Time for Britain to adopt the euro

Once Britain has decided to stay in the EU, as I hope and believe we will, our next move should be to adopt the Euro.
   Before you start ranting, please tell me why not? In what way is the pound superior to the euro? All the abuse hurled at the currency by all of Britain's media, even including supposedly progressive organisations such as The Guardian, is plain wrong.
   Adopting the euro would have immediate and lasting benefits for British businesses and also for all individuals travelling to another eurozone country. Yes, you personally would save money by no longer having to pay commission or lose out from poor exchange rates when going to any of the 19 countries in the eurozone, including Germany, France, Italy, Spain and all of western Europe's principal nations.
    Wherever you go in that vast region of more than 330 million people, you will know immediately from the price of an item whether it is good value, without having to convert it back into pounds in your head.
   Two decades after the euro became a real currency, as opposed to a virtual one, noone can argue any longer that the euro will collapse because of a lack of political unity in Europe. It has remain remarkably strong against the dollar and the pound despite the absence of the political union that many analysts thought was necessary.
   The fact that no single political authority controls the European Central Bank may even have helped the euro. Yes, several countries within the euro zone have experienced economic difficulties, but the eurozone as a whole has remained economically strong throughout, possibly boosted by the fact that the euro area remains a group of nation states, hindering economic problems in an individual state from spreading to the wider euro area.
    In practical terms the euro has become the world's second reserve currency after the dollar. Investments and savings denominated in euros are as safe as those in any other currency.
    When Britain adopts the euro the government and the bank of England can stop worrying out the exchange rate and focus on Britain's underlying economic problems.
    The idea that a devaluation of the pound can be used as a spur to the economy has been comprehensively disproven by the lack of visible economic benefit from the sharp devaluation of sterling in 2016 after the Brexit vote.
     Such is the euro's success in non-bigoted continental Europe, that some countries - eg Kosovo and Macedonia - use the euro as their currency even though they are not in the EU, while some other EU regions - eg tourist areas in Turkey - treat the euro as an equally valid alternative currency to their own.
    Did Greece leave the euro when Germany was demanding an austerity packed in return for a rescue package? No it didn't - the citizens of Greece decided they preferred to keep the euro and remain in the EU, whatever Yannis Varoufakis might have proposed.
    Did Cyprus leave the euro when the Troika of the EU, European Central Bank and World Bank, were demanding a levy on bank accounts to restore the government's finances? No it didn't - Cyprus went ahead with the bail-in of large bank accounts.
    The government realised the opportunities were much greater if Cyprus kept the euro rather than bring back the Cyprus pound.
    Italy has recently been at loggerheads with the European Central Bank over plans to allow a wider budget deficit than EU rules mandate.
    Will Italy leave the euro? Why on earth should it? Italy has run a budget deficit of more than 100% of GDP for many years and sticking with the EU and the euro has shored up the economy after decades of regular devaluation of the lira until the Italian currency was a laughing stock.
    I could cite academic or financial sector research analysing the underlying strength of the euro, but why not just judge for yourself instead of letting other people tell you what to think.
  
Whenever you go in a shop or restaurant in France, Spain or any other of the 19 eurozone countries, see how the staff treat the euro. You will see that they don't think about it - the euro is just the currency they use on a daily basis, and that is obviously how it is going to stay.

Barnet's Future Shape should be sustainable

Barnet Council's Conservative leaders have given themselves until December to come up with ideas to turn their Future Shape strategy into a serious policy rather than just a collection of political soundbites.
Here's my proposal: Abandon the dogma about 'cuts' and 'privatisation', which might end up costing more money rather than creating savings. If they want genuine buzz words I suggest 'sustainability' and 'solar panels'.
Birmingham Council has agreed a 100 million pounds scheme to create jobs and sharply reduce the city's carbon emissions. The project will start by giving an energy efficiency upgrade to 10,000 existing homes and energy savings in the retrofitted homes will generate funding for similar work on thousands more homes in the city.
Birmingham is a Conservative-Liberal Democrat administration so why can't Barnet's Tories come up with a similar plan that would create jobs, improve the lives of occupants of the improved homes and lead to a sharp reduction in energy costs and carbon emissions?
Before anyone asks where Barnet would get the initial funding, can I point out that Birmingham Council itself is only putting up 25 million pounds, ie roughly the amount that Barnet Council handed over to Icelandic banks.
I'm sure banks (British not Icelandic ones please!) would be eager to lend Barnet Council the money for an equivalent energy savings scheme and there might be ways of reducing the council's proportion to an even smaller percentage of costs.
The feed-in-tariffs which energy companies pay for power from sustainable sources mean, for instance, that photovoltaic panels can generate surplus electricity every year worth up to 10 percent of the cost of their installation. After ten years the panels are paid for and the electricity is pure profit.
Companies and syndicates are starting to spring up to develop rooftop “sun harvesting” operations and Barnet Council's thousands of homes, schools and other buildings would be an extremely attractive resource.
That's the kind of project that Future Shape should be looking at: dynamic, exciting, forward-looking, job-creating and sustainable.

