Adrian Ramsay Deputy Leader Conference Speech
25 February 2012
LIVERPOOL SPRING CONFERENCE 2012 -
DEPUTY LEADER SPEECH: ADRIAN RAMSAY
Thank you conference and thank you to the Liverpool party and the conference organisers for arranging things for us here.
Two days ago I was looking at a draft speech to give to you. It was a bit late but the language was beginning to come together. The theme was Greens have our priorities right. But one thing was missing because it was very difficult to write about.
You see I was late drafting the speech because a lot has been happening in Norwich and it's not been all good.
Politically we're in a strong position - but our party has been suffering from personal tragedy. On 21st January we lost Gayle O'Donovan - an activist who was known by many of you in this all for her work on the national party Executive, in Norwich and previously in Manchester. At 31 Gayle was a bright, powerful, light in our party; she inspired us, she challenged us, she laughed with us, she was like family to us.
Friends, Anne Power from Manchester will be celebrating Gayle's life after my speech but before I begin properly, I'd like you to stand if you can and join me now in a minute's silence to remember Gayle and to reflect on the common purpose we shared with her.
[Minute silence]
Conference, I'm pleased that we're meeting in Liverpool because this city is the home of a thriving local Green Party.
We have two councillors here, Sarah Jennings and John Coyne, who have been making a positive difference, bringing sensible Green policies to the table at the City Hall. Take for example their proposal for 20mph speed limits on residential streets which have been adopted by the Council. This will make the city's streets safer for everyone. Our Green Councillors are working hard to give residents a real say in decisions that affect them.And they bring an ethical voice to Council decision making, such as pushing the Council to take its pension investments out of arms companies.
In Liverpool, as in so much of the country, the Green Party offers a voice to voters who see the bigger picture, voters who see that the other parties haven't got their priorities right. Green voters want to put social and environmental justice at the heart of decision-making. And in Liverpool, as in so much of the country, more voters are switching to us: two councillors elected in recent years, second place in two wards and a doubling of party membership in the city over the last four years.
To our councillors and party members in Liverpool, I say: keep up the good work and let's build on these solid foundations across Merseyside.
PROTECTING SERVICES
When we last met in Sheffield, I warned of the impact of the savage cuts that this Government is making to our public services. The sort of cuts which our Liverpool councillors tried to stop with an alternative budget plan.
Cuts that threaten the fundamental principles of the welfare state. Cuts that trade short-term financial gain for long-term social and economic pain. Take social care services; up and down the country we are seeing services being axed.
Some councils are making it harder to access care services. Some are closing day care centres. And others are cutting the support services that help older and disabled people remain independent in their own homes. These cuts are putting staff under immense pressure and leaving many older people isolated.
For the workforce and the people they serve, this is a recipe for disaster.
If people don't get the social care they need early on then their circumstances deteriorate and they end up needing more care from the NHS.
It's a similar story in mental health services.
The charity Mind has reviewed mental health services across the country and found that it is already difficult for people to access services. In many areas patients do not get the type of care they need.
Staff are already overstretched. As jobs are cut, those that are left have more patients to look after with fewer resources. When they face impossible decisions prioritising between the most vulnerable, it's inevitable people will suffer. Early support helps people recover. Delay and lack of access to services makes treatment harder. The cuts proposed to mental health services will make things much worse - for patients, for their carers, relatives and friends; for staff and for society as a whole.
It's simply unacceptable for the Government to be cutting services that support vulnerable people. It's the same story again with youth services: cuts intended for short-term gain that leave a legacy of long term problems. Youth centres and support for vulnerable young people are being cut back in many council areas - and removed entirely in some parts of the country. Yet we know that providing the support and activities young people need makes a crucial difference to their life chances.
If you believe David Cameron's Big Society rhetoric then you'd expect to see armies of qualified volunteers everywhere with plenty of their own time and money, ready to fill in the gaps. Of course there are examples of people giving their time and money to build a better world - but surely the delivery of a local service shouldn't be left to chance.
