Comment: Labour voters will go Green

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The Green party is the true home for Labour voters after a decade of privatisation.

By Rupert Read

After 12 years in power, Labour, whether it's on the 10p tax, pensions, or on privatisation, has lost its way. In contrast, the Green party's agenda is built around what used to matter to Labour - fairness, equality, and social justice.

Even before the 'credit crunch,' roughly 15 per cent of 16 to 25-year-olds were out of work. To address this crisis, our recent European elections manifesto prioritised the creation of one million jobs (in renewable energy, energy efficiency, local food, and in public services).

We want long-term investment to create a healthier Britain, for example, a NHS free at the point of use (not paying to visit the GP, or for prescription charges, or paying for dentistry).

We support a £165 a week state pension, as older people need to be treated with fairness and respect. We reject Labour plans to close post offices and to privatise the Royal Mail.

An issue that I've pushed hard on in Norwich North is opposing plans for 'academy schools' - they are privatisation by stealth. Education should be about giving all of our kids the best chance.

A final issue that Labour has failed abysmally on is housing. The Greens believe we need a programme of social housing (both buying up and converting homes, as well as some new council-house build). We support a 'Right to Rent' scheme whereby local authorities would purchase homes threatened by repossession and rent these back to occupiers. We want more support for housing co-ops and greater protection for tenants.

Why have these measures not been put in place, despite Labour being in power for 12 years? Will a vote for the Tories on the 23rd of July lead to more social equality in Norfolk? It's little wonder that we are finding huge numbers of ex-Labour voters coming our way, all across the estates of Norwich North.

Dr Rupert Read, 43, is the Green party candidate in the Norwish North byelection. He is also a Green party city councillor in the city. Read was the Green party's lead candidate in the European 2009 parliamentary elections for the Eastern Region. He is the party's spokesperson on public services. Read is currently Reader in Philosophy at the University of East Anglia, where he specialises in environmental and political philosophy.

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