After the London Assembly hustings, I answered these questions asked to me by London Green Party members. I have removed their names to protect their identities. They are now published here for all members to read. Please feel free to ask me a question.
Many
music venues face closure in London due to business rates or noise abatement
orders what will you do to support and protect grassroots music in the city?
I support the Green Party’s policy on redistribution of wealth in the music industry, rebalancing the relationship between cultural ‘superstars’ and smaller artists. In a vibrant city such as London, it’s important to explore the feasibility of a tax on these superstar performances which is hypothecated to local cultural enterprises. This would pay for licensing and business rate relief for smaller and more independent venues. In terms of noise abatement orders, there should be clear differentiation between the noise pollution from large multiplex venues and small, independent, local venues.
What
are the cultural opportunities from closing London city airport? How can we use
the space in an interesting way like Tempelhof park in Berlin?
I have yet to visit the Tempelhof park in Berlin however I have heard great things. Among the obvious benefits in less air travel and carbon emissions, there are also vast cultural opportunities from closing London City Airport. The space could be transformed into a cultural hub including a mixture of community services and activities for all ages. Community housing organisations, local and independent businesses, permanent markets & pop up stores, community schools, youth clubs and faith organisations would enable people to live amongst others, sharing exciting and interesting services with their neighbours. Also, it’s important to include plenty of green spaces and arts spaces such as an arts-hub with museums, theatres, galleries and studios. These are just ideas, but to sustain a space that continues to meet the needs of such a changing population, consultation and listening to the needs of London’s residents is important.
How
will you support London’s vast night time economy?
Like my answer to the previous question around supporting and protecting
grassroots music in the city, I support rebalancing the wealth by taxing the
big, superstar performances and hypothecate this tax to local cultural
enterprises. There should be a balance for resident needs and a choice of night
time entertainments to enjoy. I welcome the report ‘Think Night: London’s
Neighbourhoods from 6pm to 6am’ into London’s Night Time economy, outlining
ways to use culture and business to boost local economies and help the capitals
hard-up high streets. But I share concerns with current Assembly Member
Caroline Russell in that the report fails to include recommendations on workers
rights. Over half a million of people working at night are already paid below
the London Living Wage, almost double the number of people working during the
day. The Mayor should ensure clear guidelines and support to employers in the
Night Time Economy to help pay their staff a decent wage and respect their
rights to a decent contract, holiday and sick pay.
What
developments do you wish to see in London’s cultural strategy?
I welcomed London’s Culture Strategy upon it’s launch earlier last year.
It’s great that the Mayor is aiming to improve access and participation in
culture and the arts for all Londoners. Culture and the creative industries
contribute £47bn to London’s economy every year and account for one in six jobs
in the capital. There’s some great plans listed in the strategy such as the
introduction of small grants to be made available to individuals and
organisations to support grassroots, cultural activity, reaching communities
detached from grant or seed funding. However, I was disappointed not to see
clear leadership from the Mayor on fair pay for those working in the creative
industries. As I stated in the previous question, there should be clear
guidelines and support to employers to ensure creative industry professionals
can earn a decent living wage and their rights are respected.
Why in your view is The Green Party continuing to average around 1-2% in
the polls and how will your approach as a candidate seek to address this?
It was incredible to see Sian
clinch the third place in the London Mayor election last time, bringing the
Green Party into the mainstream more than ever before. When we are
door-knocking, we need to let people know on the door that we can win and talk about the successes of our local councillors
and assembly members. We need to listen to the concerns of people in our
communities, take their cases on board, then go back to them and deliver
results.
We must make the Green Party
relevant for ordinary people. Diverse candidates are great, but that must
translate into diverse people being elected. To build trust and inspire others
to get involved and tell us their concerns and problems, people must see people
they relate to in elected positions.
Finally, we must stay radical,
continuing to build links with campaigning groups in communities. Stansted 15,
Anti-fracking groups, immigration detention campaigning groups. Let’s be bold
in our vision and stay relevant, current and visibly radical.
The nuances of the London electoral system means that the Greens
normally do well on the London-wide list for the Assembly. Do you believe that
this will affect your campaign messaging and, if so, how will you explain what
this means for the voters and how they should cast their London-wide vote?
