18 December 2019
Firstly, a huge “Thank you” to the 2310 Macclesfield constituents who voted for me to be their MP last Thursday. Across the UK, 865,697 voted Green - for effective climate action and a world fit for our children to live in, for new green homes, new green transport and new green jobs to get us on track to reduce the UK’s carbon emissions to net zero by 2030 and provide new opportunities for everyone to live happier and more secure lives.
In a genuine democracy, 2.7% of the vote would have returned 18 Green MPs to parliament to hold government to account, rather than the solitary - but eloquent! - voice of Caroline Lucas. Also, a genuine democracy would not allow a party (in this case, the Conservatives) that received less than half of the vote (43.6%) - to claim 100% of the political power.
Don’t be fobbed of by claims that “the country voted against Proportional Representation in 2011”. The referendum held that year only offered voters the choice of First Past the Post (FPTP) or the Alternative Vote system - a halfway house that can sometimes produce even less proportional outcomes than FPTP. We need an electoral system that allows all the people to be represented, not just supporters of certain parties.
The Conservatives’ commitment to a carbon-neutral UK by 2050 is woefully inadequate - similarly 2045 from the Liberal Democrats and even Labour’s target of “a carbon-neutral energy system by the 2030s”. The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reported in October that the world only had 12 years (11 now!) to act to keep global warming under 1.5 degress. Even half a degree more will significantly worsen the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty for hundreds of millions of people.
We need Climate Action now!
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