Resistance To Airport Expansion Grows In Scotland

I got the following press release from the Workers' Climate Action e-list (Workers' Climate Action can be found online at http://workersclimateaction.co.uk/)

Plane Speaking - Scottish Communities Respond to Government Airport Expansion Plans


AirportWatch Scotland , the organisation recently set up to oppose expansion at Scottish airports (1), will be holding a series of public meetings in Edinburgh and Glasgow next month (2). The meetings are expected to attract local residents and environmentalists concerned about the plans to expand Glasgow and Edinburgh airports. The purpose of the meetings is to enable local residents affected by the airports to influence the National Planning Framework which the Government expects to approve later this year (3).


Dan Glass, spokesman for AirportWatch Scotland , said, “We hope that these meetings will be a chance for local residents to express their views about the proposals to expand Edinburgh and Glasgow airports. We know that there is already a lot of concern amongst people under flight paths in places like Drumchapel in Glasgow and Cramond in Edinburgh about the noise from the planes. It can only get worse if the expansion plans go ahead. Ad it also makes no sense from a climate change perspective. Aviation is the fastest growing contributor to CO2 emissions in the UK. If the Scottish Government is serious about dealing with climate change, it should oppose these airport expansion plans.


Glass added, “Our plane speaking meetings will be an opportunity for local people to speak their minds. So far, their voices have been ignored.”


Professor Frank McManus, Chair of the Scottish branch of the UK Noise Association, said, “Make no mistake about it. The noise climate will get worse if these plans go ahead. Planes may be getting a little quieter but the sort of growth that is being talked about will wipe out any of the benefits for local people.”


ENDS

Notes for Editors:

(1). AirportWatch Scotland is a not-for-profit umbrella movement bringing together national environmental organisations, local communities, and individual environmentalists. We aim to campaign against airport expansion, particularly on the grounds of climate change and noise.


(2). 1) Dates and Venues All 7.00-9.00pm

August 12th- Kirkliston Community Centre, 16- 18 Queensferry Road , KIRKLISTON , EH29 9AQ

August 13th- 13th court room, Clydebank Town Hall. Address: 49 Dumbarton Road Clydebank G81 1TX ;

August 14th Martyrs Church , Broomlands Street Paisley , PA1 2LS - on the corner of Broomlands street and King Street

August 18th- The Millennium Room in Cramond Kirk Hall, 18 Cramond Glebe Road, Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh, EH4, Scotland

August 19th- Kirkliston Community Centre, 16- 18 Queensferry Road , KIRKLISTON , EH29 9AQ

August 20th The Napier Hall, 312 Dumbarton Road , Old Kilpatrick G60 5JH

August 21st Martyrs Church , Broomlands Street Paisley , PA1 2LS - on the corner of Broomlands street and King Street


(3). The National Planning Framework Process

We want to empower local communities and individuals concerned about aviation expansion. In particular, we want to ensure that the voices of communities directly affected by planned airport expansion are given due weight over the next critical four months when the Scottish Government will be finalising and agreeing it’s ‘National Planning Framework’, which will provide the legislative framework for major infrastructure projects. The final consultation will be a sixty day period in the Autumn parliamentary session where members of the public can feed into the consultation through MSPs.


This will be the first step in empowering local communities to develop their own campaigns in the fight to prevent the expansion proposals. This will help influence the Scottish Climate Change Bill, the National Planning Framework and equip communities with life-long skills to challenge runaway climate change and the other downsides of airport expansion and the institutions which perpetrate them.


How can you help?

1.
Get involved with the campaign and invite everyone you think may be interested to the 'Plane Speaking' near your home. Publicise in all media outlets. All support is of great use- if you have experience with creating publicity, liaising with workers and trade unions or anything else, please do get in contact. Especially if you've got time on your hands. Come to the next meeting on Wednesday 16th July or the next one (see www.airportwatch.org.uk/scotland) as I'm sure there will be many more. Please reply to this email to say whether you'll be attending. If you have upcoming meetings which you would like someone from AirportWatch Scotland to attend, just ask.

2. Give us advice. If you've got experience with campaigning on airport-related issues or supporting community projects or think there are particular people that we should speak to or should be involved then please pass on this email to them or reply offering any of your suggestions.

