Green Party

Adrian Ramsay: "If Charles Clarke wants to fight the election on the
future of public services, that's fine with me."

Adrian Ramsay, elected on Friday as the Green Party's first-ever
Deputy Leader, has made his debut speech to the party's annual
conference in London, launching an attack on privatisation and
patient charging in the health service.  The 27-year-old Norwich City
Council opposition leader is aiming to unseat Charles Clarke in
Norwich South and challenged the vocally pro-privatisation Labour MP
to fight the election on public services.

In the closing keynote speech of the conference, Cllr Ramsay
celebrated the work of Green councillors across the country in
defending local economies, tackling homelessness and repossessions,
and cutting energy bills and fuel poverty.  He also reinforced
Caroline Lucas' call for an energy windfall tax to kickstart a Green
New Deal to tackle recession and the fuel crisis.

Councillor Ramsay said:

"The Government is now being offered advice on public services by
Charles Clarke, and if they were to take his advice we would see even
more social exclusion and even more privatisation when it comes to
public services.

"In July, Clarke called for more user-charging in the health service
and education system. He claims it would be for what he calls non-core
services - but I don't regard education for under 5s and over 16s or
out of hours GP visits as optional or unimportant. And I challenge
Charles Clarke to tell any parent in Norwich South that childcare and
healthcare are not core services.

"Charles Clarke has been in the news in recent days for his comments
that the Labour Party is facing disaster at the next General Election.
He says the Labour Party needs to change direction. Well, the
government does need to change direction but not in the direction he
has in mind.

"Journalists have been asking me why I think Mr Clarke is so
personally concerned about the next General Election. It could be
because the Green Party finished in first place across his
constituency in the May 2008 elections - and if Mr. Clarke wants to
fight the election on the future of public services, that's fine with
me."

In the 2008 local elections, the Greens came first in vote share
across the Norwich South constituency, beating Labour by some 3000
votes.  They became the first Green council group to become the
official opposition, just two seats behind the ruling Labour group.

With his Norwich colleagues, Cllr Ramsay has defeated an unpopular
Tesco development in the city on four separate occasions, and are
preparing for a fifth fight.  He said:

"Greens across the country have been working tirelessly protecting
local shops and services, and standing up to large multinationals and
supermarkets. Tesco is one of the most powerful corporations on the
planet. It has a turnover of billions, the ear of the government and
the top lawyers in the country. But, when Green councillors help
communities organise, we can do what it takes to win."

Cllr Ramsay congratulated Mid Suffolk's Andrew Stringer on delivering
hundreds of affordable houses:

"Everyone has a right to a secure, affordable home. And across the
country, Greens have been helping to win people this right. In Mid
Suffolk, Green councillor Andrew Stringer worked for two years to get
more affordable housing in his area. And there are now more than 100
affordable houses being built each year in the district.

"Greens have also taken the lead in protecting Council housing. Green
councillors in many parts of the country have led campaigns to keep
council housing in public ownership and resist Government incentives
to privatise. And we will carry on ensuring everyone has a decent
home.

"Labour's failure to reform housing benefits and the right to buy, to
get empty properties back into use and to build council houses has
literally left people out in the cold. But Green Councillors
everywhere are saying this must stop. Because we believe that a house
isn't just an investment. A house is a home."

Supporting Caroline Lucas' call for a windfall tax on oil profits,
Cllr Ramsay also stressed the importance of immediate action at a
local level, such as that delivered by Huddersfield Councillor Andrew
Cooper:

"In November 2006, Andy Cooper, drew up proposals for a scheme that
would provide free cavity wall insulation to every householder in
Kirklees.

"Since then, more than 11,000 homes in Kirklees have received free
insulation – more than in the whole of greater London during the same
period. As a result, the average family heating bill will be reduced
by around 150 pounds per year. Nearly 200 new jobs are going to be
created in Kirklees, and a new training centre for cavity wall
installers is up and running already.

"Imagine this project scaled up to a national level, with real,
worthwhile jobs being created all over the country. People given work
helping other people – helping them save money and energy.

"Everyone needs a warm, dry home, and every town needs an Andy Cooper."

Cllr Ramsay concluded by endorsing the Green New Deal - an economic
and environmental plan co-authored by Caroline Lucas.  he said:

"The overlapping events of the credit crunch, soaring oil prices and
the costs of climate change threaten to develop into a crisis of a
severity not seen since the Great Depression, with potentially
devastating consequences.

"The solution, as Greens have realised, is investment in the things
our country needs now. Renewable energy. Energy saving. Local food
production. And the thousands of new Green collar jobs that these
positive measures will create.

"Green Councillors around the country are securing investment in
energy efficiency and renewable energy measures. Greens are pushing
councils to take carbon reductions seriously, putting in place annual
target and effective strategies.

"But to promote the positive answers that the Green New Deal would
provide, we need Greens in Westminster."

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Olivia
Posts: 1

pFwgCJEBgcanVKQj
Reply #1 on : Fri June 24, 2011, 03:36:50

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Now I feel sptiud. That's cleared it up for me