18 March 2024
Fenland Green Party announces your 2024 General Election candidate for North East Cambridgeshire – Andrew Crawford. He writes:
We Cannot Blame the local councils for the 'Wisbech Mega Incinerator', the 'March Town Regeneration Project', or even the massive housing estates being proposed across the region. These matters are largely controlled by central government policy. This is why it is so important to vote in the 2024 General Election. Voting Green Party sends out a clear message that you don't agree with the direction in which this current government is taking us.
Traffic and Transport. No one seems particularly impressed with traffic in Fenland's towns. While current thinking is to aim for 'net zero emissions' by 2050 and get everyone into electric cars, the reality is that they are expensive and do nothing to address the ever-increasing traffic volumes. The Green solution is to have fewer private motor vehicles on the roads and better infrastructure for walking and cycling, along with the safe, controlled use of e-bikes and e-scooters. This, combined with cheap and convenient public transport and low-traffic neighbourhoods, makes for a nicer, safer, cheaper, healthier and easier way for people to get around.
The Cost of Living Crisis. The use of food banks is at an all-time high. To address this, the Green Party solution is to have a Citizen’s Basic Income: a monthly income, payable to everyone, which would replace the current tax-free allowance. This would ensure that those of us on the lowest incomes would be lifted from poverty and that basic rate taxpayers would be better off. This can easily be afforded by increasing taxes on wealth and on higher incomes.
Healthcare and the NHS. If you need an operation, then you might be pleased to know that you can skip the NHS waiting lists by paying privately. That may be a great solution for those who can afford to pay to jump the healthcare queue, but for the rest of us it seems grossly unfair. The Green solution is to have a fully funded healthcare system, free at the point of use, to ensure fair pay for all healthcare workers, and to remove the costly government contracts which allow companies to extract profit from our NHS.
Free Education for All. As it stands, the children of the wealthiest families currently receive the best education, and they have the greatest chance of attending the best universities in order to then go on and have successful well-paid careers. The Green proposal is to have better funding for all state schools, to provide free university education, and to write off all student debt. Student fees would come to an end, and student living costs would be met by grants and citizen’s basic income. All children would receive free school meals.
High Energy Prices. To achieve lower energy bills, the Green solution is to have all homes better insulated and to produce cheap renewable energy. As it stands, those who can afford the initial investment for insulation, solar panels, and heat pumps can enjoy low energy costs. For the rest, however, we have to reduce our consumption down to affordable levels by simply being cold. The Greens support government investment to insulate homes and to produce cheap renewable energy for all.
We Need Housing. We need affordable social housing for local people, rather than building the more profitable 'executive homes' which enable those from outside the area to buy a larger home here, at a lower price than elsewhere, and then commute somewhere else for work. The Green solution is to build state-owned housing to reduce the pressure on the private rental market, to bring down rents, and ultimately to reduce the cost of housing overall.
Dare We Mention Climate Change? There is no denying that the planet is getting warmer. The Green party will work towards net zero quickly and urgently. Under the Green Party, there will be no new oil fields or gas generators.
The Green Party offers solid solutions to modern problems. Your Green Party vote and support strengthens the party and green politics, and so goes a long way towards creating a better, brighter, fairer future for all. If, on the other hand, you are happy with how our government is doing, and enjoy seeing the regular swing between the major parties, then carry on voting Conservative or Labour.
Andrew Crawford has lived and worked in Fenland for over 20 years and has seen the area become excessively developed to allow more people to move to the area. This has meant more motor traffic, higher house prices, and higher rents, with more pressure on public services. To add insult to injury, the government have decided that Fenland will become a site for waste disposal, with the approval of the Wisbech Mega Incinerator, and March Town itself is being dismantled to accommodate more motor traffic with the hugely unpopular 'regeneration project'. It is time that local people had a say in these initiatives that pour out of Westminster and are unstoppable by local councils.
You may contact Andrew Crawford and the Parliamentary Team at: north.east.cambridgeshire@votegreen.uk
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