- A local ‘green new deal’ – attracting new and ‘green’ industries into Haringey, refurbishing local industrial estates, supporting local retailing, community-led local energy generation, accessible literacy and life-long learning, and computer skills for all.
- Protecting local public services – defending and promoting local public services, defending every vital service at the Whittington Hospital and St Ann’s Hospital, supporting community access to mental health care, arguing for local democratic accountability for all schools with strengthened local representation and participation.
- A more equal Haringey – instituting a Fair Rents scheme for private tenants, promoting greater security and clout to challenge unfairly high rents, access to transport and to premises for people with disabilities, supporting families to avoid eviction for arrears caused by the Bedroom Tax.
- A better deal for young people – working with police and communities to reduce alienation of young people, encouraging local apprenticeships and training for young people without work.
- A greener, calmer Haringey – an active re-greening of Haringey with local energy, insulation strategies, recycling, pollution reduction and appropriate planting in bare and neglected spaces, and protecting ‘wild’ areas including Pinkham Way, further cycling safety, cycling priority routes and lane-separation, and extending 20 mph limits on most roads.
On 22nd May voters in Haringey go to the polls in two elections. They will be able to vote for up to three ward councillors. On a separate ballot paper they have the chance to vote for London's Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). Jean Lambert, London's sitting Green MEP, faces a re-election fight Greens describe as "tough but winnable", stressing "every Green vote across London counts". All European Union and British Commonwealth citizens living in Haringey are entitled to vote in both elections, with Haringey Council voter registration closing three weeks before polling day.
In nine of Haringey's 19 wards - Alexandra, Bounds Green, Bruce Grove, Crouch End, Harringay, Hornsey, St Ann's, Stroud Green and Tottenham Green - the Greens are officially running in second place to Labour based on the previous set of election results for the GLA in 2012. The Green challenge for Council seats is strongest in the ward of Alexandra, where standing alongside Gordon Peters for the Greens are Lucy Craig and Tom Davidson, two former long-serving Haringey Labour councillors who have now turned to a different kind of political party they consider more progressive and responsive.
Lucy Craig, who was expelled from the Labour Party in 2005 for campaigning against MPs who supported the illegal Iraq war, commented: "Five years ago I joined the Green Party. Like many people, I had laboured under the false impression that it was a single-issue party solely concerned with the environment. Looking closely at all its policies however, I found egalitarian and progressive policies underpinning everything from health to housing and economics to education, excellent environmental policies to protect our planet and our children, and, I believe, it is the only party committed to genuinely addressing the gross inequalities we see all around us."
Haringey Greens have also unveiled a brand new website at www.haringeygreens.org.uk. This uses the same Web platform developed by Barack Obama's election campaign team, and is aimed at "turning our website into a two-way conversation between Green Party campaigners around the borough and real Haringey people". Its innovative features include a free 'polling day reminder' service, online petitions, and 'leave a comment' facilities including a "suggest a policy" page allowing Haringey residents to suggest and comment on potential new Haringey Green policies. Local Greens have committed to considering adding the ideas they receive from the public to their manifesto before polling day.
Green candidate in Tottenham Green ward Chris Henderson explained: "The Green Party is a decentralised, grass-roots party. We don't accept the corporate money that bigger parties have, but we are able to be much more flexible and human in our thinking. We don't want voters to think their only options for engaging with local politics are to go to old-style political meetings or to wait for newsletters to appear through their letterboxes. Our new state-of-the-art Web platform is allowing local Green candidates to publish their uncensored messages sustainably and for free, and local voters to publish their reactions to what we have to say. Haringey Greens are doing local politics in ways which are relevant to real people in the 21st Century, and creating a more even relationship between candidates and voters."
- The full provisional list of Green candidates for the Haringey Council elections on May 22nd is available at www.haringeygreens.org.uk/candidates.
- The full Haringey Green Party 2014 manifesto is available at www.haringeygreens.org.uk/policies.
Our Council chamber should seek the reflect the the social, gender, ethnic and economic makeup of the borough, IMHO.
