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A Green Vision For

South East Cornwall

Welcome to my blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so please stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

My name is Martha Green and I am standing for the Green Party in the South East Cornwall parliamentary constituency.

I am a strong believer in engaging with communities to know their most dire needs. I’m a lover of Clean & Green, I believe that everyone must not go hungry. I shall work hard to make SE Cornwall a model to others.

I am a qualified legal practitioner in the area of immigration, including Asylum cases, Human Rights and victims of human trafficking for modern slavery cases. My qualifications include a degree in Biochemistry, a law degree from Middlesex University and a Postgraduate LPC from University of West England.

I moved to Cornwall in September 2014 from London and shortly after that joined the Green Party and stood for the Truro City Council and Town and Parish council elections for the first time in 2017. I have been very active since moving to Cornwall and have successfully formed and hosted two events (Cornwall diversity Food Festival and Every woman’s Hope event) in Truro.

Renewable Energy Strategy and Climate Change

Electric cars are part of the answer, but only part. The first step has to be reducing energy demand overall. Homes that are insulated properly ( and for new homes, designed properly) to cut down on energy demand. Real options for public transport and active transport, that reduce the distances driven in private cars, fossil fuel or electric. And an economy that is for more localised, so doesn’t demand the huge transportation of people and materials that goes on now. Then yes, electrification of everything that is fossil based now. Space heating, with solar thermal and geothermal, and the electrification of our transport fleet, trains and cars. Really, there should not be a single new roof built in the country from this moment on, without solar panels.

In terms of costs, carbon most definitely has to be priced, to give a competitive advantage to zero- carbon approaches to everything. The proceeds of this tax will be used initially to invest in alternatives, but most importantly will be returned as dividends to UK residents in a fashion that insulates the least -well off among us from seeing their own already precarious finances get any worse. This is why we can’t only talk about one policy at a time , because we need a holistic rebalancing away from carbon and inequality, and towards clean and socially just.

And, as regards VAT on your solar panels, certainly, solar panels are an absolute necessity, and we would be eliminating VAT on pollution – reducing goods, Reduce energy usage, clean up energy production with huge investment in renewable, and use the tax and benefit system to support this shift and make sure it is not the poor who will pay for it.

Martha Green

Public Service and Ending Austerity

For several years following the Global Financial Crisis of 2008 the Green Party was the only Party in England calling for an end of Austerity. We have been clear that cutting public spending at the same time that people have less available money to spend is a recipe for economic stagnation that punishes the poorest the most. The Green Party was the driving force behind the original Green New Deal proposal in the wake of the 2008 crash (that has now been picked up, belatedly, by Labour, as well as by prominent Democrats in the US). Our proposal is a major programme of public investment transition to a Green society.

We believe that all public services should be properly funded, particularly those that protect the most vulnerable in our society, we would devolve more decision – making over how that funding is spent to local communities.

Martha Green

NHS Funding

We strongly believe in a publicly funded NHS and would ensure that all health provision receives the funding it needs. We are opposed to all forms of privatisation within the NHS and would work to reverse this trend.

we also believe very strongly in the huge social and economic value of preventative health measures. Our entire political programme is about strengthening local communities so that they become vibrant, resilient and healthy places to live. We prioritise this because we believe it is the basis of the social transformation required to tackle climate change, but also because it restores dignity and increases wellbeing. A major by-product of this would be reduced costs for NHS and social care.

However, we would also find new sources of funding;- We would undertake a major reform of taxation, shifting the focus from ‘income’ to ‘wealth’ (At present, people who earn a living through regular income are taxed disproportionately more than people with large assets- especially land -or inherited wealth)- We would also raise corporation tax on big businesses. But crucially, we believe it is important to distinguish between Big Business and Small – to Medium enterprises (SMEs). SMEs are integral to local community life and bring value far beyond their economic contribution. Big Businesses by contrast undermine community life despite their economic contribution. By taxing Big Business more we would reflect the cost of Big Business to our society while the cost of Big Business to our society while increasing revenue for core public Services, including Health and \social Care.

Martha Green

Education

The Green Party believes that education is a fundamental right which should be freely available to anyone, regardless of age. Education should not simply be about gaining the grades to get a job, but about the value of learning in its own right. We also believe that education should be at the heart of community life. and that all educational institutions should be democratically accountable to their local communities.

To that end, we would invest heavily in education provision, providing more schools to reduce class sizes, raising teacher salaries, and ensuring that education provision is free to all, right through from Early- Years to Higher Education. This is a major funding priority for us, since we believe that education provision is one of the most needs for any society.

In terms of transport, we would divert billions of pounds of investment away from vanity projects such as HS2 and new road-building projects into a major expansion of public transport provision. We would then further subsidised public transport to schools and colleges.

Martha Green

Brexit: how to move forward given divisions

A People’s Vote should put a specific option regarding Brexit to the public, with the option to remain as an alternative.

The Green Party was the first Party to call for a People’s Vote. The 2016 referendum, made it clear that a small majority wanted to leave the EU, but it did not provide any clarity about what that would mean in practice. A People’s Vote should put a specific option regarding Brexit to the public, with the option to remain as an alternative.

We are strongly opposed to a NO DEAL Brexit because it would cause severe damage right across the UK economy, as well as putting people at risk with a shortage of vital medical supplies, it is also unacceptable to play fast -and-loose with the question of the Irish border, when so many people have suffered so much in recent history and Northern Ireland remains politically unstable.

However, we also opposed the Lib Dem policy of revoking Article 50, because this would be a betrayal of those who voted to Leave in good faith. We have said all along that it is important to respect the result of the referendum – which is why we want to put the best Brexit deal it is possible to negotiate to the public and then let them decide.

Of course, the debate around this issue has become toxic. In particular, there is a strong feeling that a People’s Vote would be undemocratic. We reject this argument as ludicrous, how can it be undemocratic to have democratic vote?? However, we do take seriously the democratic deficit that is felt very deeply by many communities around the UK – including many here in Cornwall. Many people feel that MPs at Westminster are trying to overturn the result of the referendum and see this as further confirmation that decisions are made by other people.

The Brexit campaign won with the slogan ‘Take Back Control’. Its a sentiment we understand, but the Brexit campaign identified the wrong problem and doesn’t have any true solutions.

The loss of control people feel is not due to our membership of the European Union (in fact many of the benefits of being in the EU help to protect against further loss of control – for example, in protecting workers rights). The loss of control we experience is due to greater centralisation of power in Westminster and the lack of regulation of unaccountable multinational corporations who extract profits from our communities but have no true places of their own.

We are the only Party who have actual plan to return REAL control to local communities. We would devolve much greater power away from Westminster to local communities. In Cornwall that would mean establishing a new Cornish Assembly with power over planning, NHS priorities, policing, taxation etc. We would make large corporations accountable, forcing them to pay much more tax, and at a much higher rate, and we would privilege local businesses which bring so much dignity and life to local communities.

And we would reform our electoral system so that every vote always counts in every election.

The way forward from Brexit is not to crash out of the EU, or to return to the way things were before 2016 and pretend it never happened. The way forward involves a new vision for a different kind of society. We are a Remain Party, but we take Leavers seriously. By giving genuine control back to local communities, we believe we can deliver what Brexit voters wanted – and more – while still benefiting from the best deal available: the one we already have.

Martha Green