“OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT HAS BEEN LEFT FOR TOO LONG WITHOUT PROPER MANAGEMENT. IT WILL TAKE GREENS IN THE SENEDD TO RAISE CRUCIAL ISSUES LIKE THIS AND SCRUTINISE THE RESPONSE, TO SECURE THE FUTURES OF OUR COMMUNITIES”
As someone who has grown up and lived in Tylorstown for most of my life, just 5 minutes up the road from a place that ranks 4th most deprived on the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivations 2019, I know how transformative the Green vision would be, not only for areas like this, but for the whole of Wales.
Since the Beeching cuts and closure of the mines and related manufacturing industries, there has been no just transition for communities, particularly in the valleys. We’ve seen many people moving out of the area for a better quality of life and better quality work.
Eliminating poverty and revitalising our communities has not been a priority for any government, with Labour in power in the Senedd in one form or another for over two decades and both Conservative and Labour Governments in Westminster.
The Green vision is one of a different kind of politics, of investing in people and communities and challenging the decades of austerity. One of the Green Party’s founding principles was for basic financial security for everyone. A Universal Basic Income (UBI) would consistently invest a set amount of money directly in people, regardless of their employment status.
My grandmother is the landlady of a small pub in Tylorstown, which has been closed since the lockdown in March 2020. A UBI would have made up for some of the financial losses she experienced throughout the pandemic as well as provided a cushion for reopening.
Even before the pandemic, the security provided by a basic income would have helped the business thrive which would then have gone on to benefit the local area and workforce.
While Welsh Labour have supported trials of a UBI in the Senedd and councils in Wales, after pressure from activists and groups such as UBI Lab Cymru, it’s disappointing to see them not calling for the devolution of welfare and social security in their manifesto. This is the only way Wales would have the power to implement such a transformative policy – it’s not going to come from Westminster.
When the pandemic hit, we saw through the furlough scheme that governments could invest in people when they needed to. This shouldn’t only happen during a crisis, Greens in the Senedd would be pushing hard for sustainable financial security for everyone.
On top of the decades of underinvestment in the Valleys, we’ve recently seen a spate of flooding and landslides, bringing back memories of Aberfan. While investment has been made to secure the Tylorstown landslip, ‘almost 300 coal-tips in Wales are still classed as high risk.’ Our natural environment has been left for too long without proper management. It will take Greens in the Senedd to raise crucial issues like this and scrutinise the response, to secure the futures of our communities.
As well as recently flooding in the valleys, Cardiff is the 6th most at risk city in the world of flooding prompting the transformation of walls around Cardiff into murals bearing the hashtag #NoIceCapsNoCardiff. Only the Green Party are putting forward a vision of carbon neutrality by 2030. All other Parties have set dates later than 2030. We need to elect politicians that are serious about the climate crisis.
There may still be a lingering perception that Greens only act on the environment, but that’s dying away. People are realising that Green means social justice and health equity as much as it does environmentalism. The Green vision of a Green New Deal for Wales is incredibly exciting. It’s a holistic package that will deal with the triple crises of climate & nature breakdown, the Covid pandemic and poverty and social injustice.
A Green New Deal with a Universal Basic Income could be the combination that finally revitalises valleys communities especially. But without a Green voice in the Senedd, we’ll be left with the same old ‘nothing changes around here’ attitude, and I for one can’t blame people for feeling like that.
According to a recent Nation.Cymru article, It’s a race between Green, Abolish and the Conservatives for the fourth list seat in most of Wales.
When it comes down to it, do you really want another Tory in the sixth Senedd pushing the neoliberal agenda, or an Abolish MS, who would sooner bulldoze Welsh democracy than act as a constructive force in our Parliament. The Greens would actively engage in all areas of debate and scrutinise the next Welsh Government’s decisions. They know they won’t win a majority on Thursday, but getting a Green MS and depriving the Tories and Abolish of a seat seems like a win-win for Wales.
The writer is a Green Party activist
