Giving power back to the people

On Wednesday evening candidates contesting the Hartshill and Basford and Penkhull and Stoke wards in the local elections will take part in public debate.

The debate has been organised by Harpfields and Hartshill Occasions and will be held at the Medical Institute in Hartshill.

The Green Party has a range of policies aimed at reviving local government and giving power back to local people in a meaningful way.

These include raising the funding available to local authorities by £10 billion, setting up a £5 billion fund to help local authorities buy out costly PFI contracts and putting controls over education, planning and public transport back into the hands of councils.

On a national level the party would work towards creating a written constitution and a bill of rights and bring in proportional representation to break the stranglehold of the three main parties and bring new voices into the nation’s political debate.

A spokesperson for North Staffs Green Party said, ‘We have put together a strong team to fight the local elections, public debates like this give us an opportunity to meet and engage with voters.’

The spokesperson added that ‘unlike the big three parties the Greens are all about listening and responding to people’s concerns. Local people have had enough of being offered the same old tired out options, we are able to offer something genuinely different.’

The Green Party candidates in the two wards involved are Thomas Edgar Holland (Hartshill and Basford) and Elaine Rose Holland (Penkhull and Stoke).