The ‘Our Perry Barr’ campaign will be focused around the opinions and requests of those dwelling in the constituency, with the aim of making the area a better place to live.

Environmental concerns

The MP’s relationship with environmental issues is a difficult one to call. Various online voting records give evidence that the MP voted against laws to stop climate change in particular.

Mr Mahmood dispelled these claims however, insisting that he has backed the laws in the past. He also gave insight into his stance on other environmental matters. He said,

‘I supported the Climate Change Bill and I was delighted that we were able to pass such a groundbreaking law, I am also a strong supporter of the hunting ban and will fight against any moves to repeal the act. I am, however, a supporter of nuclear power and I make no apology for this. It is the only realistic way of delivering clean fuel.’

Local work

The MP maintained that he has already done much to improve the environment in his constituency and wants to continue his work for the community. He stated,

‘In terms of local campaigning I have fought on environmental issues, often these are based on getting local problems resolved rather than on national topics.I have been greatly heartened by some of the progress over the last decade.’

‘Regeneration, especially in Lozells/Handsworth, has enhanced the environment of the area, in particular Handsworth Park has been transformed, Sandwell Valley has been opened up to greater access for local people and allotments in the area have gone from strength to strength. There is noticeably less graffiti and littering in the area and this has been partly as a result of the priorities set by local people for the police and council.

‘Our Perry Barr’

The ‘Our Perry Barr’ campaign revealed by the MP looks set to build on the work already started with the help of the local communities.

Mr Mahmood divulged that the campaign will be ‘officially launched’ in a few weeks’ time. He said,

‘the project is based on public input so it will be interesting to see what environmental concerns are raised by local people.’

He also urged residents of the Perry Barr constituency to put forward their views,

‘I am always keen to hear what ideas local residents have so just let me know and I will see what can be done to support them.’

Mahmood won the seat previously held by former Labour MP Clare Short with a three percent increase in votes. There was a 2.5% swing in votes from Liberal Democrats to Labour.

In this general election, 22 Asian women stood as candidates for the three main parties (Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats) with Shabana Mahmood being one of the first to be announced as a new MP.

Mahmood found herself up against another female Asian candidate in the Ladywood constituency- Nusrat Ghani of the Conservatives. However, the new Labour MP won the vote with a majority of 10,105 (28.2%).

The Conservative candidate was beaten by Ayoub Khan, the Liberal Democrat candidate, who gained over half as many votes as Ghani.

The results were close between UK Independence Party candidate Christopher Booth and Peter Beck of the Green Party. Beck was just pipped to fourth place with 2.4% of the vote compared with Booth’s 2.5%.

Only 43 votes separated the candidates; however the Green Party candidate gained 2.1% on their 2005 result while the UKIP candidate lost 3%; indicating an increased interest in Green Party policy in the Ladywood constituency.

Mr Robertson is a member of the Green Party, which has a candidate standing in every ward of Birmingham. He urges voters to vote for the environmentally-friendly party because:

‘They are the only party that puts the welfare of the people and the planet above short term profits; they are the only company not morally bankrupt and in thrall to big business; the only party seemingly aware of the multiple approaching crises in the world and the only party with any kind of plan as to what to do about it.’

Mr Robertson maintains that if elected, he would focus on improving Birmingham’s environmental policies.

Specifically, he would work towards implementing the requirement for all council suppliers to commit to a minimum environmental code of conduct; the switching of the council’s energy company to a 100% green supplier; the insulation of all council-owned buildings, both saving energy and creating jobs and the reduction of the city’s waste through ceasing incineration.

Mr Robertson also said he would address:

‘All green issues involving reducing our impact on the environment and how much carbon we produce, but also our preparations for the implications of Peak Oil.  We eat oil – almost literally; almost all fertiliser and pesticides are made from oil, and all food is transported using oil and almost all plastic packaging comes from oil. My question is – what do we do if there is a massive spike in oil costs and suddenly it gets too expensive to ship food?’

