PoliticsUK

Post deputy leadership election events here.

Dr. James Webster speaking to the Socialist Environment and Resources Association

This election is about the need for strong united leadership that will fight for equality in this country. Someone who stands for getting us a Labour government that will fight for all Britons no matter creed, national origin, race, or anything that bigots use to make people feel different. We need a Labour government that recognizes that we are all equal and fights for equality for everyone. There is so much equality in this country that we have failed to address in any reasonable way. I believe that it’s time that we change that, it’s time that we focus on making sure that everyone actually has some equality in this country. The inequality in this country goes so much further than just the environment; however I want to focus on it today because it’s a great representation of just how far inequality compounds, and why it’s so important that we actually address inequality root and stem.

So environmental inequality affects so much in a person’s life, if the quality of the environment is low you are more likely to get sick, and have a shorter life. We need to address this, the most deprived ten per cent of areas in England are exposed to forty-one per cent higher rates of concentrations of nitrogen dioxide from pollution. Not to mention how much more carcinogenic chemical emissions are also much higher in the bottom twenty per cent of council wards. We have to bring some environmental equality in this country. We need to do a better job of cleaning up, and it starts by making sure that all wards have access to funds to make improvements to the quality of life for people in their wards. This gets so much worse when you move beyond just wealth inequality. Areas that have higher minority populations are much less likely to have green spaces than areas that have the same socio-economic status but are majority. We need a government that is ready to actually address this problem, and I believe that it’s time that the Labour Movement stand for bringing this kind of equality to the UK.

We need a full review of council ward funding and make it where wards that are completely underfunded receive further funding. We need to make the UK greener, from London, to Wales, to Scotland, to Northern Ireland. We need to do better and provide green spaces. Next we need to invest in making our environment cleaning. Something that might not seem like they are connected, but even child pedestrian casualties are more likely to happen in disadvantaged areas. Consider the fact that disadvantaged wards are more likely to not have signs that signify common crossings. That’s just one possible reason, but we must do better. That's what we need to work to increase funding for disadvantaged wards, because your socio-economic status should not put you at such a disadvantage in life. We must do better to lower the flood risk especially in communities that are the most deprived. The flooding risk increases so much if you are in the most disadvantaged communities.

We need to regulate the amount of harmful chemicals that can be released anywhere in the UK. I will fight to end fracking in the UK and will end the fossil fuel subsidy. We cannot bring environmental justice to this country as we continue to allow fossil fuel companies to destroy the environment of the UK. We must move over to renewable energy, we get one planet and only one planet, if we don’t do what’s necessary to save this planet, then that’s it. We have to do a part which requires holding companies and the Government to become more environmentally friendly. This is a world effort and we cannot expect anyone else to do our part for us. The Paris Climate agreement sets out what we must do, and we should not only work to meet our goals but exceed them. We must make carbon neutrality a priority in this country. The United Kingdom must become a leader in the world on fighting climate change. The Tories have proven that they do not care to actually address the issue of Climate Change. The Labour Movement must stand up and deliver a Labour Government that will address climate change and environmental inequality. In that we cannot continue to allow the production of Tetraethyl lead and it to be exported around the world. If we don’t allow it to be sold in the UK then we shouldn’t allow it to be manufactured here and sold abroad.

I’m running for Deputy Leader of the Labour so that our movement can fight against inequality where it exists, and there’s no denying that it exists with regards to environmental injustice. Every wing of this movement has something to contribute to getting us elected and how we address inequality in the UK. That’s why we need a leadership team willing to work with all sides of this party, and is focused on uniting this movement, so that we can deliver a Labour Government that will fight for all people in this country.

Simon Godwin speech to The Fabian Society



Friends,

I’d like to thank the Fabians for their invitation to speak today*. As we come to the end of this leadership contest, and the bruises we have all suffered begin to heal it is important to we never forget what is important; the future of the left and the future of progressive politics in Britain. The Labour Party and our movement is the only real route forward for progressive politics. We saw what happened when others who claim to be progressive secured power, they enabled and enacted austerity politics that hit the poorest and most vulnerable hardest.

Building and developing our movement requires constant work, and that is work I believe the deputy leader of the Labour Party is excellently placed for. Directly elected by our membership with a direct line into the party leadership. I can think of no one better placed to lead our movement forward. And our movement is needed now more than ever. We are up against one of the cruellest, most callous governments in living memory. A government led by those that believe that if you are poor, you are simply too lazy to be rich. That if you are from a different country, you are to be distrusted. That if you have a disability, you are a burden. That is what we must fight against, and we must win.

Our society is riven by inequality and the biggest determinant in the life of a British citizen is too often the wealth of your parents. Because with wealthier parents you are more likely to live in a more affluent area with the better schools, cleaner air, wider and more open green spaces, greater access to extracurricular activities that provide significant enrichment to a child’s development. The fact that the gap between children from the richest and poorest families is continuing to widen should not just be a warning sign, but a blaring alarm to us all. When children are leaving primary school with literacy skills so poor they are unable to read or write, and too often unable to catch up when at secondary school, is clear sign that as a society we are slipping backwards. It is truly worrying.

But I am confident that this slide backwards can be undone, and that requires Labour to get back into Government to reverse the damage the Tories have done. The cuts that they have inflicted on primary education can be reversed. While researching this I came across a recent report ‘Primary Colours’ produced by the Fabians, written by Ben Cooper, that highlighted the stark reality of arts education in English schools - where teachers have said there has a been a 68% reduction in arts education and almost half say that what arts education is left has gotten worse. That is a sorry state of affairs, and it reinforces my earlier point that inequality is often embedded by what is so often considered extras but is essential enrichment for a child’s development.

The poor provision of arts education in primary schools means that children from poorer families miss out learning about music and art, which means their curiosity is never sparked at a young age leading to a passion in later life. Their community provision has disappeared so no community choirs or orchestras. They never play the recorder, which means they never learn how to read music, which means they don’t go on to study art. On the other hand, children from wealthier families can pay for private tuition or send their child to evening or weekend drama classes. Those children go on with the confidence to choose non-humanities subjects to study and we find ourselves in the position we are in now where the arts are dominated by those from the middle class, and working class voices in the arts are disappearing.

Education is the true equaliser in society. A good, well-rounded education can set a child up for success in their life. It can be the difference between a good job or floundering on benefits. As a society we must be bolder in our thinking to how we deliver a truly world-class education system, and I believe that can be achieved through a National Education Service that is tasked with ensuring that every child - and adult matters. That their education matters. This national service will take a holistic view to the education and training in England that will realise the core aims of cradle to grave education: personal education and education for employment.

We must continue to fight for a brighter education for our children, where they are nurtured and enriched rather than treated as sponges expected to absorb information by rote. We must trust our teachers to deliver the education our children deserve. We must listen to education and pedagogical experts to develop new systems and techniques. I believe that a brighter future is possible and we will do so with a Labour government, and if I am elected Deputy Leader of the Labour Party it will be my mission to deliver this and bring about the change we sorely need. Thank you.

*Permission by Amelia