If Rishi Sunak has done one good deed this year, it is to finally announce the date for the General Election. The Tory administration has failed on nearly every measure it was elected upon – Brexit, levelling up, the economy, public health, schools, the health service, defence, prisons, immigration system, the pound, the reliance on food banks, local government services, the country’s international standing – all worse now than when they took office in 2019. Surely the worst government in living memory?
The good news is the Tories are highly likely to lose the election – all political commentators agree on that. Labour is expected to win irrespective of what happens in Cheltenham.
This means everyone who historically voted Lib Dem to try to stop the Tories, or voted Tory to stop the Lib Dems, have a choice. They can for the first time in years vote for the candidate and party they like the most and not the one they hate the least. There will be at least 5 parties standing in the town so if ever there was an opportunity to shake up the political fortune of the town – this is the time to do it!
The Greens came second to the Lib Dems in the council election…..so there is nothing to say we couldn’t come second or even first in the General!
How can the fifth largest economy be failing to provide basic human needs?
The charity School Food Matters polled 10,000 teachers in England on the extent of pupil hunger at their schools and the impact it is having on children and their learning. It found that four in ten teachers surveyed said pupils in their class were regularly too hungry to learn, with the figure jumping to 63 per cent in the most deprived areas. More than a fifth of teachers said this issue has worsened since the start of the academic year.
It is not rocket science. Humans need food, water, shelter, clear air and warmth to function. Yet why is it on nearly every measure the fifth leading economy in the world fails to look after so many. Children going hungry, contaminated drinking water, record levels of homelessness, air pollution levels regularly missing safe standards and our housing too poorly insulated and costly to heat. It is time free school meals are provided for all. It is time water companies are renationalised. It is time to implement a radical social housing renovation and building plan and it is time to have a clear strategy which reduces deaths caused by poor air quality.