Gordonbrock and PFI, McDonalds and deforestation

It's over a week since I last posted here. Been busy out and about talking to people on doorsteps and delivering newsletters. A few things have happened lately.

Gordonbrock School has found out that it is not to get the rebuild/refurbishment money it has been promised for 5 years. Very disappointing for pupils, parents and teachers. It is a popular and successful school, but its delapidated Victorian buildings desperately need replacing. It all seems to boil down to there being insufficient money from the dreaded PFI. Why on earth the government thinks it is a good idea for the private sector to own our schools and lease them back to us is beyond me - it seems to be storing up trouble and higher costs for future generations. PFI seems an incredibly inefficient way of financing public services. See
http://tinyurl.com/lgom9 for more on the Green Party's stance on PFI. And as for spending public funds efficiently, the whole school/pool fiasco is surely a prime example of how not to do it.

A report published last week by an LSE academic, Tony Travers and London communications agency has predicted Green gains in the council elections in Lewisham, Hackney, Islington and possibly Camden (http://tinyurl.com/rlkny). In addition, a website set up to encourage tactical voting to maximise New Labour losses on May 4th also says to vote Green in Ladywell: http://tinyurl.com/lbo5v. It's the successor to the strategic voter website set up before the general elections last year. The Iraq war certainly isn't the key issue on the doorstep here in Ladywell, but it is clearly an important factor which is contributing to a lot of previously staunch Labour voters feeling disaffected and reluctant to vote Labour again.

Greenpeace have got evidence that meat used in McDonald restaurants has been fed soya grown on cleared rainforest land. I sent a letter to McDonalds and got a prompt response saying that they were investigating the claims. See http://tinyurl.com/jqrpr for details.