Election Priorities: Why the Green Party is the right one for South Derbyshire

As the Election campaign is coming to a close and Party Leaders are winging their way to their constituencies it is time for me to sum up why I think that Green Party policies are right for South Derbyshire. First, I have had emails from voters wanting to know my views on such things as the NHS; arms funding; animal testing; nuclear missiles; overseas aid; fox hunting; badger culling; countryside and nature; assisted dying and fuel duty. These are the concerns of  people in South Derbyshire. I have answered some people personally and have written blogs about the common issues. All of the subjects are covered by Green Party policies.

We want to return the NHS to be fully publicly funded with patients being the priority. Arms sales will be strictly licensed, we will not spend billions of pounds on nuclear weapons but would spend more on co-operating with other countries. We are against fox hunting, badger culling and would keep or increase fuel duty, of course we would, oil is a fossil fuel and we want to use and invest in sustainable resources. We believe that humans have a symbiotic relationship with Nature and should spend time appreciating it for our mental and physical health. We believe in personal choice, not only of how to live but also of how to die. These are the things that constituents want, well apart from the fuel duty, we realise that, which is why the Green Party wants to invest in greener ways of transport and cleaner forms of fuel. We are motorists too.

Constituents fortunate enough to have received one of my leaflets (Sorry, we couldn't manage to cover the whole constituency) will see that I stated four election priorities. Education, Transport, Housing and Libraries. I could easily have added faster broadband. South Derbyshire has a number of good, small primary schools, but the provision for secondary education is not as good as constituents want, lacking in the right funding and needing one more school. The Green Party is committed to investing in local government schools and I would ensure that each child in the constituency would be able to have high quality education.

Transport does not only include better bus services, improvements to rural and urban roads but also better cycle tracks and cycle lanes. There are many people who cycle around the constituency through narrow country roads and alongside fast running traffic. The network of safer cycle ways and footpaths should be improved. The Green Party believe in a holistic approach, with subsides and planning giving the UK an accessible transport infrastructure and would divert funds from HS2, which it considers to be a vanity project, in order to pay for the improvements.

Affordable housing is an issue nationwide, not just in South Derbyshire. This covers rented accommodation as well as house purchase. The Green Party want to provide more council and housing association homes as well as encouraging small and medium building firms to create affordable houses where there is the need for them.

Finally, I have a wild card: public libraries. These are vital places, static or mobile, which are gateways to knowledge, lifelines to the lonely, conduits of information where self motivated learners discover new ideas. They are equalisers of opportunity, they offer a service to anyone no matter what age, income, socio-economic level, colour religion or sexual orientation. They are places where staff can: help children with their homework; help people who cannot cope with computers and the internet; spot whether someone has financial, mental health or physical problems and can refer people on to the correct service. Our library provision is diminishing and I would fight to bring back the mobile service and improve opening hours.

I started this blog by saying that I am a trail blazer, being the first Green Party candidate for South Derbyshire, and through this campaign I have discovered considerable support for Green Party policies and now I am sure that Green is here to stay.
   

Education is not a soundbite

A local newspaper reporter asked me to outline my views on Education, briefly - only in two sentences, which is not nearly enough for me to say what I want to say about Education. And neither is this blog post, so I shall spare you the lorry loads of academic evidence and arguments that I could produce to illustrate my point of view. I have researched literacy and educational theories for a long time. I have chosen "Support for Education" as one of my election pledges not only because the subject is one of my specialisms, but also because the voters of South Derbyshire have concerns about Educational provision in the district: the secondary schools in the western part of the district are working hard to achieve Ofsted standards and adequate funding, while the eastern constituents are asking for another school to be built to accommodate an increase of population brought about by new housing.

A recent article in Derby Evening Telegraph reported that "children from poor backgrounds" in South Derbyshire are the least likely children in the UK to "succeed in life" according to a survey by the Sutton Trust (http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Disadvantaged-children-South-Derbyshire-likely/story-26356349-detail/story.html). The article does not examine the reasons for situation or blame any of South Derbyshire's schools but does call for government intervention to end educational inequalities. So, why are South Derbyshire children such apparent failures? I was a bit puzzled because I think that my South Derbyshire educated children have succeeded in life. I decided to read the original research to pinpoint the problem and find out what can be done to improve the situation. 

It turns out that the Sutton Trust was researching social mobility, the way that a child can move from one socio economic class to another, and the children that were studied (or rather, the statistics of the children that were studied) were those defined as "disadvantaged", meaning those receiving free school meals. Their GCSE results were examined as well as if they went to university and finally if they found a professional job. The study stated that it had nothing to do with the intelligence of the children. The study can be found here (http://www.suttontrust.com/researcharchive/mobility-map-background/). So, what the study seems to be telling us is that there are some children in South Derbyshire that are not not fulfilling their potential, for whatever reason, and the question now becomes how can Education help?

Successive governments have introduced schemes and strategies to measure and dictate what teachers teach with rigid targets and quotas to achieve. This sausage factory effect has not helped children to develop a sense of the love of learning for the sheer delight of learning. They have learnt to pass exams and reach, or not reach targets. Life-long education is vital for an informed, creative, literate and socially mobile population. To achieve this, the fully qualified staff of early years provision, schools and libraries should be allowed to inspire children in publicly funded establishments free from the dictates of targets and league tables.The Green Party intends to end academies and free schools and to fund local government adequately to provide for their schools. All children have a right to go to university and the Green Party will end student fees, allowing even the most disadvantaged children to achieve their potential. I believe that students should not have to pay £9000 for their education. I believe in scrapping the student fee. I went on student marches in the 1970's for all students to get full grants for their studies and I am distressed that it never happened. Education is not a sound-bite, education is a right.