23 April 2022
The following is a transcript of the speech he recorded for the programme.
Hello, my name is Daniel Clayton, I'm the Green Party candidate for Chadderton North in this year’s local elections. We also have candidates standing in Chadderton Central, Royton North, Royton South, St Mary's, St James, and Alexandra.
The Green Party is increasing its share of councillors across the country year on year and I'm here today to talk about what we want to achieve here in Oldham.
The Green Party's priorities for this year are -
- the cost of living crisis
- clean air, safe streets, affordable homes
- decent social care
- local green spaces
The cost of living is spiralling out of control and has been doing for some time. What is being presented by many politicians and news outlets as a recent phenomenon actually has its roots in the austerity politics of the last decade. What we are seeing now is that suffering moving up the socio-economic scale affecting more and more people. The recent hikes in National Insurance and energy bills will only exacerbate this. These, fundamentally, are issues for national politicians so the real questions I have to answer here are -
- What can local politicians do to help alleviate the suffering caused by national government policy?
and
- What can local politicians do to oppose national government policies that damage the communities they represent?
To answer the first question - we can take direct, practical action to help. According to Friends Of The Earth only 32% of homes in Oldham are well insulated. If we are to insulate every home in Oldham by 2030, which is necessary to achieve carbon neutrality, then we must insulate over 6000 homes every year. No small undertaking but eminently possible as long as there is the political will to achieve it.
My approach in Chadderton North would be first to conduct reconnaissance around the ward. Myself and other Green Party members would knock on every door to identify precisely where the need is and how best to support them. Are they in social housing? Are they private tenants? Or are they homeowners? Each circumstance could present its own barriers so we have to be prepared to deal with that. I'd look into setting up a community fund using some of my councillor's allowance to help those in need. I would also push for renewable energy to be the sole source of Oldham's power needs. This is necessary for the survival of our species and will save everyone money.
To answer the second question - what can local politicians do to oppose national government policies? We can be a voice. We can be on your street actually getting things done. My personal belief is that the poverty caused by austerity was a deliberate act of class war perpetrated by our government against the most vulnerable people in our commuinities. I was made homeless in 2015 as a direct consequence of the bedroom tax and now I stand in local elections every year. There is a way out of this and it all centres around people doing politics together.
To be able to breath clean air. To be able to feel safe in your community. To live in a safe home without fear of eviction. These are fundamental human rights and are core Green values.
Clean air
Another reason to eliminate our use of fossil fuels is the fact that air pollution kills tens of thousands of people every year. We need to drastically reduce the number of cars on our roads. Public transport is vital to this and the Green Party believes that public transport should be reliable, safe, and affordable. And in public ownership.
As a regular user of buses and trams I've seen how crowded some of these services can get and it is obvious that we need more at specific times. But even if a bus only has three passengers they are still taking up less space on the road than if they were in three separate vehicles.
It is impossible to think about over-crowding on public transport without considering the Covid-19 pandemic. It is known that public transport drivers are disproportionately represented in the mortality figures. The risk still posed by Covid-19, and the risk of future infections must be acknowledged in all future public transport planning.
Safe Streets
Green councillors will also look at ways to make our roads and pavements safer for walkers and cyclists. This means - tackling litter and animal waste - tackling pathways that have become inaccessible due to overgrowth - investing in street cleaning and maintainance - and improving the quality and quantity of our cycle lanes.
Everyone has the right to feel safe in their community. People should not fear persecution because of their ethnic background. Women should be able to walk home at night without fear of harrassment or worse. The Green Party deplores all forms of bigotry, hate and violence, and Green councillors will always work to support victims and help build healthy community relations. I believe that a more cohesive, peaceful, and understanding society is possible. There is a role for local government to play in this. There is a role for local policing to play in this. And there is a role for every single one of us in this. As I've said before, it all centres on people doing politics together.
Affordable homes
In these communities we need homes that we can afford. We don't need a council that destroys our greenbelt in order to build houses that the vast majority of us will never be able to afford. We don't need a council that crams the poor into HMOs. Instead, let's have a council that prioritises the 25,000 families in Oldham who are on the social housing waiting list. We are often told that councils need to plan for future growth. This is an impossible calculation to address because current need is not being met. To me, the very fact that current need is not being met is evidence that politicians' talk of future growth is pure fantasy. They are selling us a dream.
A lot of this failure is down to national government policies beyond the remit of local politicians, but as I said earlier - local government must be a voice against national government policies that damage the communities they represent.
As an experienced care worker I have long recognised the need for a fully integrated, nationalised social care service that works in partnership with the NHS. This, again, is a matter of national policy but at a local level we can work towards this by building relationships between service providers.
The pandemic has made us value the care sector more than ever but this has not been reflected in government policy, and due to care work tending to be low-paid, care workers will be among those worst hit by the cost of living crisis. If we don't tackle pollution and make our streets safer then care workers will have even more people to care for. If we don't address the cost of living crisis then care workers will have yet more people to care for. While they themselves are wondering whether to eat, or heat their home.
Or, maybe, the council could insulate their home to help them save money. Maybe the council could ensure reliable public transport that meant travel wasn't another stress of the day. They could reduce pollution and make streets safer and in doing so reduce the burden on the care sector immeasuably. This is what Green councillors would do.
Finally, I want to talk about Local Green Spaces because these are the most valuable things we share. If you talk to people from all over the world about where they are from they will speak fondly of the landscape. It speaks to something primal within us, and that is because nature is not something we merely observe - nature is something we are.
The protection of nature is essential to the survival of the human species. It is vital for our mental well-being and an endless joy to study. The Green Party will always stand up for the natural world including the wonderful green spaces here in and around Oldham.
Thank you for listening.
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