It was brilliant to see the
Greens retain two Assembly members last time round and to see massive gains for
the Greens on local councils in the local elections last year. Due to this
increasing success, it will be fantastic to see more Assembly members elected
this time around. The proportional system benefits us as a smaller, but
progressive party that people from other parties are likely to give 2nd
and 3rd preferences to.
I believe we had such a strong
campaign last year in the local elections as the campaign was decided centrally
but delivered locally with unique and targeted issues depending on location in
London. For the London-wide list, I see a similar model. The campaign should be
decided centrally so I would follow the centralised messaging, with small
tweaks to show my individuality and personality as a candidate. Personally, I
can be an approachable and accessible candidate with a working-class background
filled with personal anecdotes aimed to ensure my relatability to the residents
of London.
As
someone who is classifiable as a BME woman, but who does not see herself as
representative of BME people and womankind, and who finds BME-only and
female-only short lists, and BME and gender quotas, to be deeply problematic, I
am interested to know what the candidates think of positive discrimination.
Rather than positive discrimination, I see these measures as positive
action. Positive action is a way of changing society for the better, by making
it more equal. Actively encouraging people with protected characteristics to
roles will result in them succeeding. And evidence shows it works. The Labour
Party’s implementation of all women shortlists has seen huge growth in the
numbers of not just women, but people of all marginalised groups being elected,
improving the overall representation of these groups in Parliament
significantly.
I joined the Green Party because I wanted a more equal society. Even in
2019 we still only have 32% women MPs elected to the House of Commons, and only
8% of MPs are BME. When you intersect the two, only 4% of the House of Commons
are both BME and women. We live in a society where people of marginalised
groups are unfairly and systematically oppressed day-in, day-out – in political
life, at work and in the home. All women shortlists, quotas and positive action
is not about giving people an advantage, it’s about creating a level playing
field and combatting the disadvantage that holds people back.
In
Merton, we are fortunate to have 67 parks and nature conservation areas, but
unfortunate to have a Labour-led council who have: (a) outsourced the
management of our green spaces to a distinctly mediocre company; and (b)
started allowing unsuitable events to be held in our green spaces. They say
that they want to ‘sweat our assets’ because of ‘austerity’. What do you make
of this behaviour, and how might the London Assembly help Mertonians to defend
their right to have access to good quality public green spaces?
I am very concerned to hear of Merton Council’s outsourcing of the
management and maintenance of Merton’s green spaces. I agree with the local
Friends of Parks groups, the overall funding for parks is already very low,
compared to other boroughs in London – reducing it further will harm the
quality of Merton’s open spaces. I admire the efforts of Merton Green Party in
campaigning against the proposed events for Morden Park including festivals and
parties. I support the campaign to protect residents, other park users,
wildlife (particularly owls and kestrels) from harm. I am in favour of the call
to the Council to draw up a policy in consultation with residents, setting out
what types of events are suitable for its major parks, in order that the right
balance can be struck between generating revenue, maintaining residents’
ability to enjoy green spaces, and protecting wildlife. I think this is an
admirable step that Council’s in other boroughs could follow.
With young people feeling undervalued and often voiceless in both society and politics, what would you prioritize to support young people in London?
At the hustings, all candidates
talked a lot about youth services. Why? Because they are bloody important!
Young people deserve a choice of opportunities to be safe, and away from harm.
Young people deserve a clean, safe and sustainable environment in which to
thrive. I work at UK Youth, the largest national youth charity supporting young
people to campaign on issues that matter to them. I see first-hand the
devastating effects of austerity against young people and the working class daily.
I support a young girl currently,
who has lived her whole life with a chronic disability. Vulnerable to bullying,
ill mental health and exploitation. All of this left her open to threat. She
was raped by a family member at a very young age but through youth services we
have helped her overcome barriers, find work and apply to University. Youth
services exist because of years of Government and local authority cuts. The
Mayors £45million Young Londoners Fund is but a scratch on the surface.
