London Elections Interview - Jarelle Francis, Haringey Green Party Target Candidate for St Ann’s Ward, talks to Mike Shaughnessy
Tell me a bit about your background,
how long have you lived in Haringey and what is your day job, for example?
“I was born
in Tottenham and lived in Haringey for most of my life. I freelance working in
Art Curation and I am working on a proposal to present to the council after
elections for a schools art competition. I worked on a similar one last year in
the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and it really helped to engage the
young people there."
How long have you been a Green Party
member, and what first attracted you to the party?
"I joined
after the 2015 general election, I always had the intention of joining the
Green Party but never got around to it. After the Tories won a surprise
majority it accelerated my decision. I joined to fight against austerity and
poverty, for social justice, for proportional representation and ultimately
against neo-liberal policies which have a detrimental affect on our lives and
the planet.”
We are starting to see some African/Caribbean
candidates emerge, in London at least, as Green Party candidates, why do you
think it has taken so long for this to happen?
“I think
traditionally the Labour party was the party for Black and ethnic minority
people, but this has changed over the years.
Under
Blair/Brown Labour became a very closely aligned with Conservative policy and
we are now seeing the fruits as Labour councils in London implement some of the
most horrendous social cleansing. In my view the Haringey Development Vehicle (HDV)
is an example of that.
People now
understand that the Greens are a party for social justice, a party who
champions being inclusive and also let's not forget that working class black
people are more likely to live in areas of high pollution which affects health.
So tackling that has come more to the forefront.”
Violent crime in London is in the news
at the moment, what should be done to reduce this?
“I am running
this campaign with a clear message that we will reverse the cuts to and invest
in youth services again.
There is no
doubt that austerity is the main cause of these problems. The Conservative
government has taken away EMA, tripled university fees, thus taking away
further education as an achievable aspiration for the young working class. They
have just taken away free school meals for the poorest pupils whilst we have
4.1 million children in poverty
Creative
subjects like Art, Music, Drama have been cut in schools and the Labour Council
have gone too far in cutting youth centres whilst spending money on ridiculous
gimmicks like Chicken Town, or wasting money on new logos or most disgracefully
spending money in court to fight for the HDV. This is all whilst our young
people suffer, it is vitally important that we get on the council so we can
challenge the way they spend.”
What is your view of the Windrush
scandal?
"One of
the things I try to tell voters is to look at policy over personalities if
possible. The Conservative party policy was to create a hostile environment for
all immigrants.
The
immigration act of 2014 successfully did that with only 16 MP's (which included
Caroline Lucas) voting against. So Labour are not completely exonerated from
this either. Especially when under Ed Milliband they had the "control
immigration" mug.
So why now we
have all these crocodile tears and faux apologies when their policies have been
successful I will never know!
Theresa May
implemented these racist policies and should no longer be the Prime Minister.
When you
pander to the far right and blame immigration for our countries ills, this is
the fruit you bear from those seeds.
This also
does not bode well for the 3 million EU citizens living here after Brexit,
which is again being facilitated by both Labour and Conservatives.
The Green
Party has always stuck up for migrants, free movement of people and it is one
of the reasons I joined them. If you want to vote for a party who has always
projected a positive image of immigration support us.
We are the
sixth largest economy in the world because of immigration, not inspite of it
and it's about time we started to appreciate migrants! We have a wonderfully
diverse community in St. Ann’s and will continue to stick up for us all if I am
elected or not."
You are standing as one of the Green
Party’s target candidates in St Ann’s ward, Haringey. What are the issues you
are campaigning on?
“We need more
council housing, not the "affordable" definition adopted by Boris
Johnson and not changed by Sadiq Khan.
StART in St. Ann's
a community land trust which is showing us a model which would can work and
would be great for the St. Ann’s community.
Air pollution in and around the ward are at high levels and so we need to think about closing school roads off, which in turn means we need to crate safe walking and cycling routes for all.
Also the
cleanliness of the streets has come up a lot, so we need to make sure that
Veoila are doing their jobs properly.”
How do you rate your chances of
getting elected in this year’s local elections?
"We have a
great chance of getting our first councillors in Haringey. Speaking to people
on the doorstep they really understand how bad having a Labour council without
anyone to hold them to account has been. But we need to make sure that you turn
up on Thursday and that Labour voters split their vote so that we get a Green
representation on the council."
If you are successful in getting
elected to Haringey Council, what will be your priorities in terms of trying to
make a difference?
"I will be
pushing to immediately reverse the cuts to and invest in youth centres again.
Also reverse the cuts to social care services, fighting to keep places like
Osborne Grove open.
I would also
make sure the council understand how bad the air pollution is on Green Lanes,
St. Ann's Road, West Green Road, Seven Sisters Road amongst other places and
would mean us implementing new safe cycle lanes, cutting off roads to schools
on the school run, and improving local transport.
Making sure
HDV does not go through and supporting refurbishment over regeneration which
generally means demolition. Supporting projects like StART which has a clear
strategy of providing truly affordable housing for local people.
We won't be
running the council, but we will be able to hold Labour to account and I hope
Labour would adopt some of our positive progressive policies.
But we can
only do all this with YOUR VOTES, it is so close, please give us an opportunity
to be your voice on the council and vote for us on Thursday May 3rd!"
The other two target Green Party candidates
for St. Ann’s Ward are Anne Clark and Lee Jerome
Good luck Jarelle
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