10 July 2019
Last week I attended the NCS’s Question Time event hosted on Greenwich University’s Medway Campus. NCS is open to all 15-17 year olds and takes place across the summer. One of the subjects tackled is democracy and after partaking in a number of workshops focussing on both local and national politics the young adults were asked to construct a question which would then be presented to a panel of activists/politicians in their very own ‘Question Time’ style debate. Here’s my own take on the event…
After following a bus through an automated barrier and getting very lost I finally locate the disabled parking at the Pilkington Building, which evidently is a stunning example of mid-20th century architecture. George, a fellow Green Party member, assists with the unloading of my independence giver, my beloved powerchair, which I really must get round to naming.
George and I make our way into the room where the event is to be hosted and I try to not let the nerves get the better of me as I see how many chairs are laid out. We say hi to Esme, one of our younger members (Esme is currently studying towards her A Levels at one of the local schools). Both George and Esme will be taking on the same event in a few weeks’ time.
The 3 of us become acquainted with all those in attendance and are introduced to our compere for the evening, Harry, who is one of the Young Adults taking part in this year’s National Citizen Service. He tells us about the recent residential trip and I listen with envy, as NCS was never around when I was at school having only been founded in 2011 and is probably David Cameron’s greatest and some would say only legacy.
On the panel is Anna McGovern who is Chair of the Medway Youth Council, a member of the UK Youth Parliament and also a member of the Children & Young People’s Overview and Scrutiny committee within Medway Council. Clive Johnson the elected Labour Councillor for Gillingham South. John Castle who is the Data Officer for Medway Lib Dems. And myself, the Press & Marketing Officer for Medway Green Party. You will notice the lack of a Conservative representative, whether they declined to attend or someone had to cancel at the last minute is somewhat of a mystery (answers on a postcard!).
Over the next 90 minutes 8 questions are presented. Now the panel being left leaning got on very well with many ‘I agree or understand’ nods being given and rather than the ‘out of politeness’ clap most politician’s normally receive we were genuinely pleased with the responses and as such we enthusiastically clapped for each other. I do feel though, that by not having a polarized view on the panel we were letting our young adults down, a good debate often allows parties on both side of the line to broaden their views and consider arguments the may have never encountered before. I do hope that the conservatives send a rep for the following 4 debates.
Below are the questions asked, albeit somewhat paraphrased from memory, and the answers that I gave (also paraphrased from memory) on behalf of the Green Party…
How do you become an MP or get involved with Politics?
Becoming an MP is an expensive task, it is estimated that a political party will spend approximately £100k getting a single MP elected. Getting into politics is however free of charge, it usually starts with wanting to make your community better, whether that be campaigning for a local park to be built, campaigning against a proposed development or even organising a litter pick. Personally I only got involved in an official capacity this year when I ran as a candidate in the local elections for the ward where I live, Twydall. To summarise becoming an MP is difficult but getting involved in local politics is very easy and probably more satisfying.
Do you think Immigration is positive for the country?
100% yes! This country is built on immigration and we wouldn’t function without it. My surname is Belmonte, my husband is half Spanish and my father-in-law is Spanish, before settling here in the UK in the 70s he also lived is Australia. Look around the room, we are all likely to be descended from immigrants and here we are all being educated in Medway, possibly going on to University here and you will all eventually work and then invest your time and money in our country, your country. People get confused and often use the term immigrant when they are actually talking about illegal immigrants. Certain tabloids and political parties have demonised immigrants, when in actual fact, they will often contribute more financially to the UK than a person born and bred here. I love how cohesive and culturally rich this country is and we should all be proud of our country.
Who would you say is best to negotiate Brexit, Hunt or Johnson?
Well if Hunt channels his ability to shaft the NHS and Boris channels his ability to destroy Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe chance of freedom then either one might stand a chance at getting what they want. I think we’re all in total confusion as to how we have reached this point and yet none of it will matter if we don’t address the disaster which we all finally agree is imminent (with the exception of Trump). If we don’t reverse the effects of climate change then we are all up the creek.
Should recycling be compulsory now that we know the planet is dying?
