Allerdale and Copeland Green Party

Conference report

by Jill Perry

Conference is a strange mix, in part a wonderful empowering experience, a chance to catch up with people you only see once a year, and in part a frustrating dip into the minutiae of policy.

Each year policy is adapted to reflect new challenges and this year the major piece of policy which was needed to be voted on was Health Policy, but other minor policy changes were made too.

It being General Election and Council election year there were training events on aspects of running a campaign, from meeting the legal requirements to what happens of you win!

There were big speeches from the Leader and Deputy Leader. Caroline Lucas dared to look ahead and talk about victory in Brighton Pavilion. In fact the bookmakers do have her in the lead. Adrian Ramsay was slightly more circumspect but focussed on a child in his target constituency and what her life would be like under Green Party policies compared with how it will turn out under any of the grey parties.

However the conference highlight was the panel discussion on Equality. There were two speakers: Johann Hari (Independent journalist) and Professor Kate Pickett professor of epidemiology, founder of the Equality Trust and co-author of the The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better. In every aspect of life: health, happiness, environmental care etc etc equlaity is better not just for the poor but also the rich. Kate commented that caroline Lucas was the Party leader who best understood her work. As Caroline said, quoting Peter Mandelson, “we are not intensely relaxed about people being filthy rich.”

We weren’t quite told to go home and prepare for victory, but we were told to go home and work hard to keep the Green Party in the public eye and to help in the Target Constituencies in any way we can.

Greens criticise Labour's claim on fairness

Adrian Ramsay, Green Party deputy leader, and parliamentary candidate for Norwich South, addressed Green Party spring conference today. Ramsay strongly criticised Labour for their poor track record on 'fairness' after the launch of their new General Election slogan:

"The job market is failing young people, and in my county, it's hitting hardest. Norfolk has the highest unemployment rate for 18-24 year olds of the whole country. It has the highest number of 18-24 year olds on Job-Seekers Allowance, and the highest number of job losses per head of population against any other county. This is the legacy of Tory and Labour governments. And this is what we need to address."

"Those people on the dole, will they be helped under Labour? Today, Labour launched their General Election slogan - ‘A Future Fair for All'. How can they be trusted to be fair when bankers are still getting bonuses, yet the recession is still putting thousands of other people out of work? The people who gambled with our money, who built the house of credit cards that now has crashed, get bailed out, but everyone else picks up the bill."

"That doesn't sound like Fair for All. That sounds like a bankers' Free For All."

"We believe in fighting for fairness - not crossing our fingers and hoping for the best. Our proposals would create a million lasting jobs - not ones dependent on cheap fossil fuels or financial bubbles. We want skilled jobs in public services, renewable energy and low carbon industries. We would nurture small to medium enterprises to encourage domestic manufacturing and local agriculture."

The full speech can be found here.