An election is coming so what will some of the parties be offering to the region. Starting with the Green Party. They deserve a couple of seats in Parliament, I think.
You expect the Green Party to support green policies. Yes, wind power, insulation and waste management are high on the agenda. Along with quite high social provision and low defence provision.
Who could argue with wind, insulation and waste measures? Insulation seems to be one of the biggest factors in reducing energy bills. It isn’t very glamorous though and isn’t going to gain technological credibility so doesn’t get a lot of press.
All those windmills. Are they becoming a bit of a blight already? They’re often not turning, so not very dependable. For the region with its seas, hills and facing the prevailing wind we can expect a lot more who-ever is in power but even more with the Greens. We can also expect Heysham Power Stations to close and the fuel site at Salwick.
Waste? All that plastic packaging and milk cartons. Surely it should be discouraged. Some countries already re-cycle twice as much as the UK without too much difficulty.
Another Green policy is an increase in public transport. Not too long ago their promise of building 30,000 new buses would sound like manna from heaven for this region, Leyland, but now there is hardly any bus building except some body work at East Lancs Coachbuilders, Optare.
There wasn’t much written about reducing car use but cutting rail fares by 30% and expanding public transport implies a reduction in car use. I’m not convinced about a 30% cut in rail fares. A cut from £10 to £7 is only marginally advantageous and if I was spending that every day, a cut from £50 to £35 wouldn’t be life changing. I’m against encouraging distance commuting so in some ways an increase in fares might help that. I have free bus use now and have never used it, so cars will need to be penalised.
The 30,000 buses are an interesting concept. British jobs for British workers? Including steel from Middlesbrough for windmills and buses, although probably it’s the wrong steel and too little, too late and steel making isn’t green.
Taxes on aviation, like VAT on aviation fuel, and restrictions on new runways coupled with reductions in rail fares, might create an advantage to resorts like Blackpool. Especially if the pound sank because of the financial controls the Greens promise.
On defence the Greens are looking at a defensive posture and only venturing overseas under the UN. As UN don’t usually use more than Land Rovers and light armour you could say no overseas capability will be needed. Is that goodbye to Ascension, Falklands and perhaps Gibraltar. Aircraft Carriers and their aircraft and probably a lot of the navy wouldn’t be needed. Trident is definitely out. I wouldn’t hold much hope for the aircraft industry in Lancashire or ship industry at Barrow. As an area with a large defence and nuclear industry how many defence workers does it take to insulate one loft.
The Greens are also big on social welfare including workers and human rights and a citizens wage.
There are other policies about building solar arrays in Africa and using high voltage d.c. transmission lines to bring in the power. As well as local generation. It’s not long ago I was reading about the advantages of the a.c. distribution system so I must re-visit that. Surely a policy like that couldn’t be written without engineering awareness.
The Greens also support the EU, but not as a nation, and support international co-operation, who doesn’t.
As you’d expect, some big changes would result and I was a bit surprised that they seem quite left wing when out of the major elements of the ‘green zone’. I’d support a ‘greener’ track in many aspects and use of local producers and local workers appeals. There’s always a downside to this type of social engineering in that if basic stuff becomes more expensive you’ve less to spend on enjoyment. In conclusion they won’t get my vote but have my support as a pressure group.