‘We would start to build more council houses and make sure they were not sold off to benefit individuals but kept in public ownership to benefit successive generations.  We would invest in local transport and stop building so many roads that get filled up by new traffic as soon as they are completed.  We would stop building so many vanity projects like new libraries and instead refurbish existing buildings and make them more energy efficient.’

The Green Party candidate has many ideas to improve the ward which he represents and aims to make Ladywood a better, ‘greener’ place to live. He plans to get the council house insulation project underway and also bring about his party’s ‘Green New Deal’.

‘We would invest in renewable energy and the training necessary to maintain it. We need to start to worry now about what will happen when oil starts to run out and if we generate our own energy on a local basis then we will not only create jobs but prepare for the inevitable decline of oil.  We would invest in local services and support, especially for young people.

Student Union President Tom Thompson acted as the Chair at the hustings which featured Conservative candidate William Norton, Khalid Mahmood (Labour), John Tyrrell (Socialist Labour Party), Karen Hamilton (Liberal Democrat) and Melvin Ward (UK Independent Party).

Questions were put to the candidates from the floor which was made up of staff and students at the university and also members of the general community.

Topics of discussion ranged from higher education fees to the rights of homosexual men to give blood. As earlier questions were discussed more in depth, there was little time left for other topics like environmental issues.

Green issues

A quick question about climate change was raised towards the end of the debate however. The subject of cutting emissions was put to candidates and the issue of reducing UK emissions as quickly as possible to give poorer countries around the world the chance to adapt to the changes caused by our pollution.

Socialist Labour Party candidate John Tyrrell denied that climate change was fully the government’s responsibility; however asserted that they should be doing all they can to reduce emissions and tax those who are causing the pollution.

Karen Hamilton, the Liberal Democrat candidate, was unsure of her party’s policy (a common theme of the event) and responded with personal agreement to the answer given by Mr Tyrrell.

UK Independent Party candidate Melvin Ward had more to say on the matter. He spoke on behalf of UKIP by saying that the party had reservations about the severity of climate change.

He claimed that previous research into climate change has been unsound and proposed that the issue may become a higher importance if more research was carried out on the matter.

He was the only candidate to provide figures on this matter however and claimed that emissions would be reduced by 25%- but with no further details.

The conservative and Labour candidates concurred that climate change and emissions were important issues.

Community

Candidates also spoke about their links with the community. Some came across well to the audience as it was clear that they were well involved within their area.

Karen Hamilton (Lib Dem), who is also running for a council position in the local elections, demonstrated her strong rapport with her community, especially within Handsworth where she lives.

She spoke of her use of social networking site Facebook as another way of engaging with her community.

William Norton (Conservative) however, was criticised by the floor for not being local to Perry Barr or having strong ties to the area. He responded by saying that he didn’t want to ‘bombard’ his community with leaflets like some parties have been known to do.

Melvin Ward (UKIP) voiced the importance of listening to local people and communities by saying that they know about local issues and want to be involved in politics. He said:

‘Give the public a chance to make their voice heard’.

Khalid Mahmood (Labour) was safe from criticism on this issue as he is local to the area himself; however he found himself in the firing line as a heated debate about MP’s expenses broke out due to his own publically-known claims.

The Labour candidate also lived up to his reputation by interrupting other candidates, responding to their answers with disdain and even told one audience member to “shut up” as they put a question the candidate.

The Green Party’s leader, Caroline Lucas, launched the manifesto at an event in Brighton, where she is running for MP.

At the heart of the manifesto are three policies which the ‘Greens’ deem most important. These are the ‘three crises of economic collapse, inequality and climate change’.

This ‘Green New Deal’, coined in 2008 by the party, sets out to create over a million new jobs. This is so far, the largest (mentioned) new jobs figure from all of the political parties.

The creation of ‘green’ jobs are key to this; with the party stating that the highest number of these will arise from the increase in the green energy sectors such as insulation.

The party’s manifesto states:

‘Our energy policy is not just the best for climate change- it also produces the most jobs’.