As a rule I am adverse to anything being compulsory or prohibited (with the obvious exceptions), I think it takes away a person’s right to make an informed decision. However we are in a Climate Emergency and we have less than 12 years to ‘reverse’ the impacts of climate change, we should be changing laws now but sadly both Conservatives & Labour are bestowed to their financial supporters and neither will make the tough law changes that are needed. We need investment in renewal energy immediately, we need to have zero carbon emissions sooner than 2050, we shouldn’t be opening new coal mines, our public transport needs to be more reliable and cheaper to use and we need to be moving towards a zero waste society. On the ‘Future Chatham’ twitter feed a question was asked as to whether Medway should be replacing their black big bags with wheelie bins, well no, we should be aiming at reducing the landfill waste by as much as possible, we should be asking each house to only expel 1 black bag per week with the aim of reducing this further and further, people should be using their brown bins for food waste and yes recycling should be compulsory but let’s not fine people when they don’t recycle, lets reward them when they do.
Why did the Government react so poorly to the Grenfell Tower fire?
To put it bluntly is was because of who lived there and what they were surrounded by, the council and developers were busy gentrifying the area surrounding Grenfell Tower, an area worth an insane amount of money to investors. The occupants of Grenfell were either working class or unemployed most were of foreign decent or of mixed heritage and in short the council didn’t want them to live there. It’ been 2 years since the fire and there are still buildings with the exact same cladding in situ, still tower blocks across the country without sprinkler systems. Plenty has been learnt but nothing has been done. People were told to remain in their flats, occupants knew they could make it out of the building in minutes but still listened to the fire service because wouldn’t you? I’d trust them and so did they. I’ve never lived in a flat and now the thought of doing so petrifies me. Ultimately the Government reacted so poorly because they had no respect or love for the people who lived there. They lacked the empathy to think that it could be their mum, their dad, their brother, sister, child. No respect and no love!
What do you think the main causes of knife crime are and how would you deal with it?
When I was younger I thought nothing of carrying my pen knife around, the tools came in handy. But as a parent, nothing scares me more than the thought of my sons walking the streets carrying something capable claiming a life. So many things are driving crime in general; unacceptably low wages, zero job security, cuts to child services, cuts to parental support etc. Twydall is struggling, we’re a lower wage ward with higher unemployment and I know many parents, working parents who are struggling to provide for their children. I didn’t have a phone til I was 16, now children need phones aged 11 and it’s not a cheap, phones are mega expensive! Pressures are applied on every front; parental, governmental, educational. What do you think the main causes are? I would like to see a school wide anonymous survey asking all of you what we can do to make you safe. As a country we need to look at ourselves, is having nuclear weapons any different to carrying a knife in your pocket, just in case you’re attacked? We’re failing you!
Why did the Governmnt cover up the atrocities in Iraq?
Because that’s what our Government does and has done throughout its history all the way back to its inception. War generates trillions of pounds/dollars for big businesses across the globe. Governments be it here or in the US look for opportunities to plunder a country’s wealth all under the banner of freedom. We have been involved in nearly all major conflicts, we are constantly funding wars; Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and now potentially in Iran. War shouldn’t be happening and yet it is, cover ups are happening all the time. We need a government who will work diplomatically to resolve conflict and where that’s not possible this country should open our arms to asylum seekers, not impound them and treat them as criminals. We need love, kindness and empathy.
Did you support the recent school strikes, as many politicians were critical of them missing their studies?
O yes, massively and we will go further than just support you, if you need assistance in coordinating a Medway wide strike then the Greens will help, we know how important this, it’s our very existence on the line. In fact Medway Council voted on enacting a Climate Emergency but at their first ‘new’ full council meeting they neglected to create a committee, so feel free to strike for this very reason (Clive Johnson of Medway Labour points out that the council have finally formed a committee!)
So that was my first public speaking event for many, many years and I loved it, the audience were engaged and responsive, the panel were great and despite missing out some ‘stats’ here and there, I think I gave the audience a taste of what being Green means, I’m definitely looking forward to working with Anna, Clive & John in the future and I’m sure I’ll see members of the audience in the coming months and years should they choose to become young activists themselves.
A big thank you to MY Trust and NCS for hosting the event and also to Harry who did a fantastic job of being our compere.
Kate Belmonte
Press Officer
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