Make no mistake: this move away from public delivery isn't about giving people more of a say in how services are run but a thinly veiled attack on our welfare state. It's not a big vision of a caring society. It's a cheap vision of a cruel society. It's a classic case of this Conservative-LibDem Government just not getting its priorities right.
Instead of cutting tax evasion by those with the most: the big companies and the super rich - they're cutting social care services for those with least, the elderly and those who cannot look after themselves. Instead of bring down bankers bonuses - they've been letting down mental health services. Instead of taxing currency speculation - they're axing youth services. And the consequences are rising unemployment, unmet care needs and a society where the only big thing is the gap between rich and poor.
And we say to David Cameron and Nick Clegg: We see through your rhetoric. We see you protecting the wealthy while slashing the services the rest of us rely on. We see you haven't got your priorities right - but we have. And unlike you we lead by example.
When we see a problem we try to solve it - that's why it takes a Green MP, our Caroline Lucas, to put forward legislation in Parliament to clamp down on corporate tax dodging. We could bring in £80 billion per year of additional tax that goes unpaid - enough to save all the public services that were cut last year.
When we see a need we try to meet it - that's why Green Councillors are doing everything within their power to protect public services from cuts and privatisation. In Malvern, our Green Councillors joined with a local group of residents to protect a youth centre that was under threat. And in Lancaster, Green Cabinet members have raised money to protect services by making huge energy efficiency savings heating the city's sports centre. When Greens have a choice they cut bills, not jobs.
When faced with a difficult challenge, we keep to our priorities - that's why Green Councillors in Brighton and Hove put forward a budget that protects all social care and youth services. Faced with huge cuts from central Government, Green Councillors proposed a modest rise in council tax to protect services. But they were met with an unholy coalition of Labour and Tory councillors determined to take the Pickles bribe and store up cuts for the future.
It's Green Councillors who are challenging the Government's slash and burn approach and working with communities to save local services. We get our priorities right.
NHS AND PRIVATISATION
And while this Government is squeezing Council spending it is also putting public services in the hands of greedy private companies at every opportunity.
Take the proposals for the NHS. This Government is continuing where Labour left off and privatising more and more of our health service. The health bill isn't about doctors managing co-operative health services run in the public interest. It's about a select few clinicians commissioning services from private companies competing to extract more profit from the public purse.
It's complex, it's unwieldy, it's disruptive and it's a mess. Don't take my word for it, listen to the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Royal College of Nursing, the Royal College of Midwives, the British Medical Association. These and more are all advising the Government to stop. But the Government still won't listen.
At least not to anyone who says what they don't want to hear. Snubbing the largest professional bodies in medicine and nursing underlines the arrogance of the Government's approach.
Cameron says that he is just continuing on the path that Labour was on. That may be true - but it's no excuse. Labour's PFIs and privatisation of cleaning services were a disaster and they leave the so called opposition with no credibility when it speaks against the Conservative brand of privatisation.
That's why we need people to know that there is a party with a different approach. A party that believes the NHS should be about health promotion for all, not just wealth promotion for the few.
A party that believes our doctors and nurses should be able to focus on managing patient care, not profit margins.
A party that believes the NHS should be publicly funded and publicly run. We are that party. And we will keep fighting to protect the founding principles of the NHS.
PLANNING
Conference, it's not just in our public services that corporate interests are winning out. The Government's love affair with big business is all too apparent in its planning changes. This is a Government that wants to give developers free rein to build over our countryside.
The Conservative-LibDem proposals for the National Planning Policy Framework include a presumption in favour of building plans. A default position of ‘yes' to concreting over the countryside.
Of course they've tried to put a green gloss on by pre-fixing it with the word ‘sustainable'.But there's no definition of 'sustainable' development. It looks like what they're talking about is a mandate to keep on building supermarkets and car parks over cherished landscapes; driving motorways through protected wildlife reserves; and choking up the greenbelt with urban sprawl.