The Green Party make it clear that they are about more than environmental issues; the manifesto also outlines their aim to reduce the deficit by over half come 2013. They foresee the achievement of this due to radical changes to the tax system.

They will strive to redistribute society’s wealth by upping taxes for those who earn more; this policy is reflected in their slogan ‘fair is worth fighting for’.

They also claim to:

‘Ensure that taxation and regulation discourage pollution and the wasteful use or over-use of finite resources, and encourage ecological sustainability.’

Local Elections

The local elections are due to take place on the same day as he general elections, 6^th May. These will decide who is to be involved with the country’s councils.

James Robertson is a Green Party member and is running in these elections on behalf of Birmingham’s Ladywood ward.

Mr Robertson’s thoughts reflect the positive aspects of the Green Party’s manifesto and put them into a local context:

‘I am standing for the ‘Greens’ because I think it is time to do something meaningful.

Birmingham is the biggest local authority in Europe and it would not take much to make us much greener: a council project to insulate all council housing would boost the local green sector and provide jobs in the city – as well as lowering our carbon footprint.

That’s what the Green’s are all about: policies that make sense for the environment AND for local people.’

Mr Robertson, a Birmingham resident, is passionate about making the country more environmentally-friendly.

He believes that Birmingham has the potential to spark widespread change and has done much for his community.

Mr Robertson established and runs local recycling website Freegle (formally Freecycle), where people in the area are given a space to advertise things they no longer need that others might- working to reduce the effects of our ‘throwaway’ culture.

Birmingham-founded confectionary brand Cadbury produces more Easter Eggs each year than any other company.

Last year, Cadbury sold 42.6 million traditional ‘shell’ chocolate eggs- turning the attention of many to the potential environmental impact.

Confusion

While Cadbury have been promoting ‘green’ Easter products such as their reduced packaging ‘Treasure Eggs’, concerns have grown around how economical the packaging of this product really is.

Cadbury have announced that 60% of their Easter egg packaging is now biodegradable; but it remained unclear as to whether the plastic used in their Easter egg packaging was recycled or not.

Achievement

A worker in Cadbury’s Easter egg plant at the Bournville factory (which produces around 35 million of Cadbury’s Easter eggs each year) said:

‘The plant runs all year round. As far as I know everything is recycled- cardboard, plastic and the chocolate!’

‘The plant has now shut down for three months, as approximately £5 million is being spent on new machinery. The packing of the eggs will now mostly be done by robot, and automated machinery.’

This information raises new fears over possible job losses at the Birmingham factory; however it is refreshing to see that Cadbury are working towards being more environmentally-friendly.

The Cadbury employee was also able to divulge,

‘Mostly every year there is a cut-down on how much packaging is used, this year again.’

‘When up and running, next year’s eggs will contain no plastic at all inside the box. I know Cadbury do their best to keep packaging to a minimum.’

Cadbury’s green initiatives take a wholistic account of the environment, with fuel emissions considered too. The company maintain that recent packaging reductions of their Easter products have allowed them to take over 2290 lorry loads off the road.

Praise

The confectionary brand has also been acknowledged in Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson’s annual Easter egg packaging report. Cadbury was named as one of the brands praised for their environmental efforts, alongside Nestlé and Sainsbury’s own-branded eggs.

The three-in-one exhibition, featuring Sewing for Pleasure, Hobbycrafts and Fashion Embroidery and Stitch, held stalls selling supplies, showcasing innovative designs and hosting workshops.

Workshops included sewing machine demonstrations, card-making, embroidery and much more.

One highlight was Alison Smith’s Dress Makers 30-minute sewing classes. Alison’s ‘School of Sewing’ was established in 1992 and is the biggest of its kind in the UK. Alison taught visitors some of her ‘tricks of the trade’ for use when sewing their own garments.

The show, running until Sunday 28^th March, also played host to the popular ‘Customisation Station’ where designers explain to show-goers how to customise their clothes to get the most of them.

