of poor information, a strange recycling collection programme open to abuse, and ceaseless disruptions to the service that mean people have given up trying to do ‘the right thing’.

Pretty much on the mark except this bit. I've lost count of the f*ckwits who write to The Argus complaining binmen mix recycling materials when they themselves haven't bothered to spot you CAN mix plastic with cardboard you moron Tim ! The only things you have to keep separate in your recycling are glass and batteries.

That said the Greens record on recycling is utter shambolic and a very good reason never to vote for them again ( amongst other reasons ).

PS - I bet there will be a tubby radio presenter along soon defending the Greens to the hilt despite always claiming he's not a Green supporter / member.
 




Garage_Doors

Originally the Swankers
Jun 28, 2008
11,789
Brighton
In other news the Socialist Worker thinks unions are a good thing!

Come on PS, The Spectator is hardly an unbiased media source. What would you expect The Spectator to say about the Greens? This article does not bother to point out any of the successes that the Green Party have had in Brighton because it does not suit their agenda.

Fair point, not sure there are many successes are there.
 


Not Andy Naylor

Well-known member
Dec 12, 2007
8,787
Seven Dials
Where are the "cheap houses" that this ignorant idiot mentions, then? He also does not seem to know that Brighton has two parliamentary seats, one of which was won by Labour twice in the 1960s.
 


Pantani

Il Pirata
Dec 3, 2008
5,445
Newcastle
Fair point, not sure there are many successes are there.

Of course there are. I cannot be bothered to do this again, I'm sure someone else can be bothered but it isn't going to be me. Fact is, I'm as left wing as they come, but I can also recognise that Conservative administrations have achieved some wonderful things. Maybe you should try and be that grown up too.
 




clippedgull

Hotdogs, extra onions
Aug 11, 2003
20,789
Near Ducks, Geese, and Seagulls
This year the Greens worked in concert with the Conservatives to secure funding for an architectural monstrosity: a 574ft tower to be erected on the beach opposite Brighton’s burnt-out West Pier. It will be hideous. A giant up-yours to the landscape that would look audaciously phallic in Tokyo, it is totally out of place in a town where the buildings are no more than three storeys high.

Sussex Heights and the high rises just off the seafront must just be an illusion then :facepalm:
 




Vegas Seagull

New member
Jul 10, 2009
7,782
The 'tower' is opposite Sussex Heights, the tallest building in Sussex at 20? Storeys, he really should open his eyes
 




midnight_rendezvous

Well-known member
Aug 10, 2012
3,737
The Black Country
Expect to see more articles and the like discrediting the Greens over the next year. They are probably the only realistic alternative to the main parties so they will be discredited left, right and centre to give the four neoliberal parties a better run in.
 


Colossal Squid

Returning video tapes
Feb 11, 2010
4,906
Under the sea
I started reading with an open mind but as soon as I got to the flagrant bullshit I realised it was total tosh.

There are NO paper-only recycling bins. You've made that up

Almost ALL the buildings that line the seafront are above three storeys high, and the proposed i360 is a stone's throw from Sussex Heights which, as already mentioned, is identified as Sussex's tallest building

I can't even identify any type of point being made about the offshore wind farm. People need power. Wind generates power. It's green. It's not even intrusive. If you're picking on the GREEN party for voting for GREEN renewable energy then you might want to rethink your agenda

The "always Tory pre 97" remark is simply not true, and ignores the fact that the city is split into three constituencies

And the most hilarious part of all: "cheap houses"!! I'd love to know where they are. And while you're at it, try commuting to London on the train for a month and tell me how "easy" that is.


I agree the council have made some daft decisions and I don't think they'll be re-elected, however to tar Dr Lucas with the same brush is unfair and actually quite ignorant. People writing like this, with a blatant disregard for facts, do themselves no favours. How can he be taken seriously when his argument is riddled with holes?
 






dejavuatbtn

Well-known member
Aug 4, 2010
7,128
Henfield
Where are the "cheap houses" that this ignorant idiot mentions, then? He also does not seem to know that Brighton has two parliamentary seats, one of which was won by Labour twice in the 1960s.

Whilst we see houses down here as expensive, compared with a lot of London, he's right that our prices are much cheaper.
 


studio150

Well-known member
Jul 30, 2011
29,553
On the Border
In other news the Socialist Worker thinks unions are a good thing!

Come on PS, The Spectator is hardly an unbiased media source. What would you expect The Spectator to say about the Greens? This article does not bother to point out any of the successes that the Green Party have had in Brighton because it does not suit their agenda.

What success, no evidence of any in my part of the city, just an utter shambles and the quicker they are gone the better.
 