3. Join the organising list. This is not a public list and is for people actively involved.


AirportWatch Scotland

Please see www.airportwatch.org.uk/scotland for more information and up to date news

Support Tube Cleaners' Strike - Meeting in London

Support the Tube cleaners' strike - defend workers at Stonebridge

A public meeting called by Brent Trades Council

7.30pm, Wednesday 30 July
The Community Suite,
Bridge Park Community Leisure Centre
Brentfield,
Harrow Road,
London NW10

Speakers:
Clara Osagiede, chair of the RMT cleaners' grade;
Oliver New, RMT exec and Ealing Trades Council;
Dawn Butler MP (invited)

The RMT rep and another activist at Stonebridge depot in NW London are having their pay withheld.
The cleaning companies are using the vulnerable immigration status of many cleaners to victimise them for speaking out and organising.
Come and build support for the comrades in the run up to the next strike.

Against Torture and Death Penalty in Iran

I am back online and spending a lot of time catching up with several weeks backlog. In the meantime I am posting this important appeal for a Kurdish man threatened with execution in Iran. The horrifying torture and abuse that he has already suffered (and which surely must cast doubt on any "confession" extracted) is detailed below.

Farzad Kamangar could face execution in the near future, according to the web site Human Rights Activists in Iran. On 11 July, the Iranian Supreme Court confirmed the death penalty against Kamangar, a 33-year-old Kurdish teacher and trade unionist.
Please send protests individually and where possible from union branches too

APPEALS TO:
Head of the JudiciaryAyatollah Mahmoud Hashemi ShahroudiMinistry of Justice, Ministry of Justice Building,Panzdah-Khordad Square,Tehran,Islamic Republic of IranEmail: info@dadgostary- tehran.ir (In the subject line write: FAO Ayatollah Shahroudi)Salutation: Your Excellency

COPIES TO:
Leader of the Islamic RepublicHis Excellency Ayatollah Sayed 'Ali Khamenei,The Office of the Supreme LeaderIslamic Republic Street - Shahid Keshvar Doust Street,Tehran,Islamic Republic of IranEmail: info@leader. irSalutation: Your Excellency
Minister of IntelligenceGholam Hossein Mohseni EjeieMinistry of Intelligence, Second Negarestan Street,Pasdaran Avenue, Tehran,Islamic Republic of IranSalutation: Your Excellency
Ambassade de la République islamique d'IranAvenue Franklin Roosevelt 15,1050 BruxellesFax : 02.762.39.15Email : secretariat@ iranembassy. be

Below is a letter from Farzad outlining in graphic detail some of the horrific treatment to which he has been subjected. Please rush messages of protest to help save this trade unionist from death and demanding his immediate release:

I Farzad Kamangar also known as "Siyamand" am a teacher in the city of Kamyaran with 12 years of experience. A year before my arrest I was teaching at "Honarestane Karoudanesh" I was also a member of the Kurdish branch of the teachers union in Kamyaran. Before the union was outlawed I was in charge of public relations. I was also a member of the writers association for the newspaper "Mahnameye Farhangi Amuzeshi Royan" which was also eventually banned from publication. I was also board member of "Zist Mehyali" Association in Kamyaran. Starting from the year 2005 I worked as a journalist as well became a member of the Human Rights Activists in Iran.In July of 2006 I came to Tehran to follow upon my brother's medical treatments. My brother is a Kurdish political activist. Upon my arrival in Tehran I was arrested and taken to an unknown place, it was a very small, dark basement. The cells in this place were empty, there were no blankets or rugs or sheets.They took me to a room and as they were interviewing me they asked me about my ethnicity. When I told them that I was of the Kurdish Ethnicity they lashed my entire body. They also lashed me because of the Kurdish music which I had saved on my mobile phone.They would tie my hands, make me sit on a chair and put pressure on the sensitive areas of my body. They would also strip me naked and threaten me with rape by various objects such as wood.My left leg was injured badly during this time. Also due to the beatings I received on my head as well as electric shock I would lose consciousness. I have lost control of my body and shake uncontrollably for no reason. They would chain my feet together and give me electric shocks on sensitive parts of my body which was extremely painful.Later on I was transferred to Section 209 of the Evin Prison. From the moment I entered the Evin Prison they blindfolded me and took me to a small room where they beat me by punching and kicking me.The next day I was taken to the city of Sanandaj. From the moment I entered the Sanandaj Prison I was insulted and beaten brutally. They tied me to a chair and left me there from 7 am until the next day, I was not even allowed to go to the washroom and I had no choice but to wet myself. After numerous beatings and torture sessions once again I was transferred to Section 209 of the Evin Prison. I was interrogated and tortured in one of the rooms on the first level of the prison.On August 27th 2006 as a result of the effect of torture they were forced to take me to the physician in the prison, and the physician made notes of marks of torture and lashing on my back, neck, head thighs and feet.In August and September I was in the solitary cell number 43. Due to the fact that the torture and beatings were unbearable I was forced to go on a 33 day hunger strike. Because they started harassing and summoning my family to court, as well to free myself from torture I tried to commit suicide by throwing myself off a flight of stairs.Also for one month I was imprisoned in an extremely small and smelly cell on the first floor of the prison (cell number 113). During this time I was not allowed visitations or even phone calls to my family. Further I was not allowed to get any fresh air for those three (3) months.After three (3) months I was taken to cell #10 where other prisoners were also present and I was there for two (2) months. At this time I was still not allowed to visit with my family or lawyer.In the month of October I was transferred from the Evin Prison to the Intelligence Ministry Prison in Kermanshah, even though I had still not been charged or found guilty of any crime. This was a small dark prison where brutal torture and murder of political prisoners have taken place.They took off all my clothes and after beating me gave me a set of dirty clothes to wear and took me to my cell. It was a small "secret" cell where no one would be able to hear my cries. The cell was 1.65cm/50cm. It had two light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. This cell had previously been a washroom and it was extremely smelly and cold. There was only a dirty blanket in the room. During sleep my head would bang against the wall because the cell was so small.In order to breathe I was forced to put my head down by the crack between the door and the floor and try to breathe. Also at all odd hours they would bang against my door loudly to prevent me from sleeping. Two days after my arrival they took me to the interrogation room and without asking me any questions started beating me. Then they took me back to my cell. They would turn on the radio loudly in order to prevent me from sleeping or even thinking. In 24 hours I was allowed to use the washroom twice, and once a month I was allowed to take a short shower.Types of Torture I was Subjected to:1. The Football Game: This was a nick name they used for this type of torture. They would strip me naked, four (4) or five (5) interrogators would surround me and pass me to each other by punching and kicking me. They would swear at me when I fell down and continue their beatings.2. The interrogators would force me to stand on one foot for hours while holding my arms above my head and if I got tired they would start beating me again. Because they knew that my left leg had been hurt as a result of torture they would put more pressure on my left leg. They would play Quran tapes very loudly so that nobody could hear my cries.3. During interrogations they would beat me around the face by punching and slapping me.4. There was a torture room in the basement of the jail, but its entrance was hidden by black garbage bags filled with dry bread crumbs. There was also another torture room where they would take me at night, they would tie my arms and legs to a bed and lash me, particularly under my feet, my lower and upper leg as well as my back. This would cause me severe pain and I would be unable to walk for days.5. It was winter and the weather was very cold. They would put me in a particularly cold room which was supposedly an interrogation room and would leave me there all day in the cold, without