The purpose of these workshops was to show visitors how to be eco-friendly and make and mend clothes rather than buying into ‘throw-away-fashion’. Their message was:

‘Why bin it when you can swap or customise it?’

Charlotte Liddle, a designer from Coats Crafts, is running a customisation workshop within the show. She said:

‘We’ve been really busy actually; from about half past nine this morning we’ve been non-stop. We’ve been talking to people about different ideas and how to make things with our samples.

I think people are getting more and more interested in how to make things for themselves. They’re amazed at what you can make with just small scraps of fabric.

It’s nice not to be chucking things out and not always thinking you have to go out and spend ‘X’ amount of money on a brand new piece of clothing or acres of brand new fabric because you don’t generally, you can just make a small embellishment and add it on to something to make it completely different. It saves money but as well it means we’re not just throwing things out all the time.’

Charlotte, along with her colleague Sally McCollin, is a lecturer at Middlesbrough College in the Visual and Performing Arts faculty where recycling materials and reusing items is promoted within the curriculum.

Since Kraft’s takeover of the Birmingham-based confectionary company in January this year, customers have been left wondering whether the company will commit to previously set goals by Cadbury aiming to reduce the brand’s carbon footprint.

Previous owners of Cadbury had set clear targets for the future of the company which included cutting back on energy wastage, reducing product packaging and controlling the use of water used in production.

Cadbury launched the ‘Purple Goes Green’ initiative back in 2007 to make the brand’s environmental goals clear to the public and to set achievable targets which could be built on.

Former Cadbury Chief Executive Todd Stitzer states on Cadbury’s website,

‘We recognise that if we are serious about tackling climate change, we need to be ‘absolutely’ committed.

This means re-thinking the way we do business, embedding sustainability into every decision we take.

Not only will this have a strong social and environmental impact but also a positive economic impact too in the longer term.’

We realise we cannot minimise the environmental impact of the manufacturing industry alone.

We need to work with our people, our peers and partners in our supply chain to reduce the size of our collective carbon footprint – acting as a united force for good.’

The Chief Executive left Cadbury, along with his colleague, the Chairman of the company Roger Carr after Kraft’s takeover bid was accepted.

Previous Easter Success

In their time at Cadbury, some good environmental progress was made. In 2008, the company was given a ‘Green Award’ for ‘Best Packaging’ in regard to their newly launched ‘eco’ Treasure Eggs. The eggs were wrapped in foil and displayed on ‘egg trays’ on supermarket shelves rather than in individual cardboard boxes.

These can still be found in most shops stocking Cadbury confectionary, but one has to wonder whether this product does enough to reduce harm to the environment to warrant the array of other heavily packaged Cadbury Easter Eggs.

Comment from Cadbury

The Easter Egg Trail Pack was one such product that the company was questioned about. This pack of mini Easter Eggs takes the form of a cardboard box with a formed cardboard carry handle. If the ‘Treasure Eggs’ don’t need unnecessary packaging then why should these?

Public Relations at Cadbury didn’t comment on the Easter Egg Trail Pack; however Tony Bilsborough from Cadbury’s PR department had this to say about committing to Cadbury’s eco targets:

‘Kraft has committed to maintaining our environmental pledges so there is no difference to the timetable or targets.’

Birmingham doesn’t tend to boast about it much, but it is a ‘Fairtrade Town’. The status will have been held for five years come November this year; so how has Birmingham maintained the title?

The Fairtrade Town movement was founded by the Fairtrade Foundation, who in turn established a set of five criterion (-PDF) which every area applying for the status must fulfil.

The criteria include cooperation from an array of local schools, restaurants, cafés, supermarkets, shops and other retail outlets; involvement of the Council and community organisations as well as relevant and sufficient coverage in the local media.

Fairtrade Association Birmingham

The body governing Birmingham’s fairtrade status, as well as the city Council, is the Fairtrade Association Birmingham (FAB).

Relatively unheard of, and more than relatively unattainable for comment, FAB is a volunteer-run organisation campaigning for fairtrade in Birmingham.

