26 June 2017

The Green Party has responded to news the Government’s 25-Year Environment Plan is not guaranteed to be published this year. [1]

Jonathan Bartley, Green Party co-leader, said:

“This is another example of the recklessness that comes with Gove’s appointment as Environment Secretary. He is clearly intent on playing fast and loose with the environment at a time when we need a safe pair of hands.

“The 25-Year Environment Plan is already long overdue and yet another delay compounds concerns that Gove will slash environmental protections and make the environment subservient to his wider political agenda. The Plan must be published as a matter of urgency. The need for a new Environment Protection Act is also clearly greater than ever.”

Notes:

1. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/michael-gove-25-year-environment-plan-delay-government-climate-change-brexit-a7807781.html

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26 June 2017

*Co-leader Jonathan Bartley: “No other party appears to be engaging with the magnitude of the problem”

The Green Party has renewed its call for investment in the NHS and the end of privatisation following comments by the British Medical Association that the NHS is ‘running on fumes’ [1].

Jonathan Bartley, Green Party co-leader, said:

“Jeremy Hunt must listen to staff and patients on the frontline who are experiencing day in and day out the effects of a two pronged attack on our health service in the form of chronic underinvestment and privatisation. Attempts to further privatise our health service in an illusory quest for greater ‘efficiency savings’ are clearly counterproductive. There is also a clear alternative to starving the NHS of funding it so desperately needs. These are political choices, and there are other options.

“The NHS is indeed running on fumes, and no other party appears to be engaging with the magnitude of the problem. It is time not just to fill up the tank again, but replace the engine with one fit for the modern era.

“The Green Party is also the only party proposing to properly fill the funding gap and would invest more money year on year than any other party. This includes scrapping Trident renewal which alone would give the NHS the kiss of life it desperately needs, providing an extra £3.6bn every year which would pay for 85,000 nurses, midwives and other healthcare professionals. But as well as reversing privatisation and reinstating a publicly run NHS, we should give patients, staff and others at the frontline a greater voice and control in running of our health service.”                                                    

Notes:

1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-40401311

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Commuters in Beijing are now able to use their mobile devices to access the Beijing Subway, reports the Beijing Youth Daily.

The phone payment program was started by Beijing Subway and bjsuperpass.com. The pilot system is currently being tested on the Fangshan Line on the Beijing Subway.

Online charging is also available for the phone payment system through an app, meaning riders won’t need to go to physical charging centers.

Nearly 160 different models of mobile phones are able to use the payment service. However, iPhones users are still not able to use the system.

The system also provides an overdraft, similar to the existing IC card system.

Payments can be made without the use of the internet. Mobile devices will have to be activated to make payments.

China issued a grade-IV emergency response on Monday following rain, storms and flooding across central China’s Hunan Province, which have left six dead and one missing.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs and China National Commission for Disaster Reduction have sent teams to assist in disaster-hit areas.

Since June 22, Hunan has been battered by rain and floods.

By 8 a.m. Monday, six people had died, another one remained missing, and 11,000 had been evacuated to safer places, according to local government.

The disaster also damaged about 40,000 houses, and caused 3.27 billion yuan (479.3 million U.S. dollars) in direct economic losses.

A grade-IV response, the lowest in China’s emergency response system, requires a 24-hour alert, daily damage reports, and the allocation of money and relief materials within 48 hours.

Local disaster response and civil affairs authorities has allocated six million yuan to the disaster relief fund since the heavy rain and floods began.