Finally, young people should be on decision making bodies about issues that
affect them and have the power to influence change. I would establish a youth
advisory board made up of the capital’s local authorities, youth service
providers and their beneficiaries.
Given
London’s chronic housing crisis, what are the candidates’ solutions,
specifically in relation to renting, which disproportionately effects Londoners
from a lower socio-economic background?
London like many other capital cities is undergoing a crisis with its
housing. But Londoners face the highest rates in Europe. Everybody deserves the
right to an affordable, safe place to live. The housing market is stacked in
favour of landlords and investors who profit at our expense. Our rigged housing
system is making our city more unequal.
Rent controls should be introduced to stunt the growth in house prices
and limit the amount of ‘affordable housing’ that can be purchased by
international investors trading on gig economy market sites such as Airbnb. For
the homeless, I would campaign for the many empty buildings in London to become
open accommodation for the thousands of rough sleepers in London, this is
especially important in such cold weather. I would also lobby the London
Assembly to formally support the London Renters Union (of whom I am a member)
to ensure that renters get organised, support each other, stand up to landlords
and speak with a collective voice to win lower rents, longer tenancies and
better housing for everyone.
Could
the mayor and assembly narrow the wide distribution of income in London and the
UK?
Even in 2019, and despite the Mayor’s efforts to increase the London
Living Wage to £10.55 per hour, up to a fifth of Londoners earn less than the
living wage. Low pay contributes to poverty which contributes to poorer health
in London. The people most likely to be low paid are those with low-level
qualifications, ethnic minorities, young people, those over 50, women and
part-time workers.
As a London Assembly member, I would first encourage more organisations
and employers to adopt not just the London Living Wage, but the Real Living
Wage, which is independently calculated and based on the cost of living, rather
than the minimum. I’d also encourage training and skills development to help
those in low-paid jobs progress up the labour market.
What is
your position on Brexit and would you push for a People’s Vote and then
campaign for Remain if selected?
Very simply, my position on Brexit is that I am faultlessly pro-remain.
I campaigned hard in the run up to the 2016 referendum with Green campaigns and
pro-remain groups and I was devastated on the morning of the result. I voted by
postal vote as I was visiting my Swedish partner in Umeå, north of Sweden on
the day of the vote and was returning home the next day. I remember going to
bed feeling positive but waking up with the feeling of huge existential dread
and worry, not just for the future of the UK, but also for my journey flying
home that day.
In the two years since the result was announced, I have tirelessly
campaigned for a second referendum, a People’s Vote to ensure we have a right
to say what makes up the final deal. I have campaigned with groups both in and
out of the Green Party and have been able to deliver rallying speeches at
events such as the People’s Vote marches in London. I have been impressed with
how Caroline Lucas has truly led and pioneered the campaign and as an issue
very personal to me, with my EU national partner now living in the UK, it’s an
issue that will continue to be a priority.
Some
candidates allude specifically to the unquestionable need for more housing,
particularly social and affordable housing. My concerns are that, often,
large-scale developments are in direct conflict with environmental objectives.
Have you/will you consider improved legislation and regulation around planning
and development to ensure that the much-needed developments also maintain and preferably
increase our city’s green infrastructure and environmental credentials?
With homelessness drastically on the rise and more people renting than
ever before, it’s vital that some drastic changes are made to tackle London’s
housing crisis. Rent controls, monitoring of rogue landlords and opening empty
buildings for rough sleepers are all necessary to help tackle the growing
problem. London needs more affordable housing with restrictions on purchases to
ensure that young people, families and people in need of affordable housing can
access it.
But I agree, these measures shouldn’t weaken or hinder our green
infrastructure and environmental credentials. Social housing is being put in
direct competition with green space, causing conflict between two of the most
important issues in the capital. Green spaces that are a public and social good
should be protected and cherished. Perhaps improved regulation around the
minimum percentage of green space in each borough could be considered, to
mitigate endless planning applications to build on parks, allotments and
greens. Research shows that contrary to claims by developers, building on green
spaces did ‘virtually nothing’ to address the crisis of affordability of
housing, especially for young people. We need stronger and more efficient
regulation of protected green spaces to ensure irreparable damage to the
London’s protected land.