5 suggestions for the Left to support

Thanks, Mike and Bob for writing.  Nice to hear from you both.  Copied to Stuart.

I bcc'd only Stuart as a leading Birmingham left politician along with Bob and yourself.  Stuart is an indefatigable campaigner for social justice and peaceful co-existence around the world whom we must work with in any new and broader left wing party.  LU and SWP and all the others, including the Communist Party must be included in a broad left coalition where we cannot all agree on everything, obviously but, my list of rather basic and obvious suggestions, as here may be included - but, I somehow doubt it!:

1. 1/2 bedroom apartments that are highly energy efficient and solar powered for the most badly housed at High Plateau, Merry Hill Shopping Centre.
2. The return of ONLY stations, commuter and regional trains to our railway lines that have not been built on or turned into two nibble sized tramlines on a total of 5.5 Kms with 50.5 Kms still remaining for TRAINS on the 120 Kms Black Country Railway between Worcester and Derby.  To cut greenhouse gas emissions from our addiction to car use.
3. The major, urban-rural-urban, 22 Kms Black Country Cycle-Walk Mudway to be transformed into a usable, finite fossil fuel FREE, business, commuter and leisure route.   To cut greenhouse gas emissions.
4. The Black Country Urban Forest to be returned to, in order to use the grass embankments and the other suitable land at Merry Hill SC.  To capture carbon dioxide and improve biodiversity.
5. WOULD THIS WORK?  A two-year trial of a bus/business lane (NOT TRAMLINE!) on the nearside lane of Hagley Road in Brum to reward car commuters who take the bus with Fare-Free Public Transport extended to ALL and, in the rush hours with some traffic light priority on Hagley Road for buses and work buses and pre-registered essential vehicle users who can all use both lanes.  So you don't need a dedicated bus lane at all, then?

Objectives: (a) to free up road space in rush hours for essential road users who must have a vehicle to be able to carry out their work.

(b) to make for a more efficient use of highly expensive city centre land, with much less given to car parking and more for solar powered, modest sized housing.

(c) a more sensible use of road space that cannot go on being widened.

(d) to make it as anti-social to car commute as smoking now is in the presence of non-smokers.

(e) to cut deadly greenhouse gas emissions.

All the best

Tim   (0791 380 4363)