FAB claim on their website:

‘FAB aims to educate the Community in the issues surrounding trade as the first step to transforming Birmingham into a wholly ethical city which can change the world’

‘To do this FAB will engage and challenge businesses and community groups throughout Birmingham to think about and question the ethics of international trade and to call for greater transparency.’

‘At all times we will be bold, transparent, passionate and knowledgeable whilst staying sensitive to the needs of global communities.’

Local Involvement

However some local fairtrade enthusiasts don’t seem to agree that FAB do challenge businesses to stock and use fairly-traded goods. George Howell, owner of Indigo Wholefoods, a Fairtrade shop in Moseley is one such person.

Mr Howell was clear that he didn’t want to undermine FAB’s work, but acknowledged that they are not a large enough organisation with enough resources to approach companies themselves. He maintains that it is Birmingham’s passionate locals who actively involve themselves in campaigning for fairtrade, who allow the City to retain its status.

He believes that it is mainly individuals and independent businesses in Birmingham that are interested in Fairtrade themselves. He said, “The movement comes better from local individuals.”

Moseley seems to be a hub of ‘green’ activity, with a ‘swap shop’, farmers market and ‘Green Christmas Fair’ amongst ecological events which the village has hosted.

Speaking of what other areas of Birmingham could do to be ‘greener’, Mr Howell said:

‘In terms of other areas (of Birmingham), it all depends on the nature of the organisations involved- are they active or not very active at all? Most of the activities here (Moseley), particularly the farmer’s market, have been the product of people being here to arrange it and make it one of the best farmers markets in the country.’

He is optimistic about the future of Fairtrade and believes that more and more people are starting to take notice, saying, “That’s the way things are going now”.

Kate Stafford is the manager of the Shared Earth fairtrade shop located on New St. In the City centre.  She said:

‘The more shops that sell fairly traded goods the better, by promoting Fairtrade, more people would buy and maybe the world that we live in would see the end of poverty and suffering.’

‘Everyone would like a fair wage for the job they do, it helps people to support their families. Everyone has a right to go to school to buy food and clothing, the things we all take so much for granted.’

‘By supporting fairtrade we can help make a difference to people’s lives.’

It seems that it really is the individuals who are enthusiastic and passionate about promoting fairtrade in Birmingham that care for the City’s title. Let’s hope that locals continue to campaign for fairtrade and that Birmingham can keep its ethical status for years to come.

Birmingham shoppers attending the Vintage Fair at the Custard Factory yesterday were met with a colossal queue, as record numbers turned out for the event.

The queue stretched right around the complex and out onto the streets of Digbeth, as most eager bargain-hunters waited almost an hour to gain access to the event held in The Old Library.

One of the organisers manning the entrance desk said of the amount of people queuing, ‘it’s mad, it’s been so crazy’. Inside, the fair was much the same, with shoppers barely able to move due to the amount of people crammed inside.

One fair-goer said:

‘The fair was good, however it would have been better if there were time intervals for a certain amount of people to be let in, rather than queuing in the cold.

The amount of people that were in there once you’d paid was also a bit bad, I just wanted to get out it was so packed and I couldn’t have a proper rummage!’

Unexpected numbers of people also meant that some resources ran out.

Many members of the public complained that the travelling ‘tea boutique’, which accompanies the fair, ran out of their famous cupcakes.

Regarding yesterday’s fair, one of the organisers said:

‘There are talks of expanding it within The Custard Factory so we can have more stalls and more room.’

Success

The fair ran from 12pm to 5pm and held numerous stalls selling vintage and recycled clothes, accessories and more but despite the big turnout, there were still plenty of items left to purchase right up until the end of the day.

The large numbers attending the fair suggest an increasing public interest in vintage, recycled and ethical fashion.

Buying into these concepts means that the demand for the production of new clothes is reduced; this in turn benefits the environment.

Confirmation for future fairs

An organiser confirmed that the fair will return to Birmingham on June 12 and that event will continue to run four times a year.