The Chancellor says this will help the economy; that opening up our countryside to this corporate vandalism will boost growth. Just how long will it take for short-sighted politicians like Osborne to wake up to the value of the natural environment? How long will it take them to ditch a worldview that only recognises value of things with a price tag?
Mr Osborne - our natural environment is not a luxury. It's not an optional commodity to be flogged off when times get tough. It's the fabric of our society - the source of our food, our water and our wellbeing. You can't put a price on the beauty of our countryside, its worth to wildlife, or its heritage value. But even if you are blind to this, there are strong economic benefits to protecting the countryside. Tourism in the English countryside alone brings over £10 billion to local economies every year.
Osborne claims that his proposals would speed up the planning process. But a study by the Campaign to Protect Rural England, National Trust and RSPB says that making it easier to develop in the countryside is unlikely to have any positive effect on employment and the economy. The plans also contradict the Government's own Localism agenda by making it harder for local communities to reject damaging applications.
We do need reform of the planning system - but certainly not in the direction mapped out by Osborne. We need a planning system that secures long-term wellbeing, not short-term profits. We need a planning system that brings empty properties back into use and provides affordable housing for those who need it.
We need a planning system that ensures local shops, services and jobs are provided where people live; where affordable public transport and local services reduce the need for car travel; where development takes place within the capacity of the local environment.
We need a planning framework that protects the most precious aspects of our land and heritage - not a developers' licence to bulldoze our countryside in reckless grab for growth at any cost.
ECONOMY
As Greens we have a different vision for our economy. One where economic success is not defined by GDP but where we place real value on protecting the natural environment, reducing inequality and promoting health and wellbeing.
One where we have a more even distribution of wealth and working hours. One where we focus more on meeting people's real needs and less on the City of London. As Greens we bring a different - but essential - perspective to the debate about the future of our economy.
We want to put our economy on a genuinely sustainable footing. That's not about cuts to public services that put people out of work and increase the gap between rich and poor. But neither is it about taking the economy back to where it was before the credit crunch.
We want to see investment in a new type of economy for the future. Investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency measures that will help meet our energy needs for the future, keep fuel bills down and tackle climate change. Investment in a first class public transport system. Investment in apprenticeships for green industries and local manufacturing - for an economy where we produce far more of the goods we need far closer to home.
The vision of Labour, the LibDems and the Tories for more global free trade, and a domestic economy reliant on the financial sector, has failed us.
It has resulted in increasing levels of inequality at home and abroad, the erosion of manufacturing jobs in the UK and increased carbon emissions from long distance trading.
In a world that is facing peak oil production, neoliberal policies for more free trade leave our society exposed.
That's why the Green vision for our economy is so crucial.
We know that a successful, stable economy is not about adding to the pockets of rich financiers and transnational corporations but about meeting the basic needs of people around the world and living within the natural means of the planet.
On the economy, Greens have our priorities right.
Here in Liverpool, Green policies would transform the city's economy and create lasting jobs. This city has a proud tradition of local manufacturing that's been consistently undermined by successive Labour and Conservative Governments moving production abroad. But the Green vision would reinvigorate local manufacturing with a focus on the low-carbon industries we need for the future.
And not only do we have a vision for a new economy, but practical measures that can be implemented to take us there. Take the growing list of councils that have implemented Green Party proposals for an energy company to install solar panels on council buildings. This reduces carbon emissions, creates jobs and generates income to protect council services.
Or the home insulation programme that Green Councillors introduced in Kirklees that is saving people money on their fuel bills every year. Or the local currency schemes that Greens in several areas are using to promote local trading.
And in London, our candidate for Mayor, Jenny Jones, would make the capital's economy more balanced by creating thousands of training places, apprenticeships and jobs in modern manufacturing and the creative industries.