being interrogated.6. In the city of Kermanshah they would use electric shock on the sensitive parts of my body.7. I was not allowed to use a toothbrush or a toothpaste. They would give me old and smelly left over food which was not edible.To further increase the pressure on me they did not allow me any visitations, and they also arrested the girl that I loved. They would also create problems for my brothers and arrest them. I suffered from a dangerous skin disease as a result of being kept in a dirty cell with dirty clothes and blankets, but I was not allowed to see a doctor.I was forced to go on a 12 day hunger strike to protest the brutal torture I was subjected to. During the last 15 days of imprisonment they changed my cell and took me to an even dirtier and smellier cell with no heat. I was insulted, sworn at, and beaten on a daily basis and even lost consciousness on one occasion as a result of the beatings.One night they took me to the torture cell in the basement, stripped off my clothes and threatened me with rape. In order to free myself from this torture I had to bang my head against the wall a number of times. They also tried to force me to confess to crimes such as indecency and having illicit relationships with women.I could hear the cries and the screams of others from other cells, and there were occasions where inmates would commit suicide.On March 19th 2006 I was transferred to Section 209 of the Evin Prison in Tehran. Although I was in ward 121 of the prison which was a common ward, I was still not allowed any visitations.I was still under great emotional and psychological pressure because of the constant arrest of my family members as well as not being allowed to contact them.My file was finally transferred to Branch 30 the Revolutionary Court in May of 2006 Interrogators would threaten me and tell me they would do their best to have me executed or incarcerated for a long period of time. They also stated that if I was to be found not guilty, they would "deal with me outside of the courtroom."They hated me very much because of my Kurdish Ethnicity, my Journalism and human rights work. They would also not stop torturing me.The Revolutionary Court in Tehran stated that it did not have jurisdiction over my case and my file was transferred to the city of Sanandaj. As support for me increased by individual and Human Rights Organizations the interrogators got more vicious and the pressure on me increased. In August of 2006 I was transferred to the Sanandaj Prison, a place which has become a great nightmare for me, a place that I can never forget for as long as I live. Although no new charges had been brought against me, they started interrogating and torturing me from the moment of my arrival.The Sanandaj Prison has one main corridor and five smaller corridors. They kept on switching my cell on a regular basis. One day the prison Warden along with a number of other guards started beating me for no reason, they took me out of my cell and started beating me along the 18 stairs which led to the basement, and to the interrogation rooms. They hit me on the head from behind very hard which caused me to fall down, then they started dragging me down the 18 stairs. I do not know how they managed to drag me down 18 stairs. When I gained consciousness and opened my eyes I could feel great pain in my head, face and sides.When they saw that I had gained consciousness they started beating me again. After beating me for about an hour they again dragged me up the 18 stairs and threw me in a very small cell in the second corridor. Then two guards started beating me again until I lost consciousness. When I gained consciousness again I could hear the sound of the afternoon prayers. My face and clothes were covered with blood. My face was swollen, my entire body was black and blue from the beatings. I did not have the strength to move. After a few hours they threw me in a shower so that I could clean myself and my clothes.They forced me to put on my wet clothes. That night I was in a very bad physical state, at 12:00 am one of the Intelligence Ministry Officials saw my physical state and were forced to take me to a medical facility outside of the prison. Because of the damage done to my teeth and jaw I was unable to eat for a few days. At night they would open the window of my cell so that I would suffer further from the cold. They would also not give me any blankets and I would be forced to wrap the dirty carpet around me for warmth.I was not allowed visitations, telephone calls or fresh air time. I was also beaten on numerous occasions in the interrogation rooms in the basement. To protest my situation I was forced to go on a five (5) day hunger strike. They would bang my head against the basement walls and from the basement until I reached my cell they would continuously beat me.No new charges were brought against me in Sanandaj or Kermanshah.A famous torture called "the chicken kabab" was used by the prison Warden whenever he conducted the torture sessions. He would tie my arms and legs throw me on the floor and whip me.The cries and whimpers of other prisoners could also be heard, many of whom were women. At night they would open the window, wet my clothes in the basement bathroom after the torture and interrogation and would throw me in my cell with wet clothes. I was also in solitary confinement for about two (2) months in the city of Sanandaj. The Sanandaj Court also stated that they had no jurisdiction over my file and transferred me back to Tehran.Total of more than 8 months in solitary confinement along with physical and psychological torture, has left a very negative effect on my mental health and nerves.After one night of solitary confinement in Section 209 of the Evin Prison, I was transferred to Section 7, where there is great use of illicit drugs by inmates.On November 18th 2007 I was transferred to the Rajaishahr Prison which is an extremely dangerous prison where individuals found guilty of murder, kidnapping, weapons related crimes are imprisoned.
Respectfully
Farzad Kamangar
23 November 2007
Rajai Shahr Prison

