1. What impact do you think the Green Party’s eco-socialist policies have had on the party’s growth and how can that be sustained?
Green focus on UBI, cost of living issues, diversity issues and the plight of refugees has shown the wider policies of the party and helped to engage more people from lower incomes and more people from different ethnic backgrounds. We need to promote the Green New Deal and its benefits to those on low incomes and on benefits more widely, by explaining our key policies clearly but more briefly than how they are detailed in our Green Party Manifesto. We need to ensure people can follow the tax proposals and get behind these. We need to make more of what Greens have already done both nationally and locally to help those struggling financially, such as the great project to insulate social housing led by Lewes Council across 6 local councils, the work done to combat tax avoidance when we were part of the EU, and the current alliance between the Green Party and Scottish Nationalist Party to introduce rent control. These issues – heating costs, rent increases and tax avoidance by the rich and by multinational companies has resonance with many voters who may not consider the Green Party as the party that best represents their priorities. We need to get that message out locally through Green day events, through clear newsletters and through more access to media at a local and national level.
2. The recent Tory by-election defeats suggest the electorate aremaking their own decisions on strategic voting. How can the Green Party intervene to turn that to its advantage?
We need to be prepared to fight key target seats , by providing the best support centrally to local areas and by incentivising members to give their time to support these vital elections. As management coordinator I will support staff to focus on these key target seats and look at support from volunteers across the country and ways that have previously worked to get external support, such as through using high profile greens, inviting celebrities for endorsements to attract support, offering useful freebies along with information, effective use of social media and working with local groups again who are incentivised to support our work (such as through help to access cheap solar panels for a community centre or school roof). We have a huge amount of information we need to share with the wider community that will help us to win more voters.
3. What would be your priorities for campaigns outside election periods that would raise our profile in communities, engage our members and attract new ones? How could that be financed?
More about reducing costs and increasing income. A mix of heat reduction options from the obvious (tighter windows and attic insulation) and good advice on benefits and local savings (local council discounts, entitlements to free school meals, best start grants) again at information stalls at events that attract a wide range of local people can show our commitment to both the environment and stopping climate change and to people who live on this planet. People and Planet should be our catch phrase. Use big local gatherings to promote our message and run green days with key local services that also help people (local CAB and other advice services, green energy providers and other green focused businesses such as zero waste shops.
4. How can the Party improve the way it communicates its policies
to the BAME and white working class?
Speakers at local community events to promote how our work benefits people from diverse backgrounds and with low incomes and how climate change effects all our future. Always, always give away food, such a good cheap way to engage people. We use this in my charity where we run open event on key women’s issues and our lovely free lunches ensure a good mix of attendees from a range of backgrounds. Get funding from local green businesses and work with local food charities to promote their work and access cheap/free food.
5. Should the Green Party review its policy on NATO in the light of the current conflict in Ukraine and what would be your approach?
I feel I don’t know enough about this issue to advise on this, but feel we need to review in light of our long-term goals as well as due to the immediate attack on the Ukraine. NATO may have exacerbated the situation where other forms of diplomacy may have brought better results, though again I feel I lack the needed level of understanding to give a definitive answer.
6. The 24 hours news cycle means that contributions from our spokespeople have to be rapid if they are to be given media space. How can we manage that whilst maintaining democratic accountability?
We have many messages in our manifesto that we can adapt to what comes up on the news cycle that would be speaking from a democratically agreed policy document. We also need to start challenging the media when they focus on the wrong issues. If they are saying for example what do we think of the cost of living crisis we need to turn this round to discuss how this has come in part due to unfair tax policies, and tax breaks for the rich and for the fossil fuel industries. If they are saying how we can’t afford to prioritise green issues we need to turn this round to show how we can’t afford not to prioritise green issues, to reduce our reliance on imported fossil fuels, to reduce heating costs through insulation programmes and alternative energy and to reduce our national deficit by introducing an effective carbon tax.
7. Given that some Government policies such as privatisation and
reducing rights are a thread crossing different sectors how can spokespeople cooperate on our overall messaging to ensure this is addressed?
Identify the common enemy. There have been huge rows over trans women’s rights to be recognised vs women’s groups raising concerns about the impact on women. A key concern raised is the safety of vulnerable women. But women are not at risk from trans women, they are at risk from a tiny vicious cohort of men in order to harm both women and trans women. Both trans women and women born in women’s bodies have experienced constant levels of harassment and abuse from these types of men. What we need to focus on is fighting violence against women, whether women born in women’s bodies or trans women, and how we challenge the tolerance of their ongoing abuse of women internationally and in the UK. I am very passionate about this issue and feel able to support clear articulate ways to get this message out there and find a way forward that respects all women’s rights. Global majority people feel their safety is at risk when dealing with the police, as so many have been incarcerated or murdered by police. Women have overlapping issues with the police (we are also murdered by them but less often) and again we can unite to find joint campaigns to expel those guilty of hate crimes and misogyny from the forces that should protect us all. We can look at our common issues and who controls the powers used against us to find common ground to challenge these.
8. How would you raise the international relevance and profile of the GPEW?
Through more joint working across the different green parties internationally, through working with international names that bring interest from a wider public, and through highlighting where are work in the UK has been expanded on internationally as a positive way forward.
9. The Green Party has recently encountered difficulties imaintaining a respectful and comradely debate on issues where there has been sharp disagreement. What would be your approach to improving the atmosphere in which these debates take place?
First set the boundaries. What is and isn’t acceptable to bring up. With the transgender conflict the party has agreed that trans women are women. I think we need to accept this and not endlessly debate this issue. But I do think we should debate how gender stereotypes repress women and how there is a risk of abusive men taking advantage of changing views on gender to harm women, both those born in women’s bodies and trans women. But we need to agree right at the start what can and can’t be said and how we will ensure respect for all who are speaking. We need to challenge the idea and not the person. These are very emotive issues but they need to be aired to move forward.
10. How can we ensure a level playing field in internal elections when some candidates have the advantage of access to a national platform and networks?
By running training that all can attend, any members keen to stand can learn to speak more articulately on what they believe in. But the content needs to come from them. They need to align themselves with the core values of the Green Party, but what they focus in on and how they present this to other members will be from their own perspective. We also need to do more to attract people from working class and global majority backgrounds as members to improve the chances for candidates from these backgrounds. People will vote for the people who they feel most represent them.
No comments:
Post a Comment