London Young Greens candidates pledge, London 2012 elections
The Coalition’s policy of massive public spending cuts is having a profound effect on young people, who now face tuition fees of £9,000 a year, while the scrapping of EMA means the poorest now face being priced out of so much as a secondary education. Home ownership is a route now closed off to many younger people, while the cost of private rented accommodation is too often prohibitive and there is a massive shortage of social housing. Already 20 per cent of young people are out of work, and where jobs are available these do not always pay a living wage. 55 per cent of young people aged 19-29 have reported being discriminated against on the grounds of their age (British Social Attitudes Survey for 2010, National Centre for Social Research). With uneven minimum wage laws, unfairly applied housing benefit rules, and now large scale unemployment at the same time as education is put beyond the reach of many, young people are suffering.
As the recent protests sparked by the increase in tuition fees and abolition of EMA have shown, there are hundreds of thousands of young people willing to defend their futures and protest against the Coalition’s spending cuts which are savaging all of society. We therefore ask all candidates to stand side-by-side with those who have taken to the streets over the past months to defend both our future and the future of all in our society.
In particular the London Young Greens note:
1. The limits of purely electoral politics, and the importance placed by the Green Party and Green movement on non-electoral politics as a means of bringing about radical social, environmental and economic change.
2. The limits of devolved power in London and the very real danger of office without power, especially given the limited control the Mayor and Assembly have over spending in London.
3. The importance of resisting the Coalition’s agenda of cuts and privatisation.
The London Young Greens believe:
1. A central role for elected Greens is to legislate, but also to use elected office as a platform to forge alliances with other progressive political parties, movements, and grassroots organisations.
2. That it is also crucial to focus on the ‘big picture’ and to use political office as a platform to try and represent (and if necessary forge) a strong body of opinion across London on issues of importance to us as Greens and to Londoners as a whole, even if these issues are technically outside of the purview of the Mayor or London Assembly – for example, opposing and resisting housing benefit cuts.
3. The Green Party should have a close relationship to progressive social movements (such as those that have emerged around the tuition fees and EMA protests), and to the trade union movement in London. Trade unions are the best defence workers (especially young workers) and employees have against arbitrary dismissal, lower wages and worse conditions.
The London Young Greens therefore call upon all successfully elected Greens and Green Party candidates standing for office in 2012 to:
1. Work both inside and outside of the London Assembly and office of the Mayor to bring about progressive political change.
2. To actively focus on a sustained basis on areas beyond the direct control or purview of London’s devolved government, but which are nonetheless of great importance to Londoners, especially the impact of the Coalition’s economic and social policies.
3. To work closely, on a sustained basis, with progressive social movements and grassroots organisations in London and with the trade unions in order to resist the government’s destructive economic and social agenda, and to achieve our many shared goals.
Policy
Education
1. Fight for free universal education at all levels as a basic right.
2. Actively oppose the current legal regime imposed on non-EEA students as a result of the points based immigration system, and fight also against the Conservative plans to cap or significantly reduce the number of overseas students able to secure visas to study in Britain.
3. Actively support student demonstrations and use political office as a platform to challenge the criminalisation of protestors and the dismissal and misportrayal of demonstrations by the government, simply echoed in much of the media.
4. Fight for free London transport for all students, especially given that many higher education institutions are located in central London, while many students live outside of central London, and therefore frequently need to commute.
Housing
1. Actively support the rent capping of private sector rented accommodation, and pressure government, banks (especially, but not limited to, nationalised ones) and others, to prevent evictions. Use the London Assembly and Mayoralty as a platform to demand that no-one be evicted from their home simply because of inability to pay, and work with any interested parties, groups, individuals, organisations and young people to build up a strong and vocal body of opinion across London on this issue.
2. Resist any and all cuts to housing benefit. Fight instead for housing benefit to be paid at a sufficient level to cover the amount needed to pay rent, including under a rent-capped system, and fight also for the equalisation of housing benefit, so that young people are not discriminated against by receiving a lower rate than older people.
3. Demand a program of massive social housing construction and also the establishment of housing cooperatives.
Jobs
1. Campaign to make the London Living Wage legally enforceable, and for the minimum wage to be a living wage, and paid equally to all regardless of age.
2. Call and campaign for the regularisation of all migrant workers. Also publicly campaign against the deportation of refugees and other migrants, as well as those seeking asylum.
3. Call and actively campaign for massive investment in London in order to create long-term, well-paid, stable and sustainable green jobs.
4. Address exploitative internships, which too often see young people required to perform a full-time job with little if any remuneration, and with limited prospects of actually being hired afterwards. Employment should not be contingent upon gaining ‘experience’ in an environment which demands a day’s work but does not pay a day’s wages, and which can close employment to those from poorer backgrounds unable to work for free.