Blogging Break!

I have been having all kinds of problems with my computer recently so I will not be blogging regularly for some time until I get things sorted out - most of the time I do not have access to my blog from other computers that I use, due to security issues.

Hopefully this will also give me some time to work on a few reviews and articles that I have been meaning to complete.

Apologies to any regular readers for the break in service - hopefully I will be back soon!

Greenman

Bonekickers - Expensively Recycled Garbage

Good grief! BBC1's new Tueday night drama serial Bonekickers seemed like proof that if you get one TV success story under your belt you can pitch just about any old tripe and get funding. Bonekickers was like a cack handed lashing together of the archaelogical team of Time Team with the ludicrous plotline of the Da Vinci Code and the breathless running around and "shorthand TV" of adventure series like Primeval, Torchwood and Spooks. It managed to be less than the sum of its parts - appallingly cheesy dialogue, a plot that was easily predictable to anyone who has read Dan Brown's book or watched any of the above serials and a cringeworthy attempt to appear relevant in the first episode that involved anti-muslim christian fundamentalist bigotry.
We perhaps should have suspected this would have been the case after the disappointment that was Ashes to Ashes, the follow up to Life on Mars - the programme that made a name for Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharoah.

Where Life on Mars was original and witty, Ashes To Ashes was derivative and predictable. Where Philip Glenister's character DCI Hunt was a funny portrayal of a stock character from the 1970s in Life On Mars - with views that allowed viewers to have a laugh both at Neanderthal 70's males and the "PC" 21st Century views of John Simm's time travelling cop, situating themselves somewhere in between - in Ashes to Ashes the affectionate response people had had to Hunt was taken as carte blanche to present him and his views as a positive role model and the series came out with some appallingly reactionary crap, stereotypes and messages.

But Bonekickers managed to be even worse, you had to keep reminding yourself that this was expensive "quality" BBC TV you were watching and not some cheap lowest common denominator ITV pap. Hugh Bonneville had some lines that were supposed to be funny, but most of them fell flat, and the rest of the dialogue was painful. The far-right Christian character was so caricatured as to be unbelievable, but was given "topical themes" which may have meant that his oft repeated speeches actually got a sympathetic response from some of the audience, whilst allowing themselves to distance themselves from the ludicrous portrayal. If the message was liberal (as suggested by the "peace and love" portrayal of a Muslim community leader that one of the "soldiers of God" beheaded) then it was put forward in such a stupid way as to negate itself - likewise the treatment of the religious subject, all "woo-woo it's a miracle!" one minute showing the atheists in the team in a bad light, and then throwing the miracle into a more explicable light later to keep most of the audience on board regardless of faith. This just came across as tacky compromise - nothing wrong with being enigmatic and not offering solutions, but the way it was done here was just silly and obvious.
Sorry Life on Mars guys, we now know that the Emperor has no clothes!

Green Party Trades Union Group Conference Next Week

GREEN PARTY TRADES UNION GROUP CONFERENCE
“Can Greens and Trades Unions work together?”

12 July 2008
(10am-6pm)

Venue
Friends' Meeting House, Ship Street, Brighton, Sussex BN1 1AF (10 minutes from Brighton BR)
TEL (01273) 770258 website http://www.brightonquakers.co.uk/

SPEAKERS
· Caroline Lucas MEP,
· Tony Kearns (CWU),
· Brighton Unison Speaker

Workshops

a. Migration/ Population policy and International relations (J.Healy)

b. Future strategies for links between Greens and TUs (P. MacCafferty)

c. Disability rights against workfare, (A.Wheatley)

Admission £8 / £4 concs
GPTU contact yrrumuk@yahoo.co.uk

Support Workers at Starbucks

The international day of action called in response to Starbucks' victimisation of union activists in the USA and Spain has taken on a whole new significance in the wake of Starbucks' announcement of mass closures. Seen in the light of this, Starbucks' management actions against independent unions and activists were preparation for a massive attack on a large swathe of the workforce.

Support the global day of action on Saturday July 5th!

More info here - http://www.starbucksunion.org/node/2024

Ingrid Betancourt And Other Hostages Are Free

In a mercifully bloodless security forces operation Ingrid Betancourt and other hostages held by the FARC in Colombia were freed last night. Let us hope that this signals a new era in Colombian politics and that Ingrid (former Presidential candidate for the Green-aligned Party in Colombia) can be a voice for peace, justice and freedom in the days ahead. As the FARC wanes the emphasis must be on the release of all other hostages, cessation of terrorist actions and the cessation of the fascist terror against trade unionists and progressives in Colombia, (that along with the Cocaine trade has fed the cycle of violence and hatred). There must be no repeat of the previous ceasefires and "normalisations" where the fascists and elements of the secret state used the cessation of armed conflict and leftist engagement in the electoral process as an opportunity to massacre former guerillas or anyone unfortunate enough to be seen by them as being on the left.

There is a real opportunity for normal civil society and free trade union activity to resume in Colombia and for openness about the effect of the drugs industry on the society and ecomomy. The hope is that this opportunity will be seized. It will entail an accurate appraisal of the Uribe regime which has hitherto not been on the agenda of many Western regimes and their tame journos who have presented him and the regime as a liberal bulwark against narco-terror rather than something more complicated and dubious, with various connections to the rightist terror and narcotics industry that complete the bloody equation of Colombia today. The West could in theory force Uribe to be more like what he likes to be seen as rather than this dubious reality, but let us not raise false hopes. What is needed is global political pressure, and solidarity with the Colombian people who have had enough of the narcotics dealers and terrorists and their apologists, "left" and right. Whilst Uribe and the dubious Pinochet-esque elements that hide behind him may today revel in the reflected glory of the hostage release operation, and whilst Ingrid and her supporters may be extremely grateful for the action of the security forces that rescued her; a time is coming for a more realistic appraisal of the way forward in Colombia and a popular democratic approach that addresses many of the remaining issues that have driven conflict there.

