Why I’m marching on the 26th March
0There are so many reasons why I am marching on the 26th March. First, I’m appalled at the damage being done to our society; the Government’s assault on our cultural life with the closure of libraries and cuts to art and film funding, and the way a whole generation of young people are having their ambitions squashed by a combination of cuts to EMA, a reduction in university places and rising tuition fees, is all quite terrifying and unfair.
Above all on the cuts agenda, I’m horrified at the perfect storm that the Government is about to unleash in London, with poorer Londoners suffering the consequences of housing shortages, a guillotine-like execution of housing benefit provision, and the drying up of funds to build social, rented housing for people earning below the average wage. This could result in the social cleansing of London, driving poorer residents out of their homes, away from their friends and relations, and into outer London boroughs that won’t want them.
I’m also marching for a positive alternative.
The Green Party went into the last election with a costed plan to tackle the deficit without decimating public services and destroying jobs. In contrast, Labour, the Lib Dems and the Conservatives all agreed to make big cuts in public services. Whilst the Labour Party in opposition is backing away from supporting cuts, I have yet to hear them put forward an alternative based upon a fairer sharing of the burden.
Ed Miliband and Ken Livingstone could start by supporting UK Uncut in saying that it is unacceptable that banks like Barclays make over £11 bn profit, but pay only 1% tax.
These cuts are not inevitable – they are driven by ideology, not economic necessity, and as Greens, we will fight them every step of the way. Cuts that hurt the poorest hardest are morally wrong, but these cuts are not only socially devastating, they are economically illiterate. The way to tackle the deficit is not to throw out of work half a million public sector workers, with a knock-on effect of a similar number in the private sector, forcing more people on to benefits, that the fewer people in work must pay for. The way to tackle the deficit is to create jobs, to keep people’s taxes coming into the Revenue, to keep them in work. And one of the fastest job creation schemes imaginable would be our programme for a Green New Deal – a massive investment in renewables and energy efficiency, better home insulation for hundreds of thousands of households, tackling fuel poverty, and helping to create a million new jobs.
If the government is still worrying about how to pay for it, let’s give them a few Green ideas for free:
• A Robin Hood Tax on international financial transactions would generate £20bn a year even if it was only introduced in the UK alone
• Cracking down on the tax evasion and tax avoidance of the wealthiest could raise £10bn in the first year – but this government is sacking workers at HMRC
• Scrapping Trident replacement could save us £100bn over 30 years
• And a further windfall tax on bankers’ bonuses and bank profits would ensure that those who created this crisis pay to help us out of the problem.
Thirdly, I’m marching because I believe that the deficit is being used as an excuse for the coalition to do what Conservative governments always enjoy doing – creating small government by cutting and privatising public services. I think many Lib Dem activists & some MPs oppose those policies and others, led by Nick Cklegg, are embracing those actions. By beating the Lib Dems in the Mayoral and Assembly elections next year, I can send a strong and clear message to the weak link in the coalition Government that they need to urgently rethink their support for the policies which are having such a disastrous impact on Londoners’ lives.
The final reason I’m marching is that it’s going to be fun, to walk and talk with Green Party members, many from my local party, to be on streets free of motorised traffic and to see a London in a different way.
I look forward to seeing you there.