Brent Cross Cricklewood greenwash

The plans for the Brent Cross Cricklewood development are full of
utter 'greenwash', seeking to create a false impression about the
environmental sustainability of this multi-billion pound project.

For a start, these plans should be thrown out completely unless the
development partners pledge to make the whole site carbon neutral.

The proposed buildings are likely to exist for several decades at
least and there is no way whatsoever that the British government will
achieve its aim of a 60 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by
2050 if concrete giants like the Brent Cross shopping centre are still
belching out carbon dioxide from heating, lighting and air
conditioning.

This scheme is an ideal opportunity to install energy conservation
measures and sustainable power facilities right from the beginning.
There is plenty of scope on the site for enough wind turbines, solar
arrays and ground source heat pumps to make the whole area carbon
positive, never mind carbon neutral.

So why aren't they doing it? As well as benefitting the environment,
carbon neutrality would save money for the people who live in the new
town and for the businesses, as their energy bills would be much lower
– they might even make money by feeding electricity back into the
grid.

Can it be that the developers are more interested in building cheaply
than in saving on running costs for the future occupants of the homes
and commercial buildings?

Secondly, at a time when neighbourhood shopping areas are under threat
all over London from post office closure, cut backs to libraries and
the marginal viability of many small shops and pubs, Barnet Council
should be studying the likely impact of Brent Cross Cricklewood on
other shopping areas in the borough.

For make no mistake, the scheme is not just about new housing and a
so-called town centre, the whole thing is based on "an expanded and
improved shopping centre", with an "enhanced retail offer including
new stores at Brent Cross Shopping Centre", to cite the developers'
own documents.

When the council has assessed the likely impact, it should order the
developers to pay whatever it costs to ensure the sustainability of
Hendon, Golders Green and the other nearby centres: better street
layouts, improved public transport, more greenery, more public
toilets, more benches to rest on or whatever it takes to ensure that
these neighbourhood areas remain available and attractive for local
residents to use.

Council Leader Mike Freer cannot genuinely oppose post office closures
and support sustainable communities at the same time as he is praising
the Brent Cross Cricklewood plans.

As for the transport issues surrounding the new plans, of course there
should be a direct rail link to the expanded shopping centre rather
than more car parking. The developers say they expect cars still to be
the main way that people get there but why is that? People will no
doubt continue to want to shop at Brent Cross but why should they
necessarily go by car? Do people go to Oxford Street by car? Of course
not, because it is properly served by London Underground lines and by
buses.

Save our Post Offices

The threat to shut eight post offices in Barnet borough as part of the planned closure of 171 branches in the London region strikes a blow to the very heart of the Green Party's concept of sustainable communities.

The government should widen the range of official business which can be carried out through post offices, to make them more sustainable.

Post Office Ltd should sharply lower its estimate of what is a reasonable distance for people to walk to a post office, since its current unreasonable limit is being used to justify many of the closures.

Barnet Council should be looking at new ways of keeping its local Post Offices open, as Essex County Council and many other authorities are doing.

We ourselves should be writing to Post Office Ltd to oppose the closure of our local branches and to challenge its individual justifications for shutting each of them.

The eight local branches scheduled for closure are:

Dollis Valley Way, Barnet
Potters Road, Barnet
Cricklewood Lane, Cricklewood
Pennine Parade, Cricklewood
East End Road, East Finchley
High Road, North Finchley
Nether Street, West Finchley
Watford Way, Hendon

to send a protest e-mail direct to Post Office Ltd go to:
http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po/content1?catId=57600693&mediaId=66300707

Other parties are jumping on the protest bandwagon but the Green Party has always campaigned for the provision of key services such as post offices, libraries and schools within easy walking distance of everyone's home.

