Martin Deane for Avenue ward

11 April 2018

Martin Deane writes:

 

I've been privileged to represent the Green Party in Avenue ward for 13 years now.

We've seen many changes over that time at national level. But we haven't seen much change at local level. 

We get Labour, we get Lib Dems, we get cuts. The City of Culutre was a welcome light relief, but even then there's no escaping a massive corporate culture and hundreds of local people's ideas and contributions were sidelined.

We've seen political repercussions: the austerity - which Labour initiated - bit hard, especially in 2010 when the Lib Dems cut 1400 jobs. But then - with Labour back in power - we had 600 more jobs lost, contrary to promises. 

Resistance to THIS Tory government needed to start years ago. Now cut after cut is standard, and we know from other studies that austerity is now costing LIVES, the sick, the poor, the vulnerable and those with disability too. One study puts austerity deaths since 2010 at 120,000!

So what can we do?

There are things we can do at a local level. With little power against central government, we can look to safeguard what we have and make Hull stronger for the next few years.

  • Energy could be one way we could do it. We build state of the art wind turbines in the city now. What if we could pursue 25 wind turbines for the city - to provide all its residential electricity? What if the city formed a company to do this? Could Hull become the first renewable energy city in the UK?
  • Transport - Can we possibly become a cycle friendly city? It's blink and you miss them when it comes to cycle lanes, and busy roads can be quite scary. The APPG recommends a spend of £10 a head on cycle provision. So what should we do next?

You name it, humanity is driving a steamroller through it: rainforests, topsoil, fisheries, fresh water, species diversity, DNA after GMOs, the depletion of resources.

  • Biodiversity is something we need to take care of in the city. Bee populations have been under incredible stress in recent yeras. One thing we could do regarding Council planting, is to feed in more bee-friendly species so they can get what they need even in the city.

Instead of addressing these, what does Government do? They give £1 trillion to the banks and make the rest of us pay  - in jobs, services and the cost of living!

  • As a teacher, it's dismaying that over half my colleagues nationally want to leave teaching. The more the profession oppresses teachers, the more we fail to invest in our future. What can we do locally to improve retention - and to help schools face the millions in cuts still to come?

Greens are prepared to confront social injustice. We're prepared to stand up against those cuts.  Grees will stand up against environmental degradation - such as people are suffering at the hands of Sheffield Labour where thousands of city trees are being cut down.

Greens know the score on inequality, on social issues and resource decline. Greens want to take on the major parties in Parliament, the banks and giant corporations.

Greens want an end to the NHS in crisis! Staff are under tremendous pressure. We want a professional national health service that works for all, without the costs of private providers. 

The Green Party offers you serious commitment to addressing social injustice, and for a greener and more sustainable future.

 

Stand up for Our NHS.

Stand up for Young People.

Stand up for Our Rights.

Stand up for Our Environment.

Martin Deane






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