The Witney byelection is a microcosm of the crisis facing British politics. David Cameron recklessly called a referendum to solve a political problem in his party. He lost and left. Now he has abandoned his constituents. His legacy is Brexit and the largest proportion of children in poverty in Europe.
The choice facing the people of Witney this week faces all of us: what sort of country do we want? Do we want to continue to ignore the severe problems so many of us face or do we work together to build the decent, fair society we can have?
The Conservative party says migrants are the problem. And Labour, so entangled in its own internal struggles, has had difficulty finding any voice as opposition – let alone a strong one. It has no coherent position on free movement, while the Green party has been the voice standing up for migrants. I am fighting for Cameron’s seat in Witney because I know we can do so much better.
I have lived in Oxfordshire since 1969. During many years as a local councillor and campaigner I have seen large numbers of people, who need our mutual support, driven to the wall. Over the last few years Conservative, Liberal Democrat and Labour county councillors in Oxfordshire have voted for devastating cuts to care for the elderly and disabled, children’s centres, libraries, homeless people, dangerously damaged roads and pavements and lifeline rural bus services. Only the Green councillors voted against them. The cowardice of the other parties in Oxfordshire is visible in doorways as homeless people bed down for another cold night.
Of course, such choices are not only being made in Oxfordshire. As health spokesman for the Green party I stood beside doctors as they tried to stop the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, tearing apart the delicate structure they had created to do their best with inadequate resources. Theresa May’s government is continuing the process of the largest cut in funding in the history of the NHS. The Oxfordshire clinical commissioning group has just announced that it has to strip out 20% of its spending over the next four years. It has opened discussion on closing all nine of the county’s community hospitals. The first GP practice closures have been announced. These cuts cannot be achieved without unnecessary death and suffering. The structures for privatisation created by Labour, the coalition and Conservative governments costs the NHS over £5bn a year. I am the only candidate in Witney who fights and has fought NHS privatisation.
The British economy is the most unequal in Europe. The majority of us live from pay cheque to pay cheque. Wages have stagnated and millions are in the “gig economy”, without basic rights and job security. Successive governments have created the tax loopholes and havens which rob us of tens of billions of pounds. I will fight tooth and nail to get that money back for us. Disabled people and their families need our generous support. Those who work should not be in poverty. They need a £10-an-hour minimum wage.
Catastrophic climate change is speeding up around the globe. Yet the government is pursuing fracking and airport expansion which destroy the environment. It wants to tear through our countryside with HS2 instead of investing in rail networks throughout the country. Southill Solar’s brilliant solar farm is a model for West Oxfordshire and the country. We can invest in renewable energy for all our needs and in insulating all our buildings, creating many decent paying jobs. We can save £200bn on the obsolete Trident, which is also supported by the divided Labour party whose leader promises not to use it.
This is a rich, skilled and decent society. We can do so much better. I am so proud that millions of Americans responded to my brother Bernie’s message, which is so similar to mine. I am moved by his support for me, which has resonated with my constituents. Bernie changed American politics. A strong vote for the Green party in west Oxfordshire will likewise begin to change British politics.