Nitram

Well-known member
Jul 16, 2013
2,178
Lazy journalism most of the big projects are agreed across parties, authors like these seem to want only to attribute them to the parties in power when they come to frution. The i360 was agreed years before the Greens were in power. It would be just as daft as taking credit for projects like the Open Market or The Level, not that the dimwit who wrote the article would give any positive spin on Brighton as it would conflict with his agenda.
 


brighton fella

New member
Mar 20, 2009
1,645
Don't shoot the messenger.

I didn't write the article.

http://www.spectator.co.uk/features...lesson-in-why-it-is-a-disaster-to-vote-green/

The eco-comrades have experimented with a series of bizarre policies
Tim Stanley 18 October 2014


I have just moved back to Brighton, and I am happy to report that it remains as shambolic as ever. The estate agent said before opening the door to a prospective flat, ‘I’m obliged by law to tell you that the previous tenant was an alcoholic and died here.’ I replied, ‘I am not surprised and that is not a problem.’ No one who knows Brighton expects puritanism.

Unfortunately, we have grown to expect dreadful politics. Since 2010, both the MP and the council have gone Green, turning the town into a laboratory for their kooky ideas. Given that they are being called the Ukip of the left — an outsider party on the verge of an electoral breakthrough that could make them bigger than the Lib Dems — the Green experiment in Brighton ought to serve as a warning to the entire country.



There have been some silly gimmicks reminiscent of the 1980s loony left: a proposed ‘meat-free Monday’ in council-run staff canteens (reversed when the bin men demanded their bacon back), gender-neutral toilets, and allowing people to identify as Mr, Mrs or Mx on council forms (Mx means Mixter, meaning someone who doesn’t define as male or female — not to be confused with the MX, which was a nuclear missile in the Cold War). Many of their mistakes are due to naivety. Faced with cuts, council leader Jason Kitcat proposed a 4.75 per cent tax increase to be endorsed in a referendum. Labour called it a silly political stunt, as the cost of the vote — estimated at £900,000 — would itself plug many of the gaps. The idea was quashed.

Such is their incompetence that the Greens often hurt the very causes they push. While I was staggered to find that I might face a £50,000 fine if I put something plastic in the paper-only recycling bin outside my house, I was amused to discover that most people just ignore the warnings and dump away — with the result that Green Brighton now ranks 302nd out of 326 councils for its recycling record. The problem is a mix of poor information, a strange recycling collection programme open to abuse, and ceaseless disruptions to the service that mean people have given up trying to do ‘the right thing’.

Last year, the Greens failed to prevent a strike among bin men, with the result that Brighton underwent its very own winter of discontent. Gulls feasted amid the piled-high rubbish. Inevitably, some of the Greens sympathised with the oppressed refuse collectors and joined them on the picket line. There’s an intra-party split every 30 seconds among the eco-comrades.

This year the Greens worked in concert with the Conservatives to secure funding for an architectural monstrosity: a 574ft tower to be erected on the beach opposite Brighton’s burnt-out West Pier. It will be hideous. A giant up-yours to the landscape that would look audaciously phallic in Tokyo, it is totally out of place in a town where the buildings are no more than three storeys high. This particular act of cultural sabotage says a lot about the Green agenda. They aren’t interested in conserving what they inherit so much as transforming it to reflect their progressive ideology. Not for them the countryside of traditional farming and hunting, nor the ramshackle urbanity of Georgian Brighton. No — they dream of an integrated eco/bio/renewable future of steel and glass that will render the inefficient past obsolete. Why else have they welcomed the construction of a huge windfarm off the Sussex coast? Covering more than 60 square miles, the forest of offshore turbines will number over 100 and stand 700ft tall. The only upside is that they might kill all the gulls — leaving any uncollected rubbish to rot unmolested.

How did the Greens, with no real experience of governing, get the votes to do all this? It’s down partly to the collapse in traditional support for Labour post-Blair. But it’s also due to the migration of middle-class London liberals to the south coast, with its cheap houses and easy rail access. And in this regard, the Greens are indeed the inverted image of Ukip — and not only in the sense of being philosophical opposites. Where Ukip represents a revolt of natives against newcomers, the Greens represent a revolt of newcomers against natives. Old Brighton was a working-class seat that voted Conservative until 1997. The new Brighton is becoming a colony of Islington: it’s what the entire country would turn into if it were run by the people who bought Russell Brand’s new booky-wook. Trendy, yes. But they are impractical and very irritating.

good post, I agreed with every bit of what you said apart from the UKIP comparison.
you can usually tell a green from their weird & whacky dress sense, and sure brighton has seen a change and not for the better may I add.
as said top post and a good read.
 






Not bothered about the jibes against the Greens, that's just a kind of middle class on middle class violence. But the last third must be the stupidist political history of Brighton I've ever read - clearly knows nothing about the Labour surge in the city in the 80s and its similarity with the Greens in recent times - but I'm guessing Tim is about 12 and the Speccie publishes stuff these days without anyone bothering to do any research
 



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