Green Party Manifesto 2015 A Vision for Blyth Valley

Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why does Blyth Valley Green Party have an online Manifesto and
not a printed one?
A: Well, we have a lot to say! By now you will have received our A6 flyer containing
a summary of our national and local manifesto points but we wanted to go into a bit
more detail about our plans for Blyth Valley in particular.
With 67,000 constituents, by the time we printed paper copies the amount of
paper required would be immense. Some people have very strong political ideas
and more information from us would not change that. So we kept the trees instead!
We assume anyone wishing to find out more about our policies will take the
trouble to ask us or go online to read our bang-up-to-date manifesto. Many footnote
references, like the US Geological Survey report on fracking, are cited only days
before online publication.
Q: I’d love to vote green but I’m afraid it will be a wasted vote?
A: A vote for what you believe in is never, ever wasted!
The status quo of the current political situation in Blyth Valley will not change
unless we pro-actively change it! We also need to reform the election process on
a national scale and have proportional representation to make ‘Every Vote Count’.
We need to end tactical voting as it only benefits the two main parties. People will
eventually realise this when we elect another dysfunctional coalition on May 7th…
Don’t forget we will be fighting Council Elections in 2017 and we’ll win!
Q: Why should I vote for you, what will you do for Blyth Valley?
A: We believe expanding work done by the National Centre for Renewable
Technology (formerly NaREC, now merged with Catapult), will provide viable and
long-term business opportunities to local small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Our regional manufacturing base needs to move towards the development
and fabrication of renewable technology. There are hundreds of thousands of jobs in
the massively expanding renewable energy industry. Yet, despite having the national
research centre in our own constituency, we currently outsource manufacturing to
countries with an advanced renewable technology infrastructure, like Germany.
Instead, we propose to develop the renewable manufacturing opportunities
providing skilled apprenticeships and employment. Blyth Valley, in particular, has a
history of skilled manufacturing. We want to develop Blyth Valley as the ‘go-to’ place
in the UK for renewable technology in Wind, Solar, and Tidal power manufacturing,
construction and installation.
Q: I thought the Green Party were yoghurt eating tree-huggers who
only cared about the environment?
A: Of course we care about the environment...and eat yoghurt! We need air to
breathe, food to eat and water to drink, but it’s always people first…
Q: Greens seem nice enough but surely we can’t afford to give money
overseas, and to immigrants, when we can’t even look after our own…
A: Firstly, we have enough money...and don’t call me Shirley! Did you know the UK
is the 6 th richest country on the planet? However, through targeted austerity cuts
the poor, vulnerable and disabled (particularly in the North East) are paying for
the mistakes of bankers who actually caused the financial crisis! One Old Etonian
banker even set up a party blaming immigrants rather than his banker friends for the
country’s financial difficulties. Austerity cuts are separate from Foreign Aid.
We are the sixth richest economy on the planet and are a nation with a
troubled imperialist past that saw wealth violently and unjustly stripped from a large
number of developing nations. We believe, therefore, that perhaps more than any
other nation we have a moral obligation to become a leading champion of social,
environmental and economic justice around the globe. Foreign aid is one part of
this humanitarian mission. Investment in education and food programs in some of
the most unstable regions of the world lowers political and religious extremism and
reduces mass migration and refugees to the UK, as does reducing the arms trade
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