Last night I went to the Fair Trade steering group which is working on achieving Fairtrade status for Southwark Borough.  The group consists of concerned residents  and campaigners from groups like Friends fo the Earth,  the World Development Movement and the Fairtrade foundation - as well as councillors from all parties.  Although I am now the lead councillor for this area of activity, the steering group has put  in a load of donkey work. They are working closely with schools like Waverley down the road, as well as shops and cafes. There a whole series of goals we need to achieve in order to become a Fair Trade Borough and we aim to do it by the end of the year.   One of the steps I will be most pleased to take is getting rid of the Council’s hated coffee machines. Apart from the ‘unfairly traded’ coffee they are an environmental  abomination which waste a load of energy, plastic and foil for every cup of coffee staff and visitors to the council drink. It may only be a small thing but I’m a big believer in leading by example.