Vote Green this Thursday!

Will Duckworth

It’s only 48 hours till polling day. For me the anticipation is palpable. These Euro elections are really important, yet apathy, disengagement and anger seem to be the dominant public response. Turnout is predicted to be very low and the Tories, LibDems and Labour are all predicted to do pretty badly. UKIP are riding high, exploiting pubic fears and anxieties about immigration and economic woes. The Greens are also predicted to do pretty well.

These elections are fought under a system of proportional representation, so there is more reason than ever to vote Green: we do stand a very good chance of getting some very good people elected to the European Parliament, and Europe does matter hugely to us all. If we are to tackle the vast problems facing humanity we simply must get supranational organisations to function better than they currently do and the Greens are active in helping do this.

I’ve voted Green, or for the Ecology Party as the Greens were once called, at every election since the mid 1970’s. I’ve been a member of the party on and off. I am now, and would urge my readers not only to vote Green, but also join the party. For those of us committed to working for a more ecologically sustainable and socially just future they really are the only party worth voting for. In a way if UKIP is the party of fear, the Greens are the party of hope.

Alex Andreou wrote a very good piece in the Guardian about why he’ll be voting Green, and for him the anti immigrant rhetoric that UKIP has drawn all the other parties into espousing is the key issue. For me it is about Climate Change, Social Justice and a host of other big issues. For some people it is specific things, like the Green Party’s commitment to the NHS or to the Railways, or to opposing the latest trade deal that favours corporations over local communities. There really are a lot of issues on which the Greens simply do have better policies.

Here in Herefordshire we are part of the West Midlands Region which will elect seven MEPs on Thursday 22nd May. The lead candidate for the Greens is Will Duckworth, a stalwart campaigner on issues of social justice, who’d make a great MEP. Please do get out and vote, and help him get elected. Currently the Green Party of England and Wales has just two MEPs, with luck, hard work and your vote we could end up with half a dozen after Thursdays vote, including Will. That would be something to celebrate!

Alex Andreou in the Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/may/08/voting-green-european-elections-why

West Midlands Euro-elections http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/euroelections2014

Green Party in the West Midlands http://greenparty.org.uk/elections/west-midlands.html