Stadium rot - Brown and Sarkozy's nuclear nonsense

Gordon Brown and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France plan to launch a joint nuclear power programme when they meet at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium today (Thursday 27th Feb) for a Franco-British summit.
Fortunately, Trent Park and Totteridge Fields are safe. There is no prospect whatsoever of a nuclear power station being built in the Barnet or Enfield areas because local rivers like the Lee or Dollis don't have the vast amounts of water that these megaliths require.
The problem is that hardly anywhere else in Britain is suitable for nuclear power plants either, even in the unlikely event of local residents raising no objection.
The government thinks the best places for new nuclear power stations in England are next to existing ones at Sizewell in Suffolk, Dungeness in Kent, Hinkley Point in Somerset and Bradwell in Essex.
However, the four sites are on the coast and owner British Energy admits that all of them require new flood defences to protect them from rising sea levels.
This risk from erosion is just one of a dozen or more reasons why the Green Party thinks the many billions of pounds which new nuclear power plants would cost could be much better spent on energy conservation and developing sustainable energy sources such as wind, solar and marine power.
To cite just one of the other objections, Britain would have to import all the uranium to fuel new reactors, in the absence of any known deposits in this country.
This would put Britain's energy security at risk, especially as some of the biggest uranium mines are in Kazakhstan and Niger, from where it would be hard to guarantee supplies.
Maybe after all someone should run a geiger counter over Trent Park and Totteridge Fields in case there is a lode of uranium underneath... just kidding.

Slow down those Barnet roadhogs!

Barnet Green Party has written to Council Leader Mike Freer urging him to introduce 20 mph as the default speed limit on residential roads in Barnet.

This is following a pledge by Transport for London to provide support for boroughs which bring in the limit.

A 20 mph speed limit would be particularly welcome on those many roads, such as Ridgeview Road in Whetstone, which have been without any traffic calming measures since the speed humps were ripped up against residents' wishes a couple of years ago. This was done following Councillor Brian Coleman's pledge to remove all speed humps in the borough.

In addition to improving road safety, the introduction of 20 mph as the standard speed limit would reduce the incentive for drivers to use side roads as short cuts or rat runs, which is what many residential roads have become as as legacy of Coleman's campaign.

By reducing people's fear of being hit by fast-moving traffic, the limit could also encourage local people to cycle or to walk more, for instance when taking their children to and from school.

Mr Freer replied to say that he is waiting for for information about TfL's scheme but did not commit himself to any action.

French govt snaps up UK wave power technology

French state-controlled electricity company EDF - the world's biggest operator of nuclear power plants - has recognised the value of a UK wave power company. See contract announcement below.

What a pity that no British company had the foresight to buy the licence for this technology.

EDF Energies Nouvelles collaboration and investment

Renewable Energy Holdings plc (AIM: REH), the investor and operator of proven
and innovative renewable energy technologies, is pleased to announce that the
Company has entered into a collaboration agreement ("Collaboration Agreement")
with EDF Energies Nouvelles SA ("EDF EN") relating to REH's CETO wave power
technology. This follows the announcement of 27 July 2007 that the companies
had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding.

The terms of the Collaboration Agreement will permit EDF EN exclusively to
develop offshore wave power projects in the Northern Hemisphere and at Reunion
Island in the Indian Ocean (together, the "Territory of Exclusivity"), using
REH's proprietary CETO wave power technology. Further information on the terms
of the Collaboration Agreement is set out in the Appendix to this announcement.

In addition, also as announced on 27 July 2007, under the terms of the
Collaboration Agreement EDF EN has today invested a total of #3.0 million in
REH.


Mike Proffitt, Chief Executive Officer of REH, commented:

"We are very pleased indeed to have concluded our CETO Collaboration Agreement
with EDF EN and we look forward to working with them to develop CETO wave power
projects across the Northern Hemisphere.

"EDF EN's interest in the CETO wave power technology demonstrates that the CETO
wave energy device has an exciting commercial future ahead and the potential to
be a global success."


Paris Mouratoglou, Chairman of EDF Energies Nouvelles, said:

"EDF Energies Nouvelles is committed to develop new renewable energy
technologies. The wave energy potential is very significant and has been
identified as one of our future sources for growth. We are delighted to announce
the signing of our final agreement with REH and look forward to a successful
development of the promising CETO technology."


EDF EN's #3.0 million investment in REH is structured as follows:


1. EDF EN has subscribed #1.5 million for 3.0 million new ordinary shares
of 1 pence each in REH ("New Ordinary Shares") at a price of 50 pence per new
ordinary share (the "Equity Payment"). The Equity Payment which has been paid
into an escrow account administered by REH's solicitors, Herbert Smith LLP, is
held to the account of REH and will be released to REH upon the following
milestones in the commercial development of CETO being achieved:


Overall Equity Milestone definition Equity Payment New Ordinary
milestone released from Shares
escrow attributable to
milestone
1 Three CETO II units having been installed #500,000 1,000,000
and connected through the joint off-shore
pipeline into the on-shore collection
system.
2 30 days of performance data collection of #500,000 1,000,000
the total system (three CETO II units)
having been completed.
3 CETO III prototype unit has been #500,000 1,000,000
manufactured and is ready to ship ex works.