LONDON ELECTIONS
Jenny's policies for London's economy are part of her progressive manifesto for the election in the capital this spring. Her plans address the real priorities of Londoners; protecting services, tackling pay inequalities and supporting local shops. Jenny is bringing the passion and distinctive Green agenda to the race for Mayor that she's brought to the London Assembly during her twelve years as an Assembly Member.
And I for one am looking forward to seeing her taking on the Ken and Boris, Punch and Judy show and injecting some fresh Green ideas into the debates because that is the way to do it.
Jenny: best wishes from everyone at conference - you have our support.
We know that the London elections are important for the Green Party nationally. For twelve years we've had a strong presence on the Assembly, challenging Ken and Boris on issues from transport and housing to policing and regeneration. And our Assembly members have had a real impact. Having Greens on the Assembly has pushed issues of environmental and social justice higher up the agenda at City Hall. Many Green proposals have been implemented: from increased budgets for walking and cycling measures, to practical help for people to reduce their fuel bills and introducing the Living Wage that has lifted thousands of people out of working poverty..
But there is so much more that we can do.Darren Johnson and Jenny Jones are formidable Green politicians on the London Assembly. With a strong Green vote in the list ballot we can re-elect them and more alongside them.
But to achieve this we need help of party members and supporters from across London and beyond. Local parties across the capital are gearing up for the campaign. I've joined some of them on the campaign trail in the last few weeks as they deliver leaflets, knock on doors and engage the public with our policies.
But campaigning across the capital is a massive undertaking so, if you can help at any time from now until 3rd May please join an Action Day or sign up at the conference stall to offer help.With a strong campaign we can elect more Greens to City Hall on 3rd May and make a real difference.
LOCAL ELECTIONS
And of course we also have local elections across much of the country this spring. I've visited several local parties that are gearing up for their campaigns.
In Solihull, we have an excellent chance to add to our numbers following the breakthroughs we've made in two traditional Labour wards in recent years. In both wards, residents are looking to the Green Party for positive policies on local regeneration where Labour has let them down.
In Exeter, our growing local party is providing a positive alternative for people feeling let down by the LibDems. Exeter Greens will bring practical policies to the local council on issues from waste management to housing and transport.
What's clear to me from touring the country in advance of these elections is that we are winning support from Labour, LibDems and the Conservatives - and from people who would not otherwise vote, but who welcome the fresh approach that the Green Party brings to politics.
But we also know that Green wins don't come overnight. That local parties make the breakthrough by careful targeting and deployment of resources. But whether your local party is on course to breakthrough this year, working hard to defend existing seats or building up towards gaining Green Councillors in the future, your work in this election is important.
Whether it's delivering leaflets, knocking on doors, standing to give voters a choice or working hard to become a councillor yourself - any help you can give will be appreciated. Because all contributions add up to make a big difference.
As a party our greatest strength is our members. Every one of us in this hall. We are the ones who work hard across the country to put forward Green policies and make a difference.
So let's use this London and local election campaign to add to our numbers.
We all know people who support our cause - in our work places, among our friends and family and in campaign groups we belong to. And we all meet Green supporters on the doorstep and when out campaigning. Let's ask them to join us. Let's tell them that the Green Party's greatest strength is its members and that, by continuing to grow, we will have more of an impact across more of the country.
Over the last ten years we've seen the Green Party consistently grow in size, on the ground and also here at conference. More and more people want a better future and want to help make it a reality. Whether their goal is to save the planet or their local library; whether they are worried about international justice or local democracy, they have an important place in this party.
They know that the Green Party provides that hope for a better future. And they know that Green Party members across the country are working to achieve that, in grassroots campaigns, in community groups and through work as elected Greens.
Conference: the Green Party brings a fresh, ethical approach to our political system.
Our priorities put people before profit, principle before self-interest and we value society and our planet.
We need to say: join us in our fight for a better world and help us make a difference.
