With a mere three months until the upcoming UK General Election, Paige Dent and The Indiependent are here to show you the truth behind The Green Party’s aim of achieving ‘the Common Good’ for all.
It would be unfair to say that the Greens don’t have their heart in the right place. They seem to be the only party who genuinely wants to put the country before their party – almost reminiscent of the first Labour PM, Ramsay MacDonald. Their policies revolve around social justice and combating climate change, things which only the ignorant would fight against on the face of things.
An issue with The Green Party, however, is whether the majority of the public actually take them seriously. Some policies (such as the arms industry being “converted” to produce wind turbines) seem a little unorthodox and somewhat unrealistic – almost like an innovative child was set a homework on ‘ways to save the planet’. We can all see that they do want to save the planet and perhaps would have revelled in such a homework being set when they were at school. But by doing so they are aiming to eradicate the standing army, air force and navy, due to them being ‘unnecessary’, in order to clear space for wind turbines. Of course, we need to move towards renewable energies as swiftly as possible. But in a time where war is still waged worldwide, would it be right or just for the country to be literally defenceless? If a large source of energy – which heavily depends on British weather staying stereotypically dire – really going to console or protect us if war breaks out?
Another policy which looks rather appealing to many in the lead up to the election includes plans to scrap university tuition fees. Again there are glaring issues with such idealistic aims presiding in their election paraphernalia. My issue with getting rid of university fees – yes, someone nearing university application age is all for paying for it – is that there is already a struggle for graduates to obtain jobs. By keeping university fees in place there will be less competition for graduate jobs and degrees will stay in the realms of ‘higher education’; university is a stage that not everyone can reach and this could be destroyed by totally free university places. Similarly, with more people moving on to higher education in this hypothetical society where university is free, vocational training, like plumbing and electrics, will suffer even more than it currently is. It’s all well and good half the country having some sort of arts degree but if the kitchen tap isn’t working, your term spent reading Chaucer is pretty useless.
It’s clear to see that the ever-expanding Green Party has stirred up political interest in young people, leading me to think that this could be one of the most exciting UK elections in modern times. The best thing about The Green Party is that they have people talking about less conventional parties, but in a way that doesn’t terrify me like the thought of UKIP actually doing well in the next election. I do like what they want to achieve, and just because there are flaws with some policies – whether that be economically or just practically speaking – they’re moving in the right direction. For a relatively young party they’re definitely giving Labour and the Tories a run for their money. So, although the manifesto isn’t going to cut it quite yet, watch out for the Greens because their journey in the political world is only just really starting.
Words by Paige Dent