When this new situation comes about leading elements of the regime may have less reason to be cheerful - let us hope that these elements do not act to sustain the conflict, and the FARC, in an attempt to avoid their own position becoming less secure.

More on the situation from Richard Gott here

Timeline here

Global Greens Resolution from May on Ingrid Betancourt here.
( "Ingrid Betancourt, delegate to the 1st Congress of the Global Greens in Canberra 2001, founder of the Green Party Oxigeno de Colombia, member of the Federation of the Green Parties of America, is nominated President of Honor of the Global Greens and of the Coordination of the Global Green parties.")

NHS Protests This Friday And Saturday

KONP (Keep Our NHS Public) have arranged a protest outside the HQ of the Department of Health on Friday 4th July at 4pm to mark the 60 th birthday of the NHS:

http://greenhealthservice.blogspot.com/2008/06/nhs-protest.html

There is also a rally at 11am on Saturday at the Royal Liverpool Hospital on Merseyside.

In the East Midlands the rally is at the Clocktower in Leicester at 12 Noon on Saturday 5th July.

Republic Spokesperson Attacks Charles' Green Spin

Press release from Republic -

CHARLES' GREEN SPIN - AN ATTEMPT TO DODGE TAX QUESTIONS

Republic has called on the Duchy of Cornwall to pay full corporate
taxes as Prince Charles' personal income increases yet again to £16 million.

Spokesperson Graham Smith told reporters:

"The Clarence House PR team always attempts to divert attention from the Duchy's tax arrangements by pointing to the reduction in Charles' carbon footprint."

"This is 'greenwashing' at its worst. The truth is that the Prince's carbon footprint is still nearly 500 times the size of the average household."

"This is all an attempt to distract us from the real issue - that these year on year increases in Charles' income are greatly helped by the fact that the Duchy is not subject to the same tax rules as the rest of us."


NOTES

Prince Charles does not pay corporate or capital gains tax on the Duchy.

The Clarence House accounts refer to income generated by the Duchy, yet when asked about unpaid corporate taxes the Prince's press officers state that Charles is an individual.

Republic on Royal Travel Expenses

The following was a press release from the Republic campaign following more revelations about UK Royals' travel expenses.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH - ROYAL GRAVY TRAIN MUST STOP


Republic has repeated its calls for reform of the Royal finances after it was revealed that Prince William's Chinook flights cost the taxpayer more than £50,000, including nearly £9,000 to attend his cousin's stag night.

The Freedom of Information disclosure came on the day that the Prince of Wales was due to publish his financial report, which was due to include details of his own excessive travel costs.


Spokesperson Graham Smith said today:

"This is a disgraceful waste of public money. In the last few days we have seen the extent to which the Windsors' exravagant lifestyles are funded by hard-working British taxpayers. £22,000 for a day at the races, £19,000 for a trip to the pub and now £9,000 to drop in at a stag night."

"These revelations demonstrate the need for urgent reform of the Royal finances. The Windsors simply spend what they like, charge it to the taxpayer and then tell us about it afterwards. There is no way for us to hold them accountable."

"We expect Charles will distract attention from his own extravagant travel costs by referring to his green credentials. But last year's report revealed the carbon footprint of his household to be 450 times that of the average home. He will have to have made some very drastic lifestyle changes to make a dent in that - changes he is clearly not willing to make."

NOTES

Republic's Royal Finances Reform Charter proposes some simple reforms to improve accountability, transparency and fairness in royal finances.

For full details of the Reform Charter and further information on the
Royal finances go to http://www.republic.org.uk/royalcosts/.




WHAT IS REPUBLIC?

Republic is a rapidly growing group of like-minded individuals
dedicated to working towards the democratic replacement of the
monarchy in Britain by an elected head of state. It is
non-party-political organisation with members and supporters from all
the main parliamentary parties.

Republic works to raise awareness of the need for these changes and to encourage informed debate. It keeps members and supporters informed by means of its website (www.republic.org.uk), a glossy magazine, e-newsletters, events organised by Republic and lively local groups which are springing up throughout the country.

Republic has recently seen encouraging signs of increased interest in
its case. Membership has more than doubled throughout 2005 and has
continuned to grow in 2006. Visits to the website rise dramatically at the time of royal stories.



FOR FURTHER INFORMATION :


Visit our website : www.republic.org.uk