What a fantastic MP Caroline Lucas has been. She has won recognition
awards including, being named the 'Most Influential MP' in 2012 by the
Political Studies Association, 'MP of the Year' in the Scottish Widows and Dods
Women in Public Life Awards 2011, and 'Newcomer of the Year' in the Spectator's
2010 Parliamentarian awards. In 2013 the Patchwork Foundation named Caroline MP
of the Year for her work with deprived and minority communities in Brighton and
across the country.
And she introduced a Private Member's Bill to re-nationalise our railways.
If you are a voter in Brighton Pavilion, please make sure you re-elect Caroline on Thursday so she can continue her outstanding work as an MP. She would be a grave loss to the House of Commons.
Below is a selection of the way Caroline Lucas, Green MP
voted in the last Parliament:
Defence Policy
Voted very strongly against use of UK military forces in
combat operations overseas
Voted very strongly against replacing Trident with a new
nuclear weapons system
Voted moderately for strengthening the Military Covenant
Welfare and Benefits
Voted strongly against reducing housing benefit for social
tenants deemed to have excess bedrooms (which Labour describe as the
"bedroom tax")
Voted very strongly for raising welfare benefits at least in
line with prices
Voted very strongly for paying higher benefits over longer
periods for those unable to work due to illness or disability Details
Voted very strongly against making local councils
responsible for helping those in financial need afford their council tax and
reducing the amount spent on such support
Voted strongly against a reduction in spending on welfare
benefits
Voted moderately for spending public money to create
guaranteed jobs for young people who have spent a long time unemployed
Taxation
Voted strongly for increasing the tax rate applied to income
over £150,000
Voted very strongly against increasing the rate of VAT
Voted moderately for a banker’s bonus tax
Voted very strongly for an annual tax on the value of
expensive homes (popularly known as a mansion tax)
Voted very strongly against allowing employees to exchange
some employment rights for shares in the company they work for
Business and the
Economy
Voted strongly
against reducing the rate of corporation tax
Voted strongly against measures to reduce tax avoidance
Health
Voted strongly for restricting the provision of services to
private patients by the NHS Details
Voted strongly against reforming the NHS so GPs buy services
on behalf of their patients
Education
Voted strongly against greater autonomy for schools
Voted very strongly against raising England’s undergraduate
tuition fee cap to £9,000 per year Details
Voted moderately against academy schools
Voted very strongly against ending financial support for
some 16-19 year olds in training and further education Details
Voted very strongly against university tuition fees
Constitutional Reform
Voted strongly against reducing central government funding
of local government
Voted very strongly for a more proportional system for
electing MPs
Voted moderately for a wholly elected House of Lords
Voted moderately for more powers for local councils
Home Affairs
Voted very strongly
against requiring the mass retention of information about communications
Voting record from They Work for You website.
When we consider the reported behaviour of Labour activists in Brighton Pavilion constituency urging Caroline Lucas poster displayers to remove those posters so as not to let in a Tory government, we need to consider the record of Labour councillors in Brighton & Hove council colluding in coalition against a minority Green Party council.
ReplyDeleteThe record of Labour councillors on Brighton & Hove Council and the desire of Labour activists to make a Green Party MP 'ancient history' perhaps indicates how far Labour is from 'protecting the most vulnerable'. And we must remember that the Blair Government halved the length of jobcentre-funded training periods so as to double the throughput from the dole queue, and Blair installed investment banker David Freud as 'welfare reform guru'. Freud then defected to to Tories and is now their Welfare Reform Minister/Spokesperson.
Tories eliminated Independent Living Fund for the most severely disabled; Labour have no plans to reinstate it. Greens are pledged to do so.
'Dude Swheatie of Kwug', blogger for the Kilburn Unemployed Workers Group writing in a personal perspective.