Following the death of Erdington MP, Jack Dromey, the people of Erdington will be voting to elect a new MP on 3 March.
Birmingham Friends of the Earth are contacting Birmingham parliamentary candidates, who are standing in the Erdington by-election 2022.
We are asking candidates to pledge to:
– Prioritise raising awareness of carbon literacy and the importance of this in tackling a reduction of carbon emissions
– Support the CEE bill and reflect my support for this in how I vote.
– Prioritise pushing for the end of incineration and the start of a greener waste system.
– Support and prioritise measures to tackle the climate emergency and promote its urgency.
Birmingham Friends of the Earth is party politically neutral, meaning we don’t support any particular political party. However we do think it’s important that voters have the information to be able to make an informed choice about who to vote for.
It’s often quite difficult to find out candidates’ views on important environmental issues. We hope that our election pledges can help voters take account of environmental issues when deciding how to vote.
With so many important national and local environmental issues to tackle, including increasing renewables, improving the quality of green space, re-localising our economy, and making our waste system more sustainable, it’s never been so important to know where candidates stand on key environmental issues.
If you are a candidate and have not received our survey please email libby@birminghamfoe.org.uk
Candidates’ responses will be published on this page as we receive them.
Candidates’ responses:
Lee Dargue, Liberal Democrats:
“I can confirm I am happy to sign the Birmingham FOE pledge, and that if elected as a Member of Parliament, I would be happy to sponsor the CEE Bill.
There are many examples in the trade union movement of workers wanting to transition to green jobs but being prevented by employers who look to the short term profits for their shareholders rather than long term benefits.
The most recent example was the GKN plant actually in Erdington, where trade unions last year put together a 90-page alternative plan detailing how production could be reorganised into making components for electric vehicles.
Lucas Aerospace workers conducted an even larger exercise in Birmingham in 1976, producing a plan for alternative products that included designs for wind turbines, hybrid cars, heat pumps and energy-efficient houses.
The failure of both plans was not in the enthusiasm, skills or determination of the workers concerned, but in the fact that the firms remained in private ownership instead of being nationalised and reorganised in the public good. In that regard, whilst happy to support the CEE bill, I would continue with my campaigns in the trade union movement for public ownership of industries that most contribute to greenhouse gases – namely energy production, transport and construction – so that they can be rationally and rapidly transitioned without the drag of private profit.
Finally, could I perhaps point you to a statement TUSC made last year on what local councils could do to implement the green industrial revolution policies that were in the 2019 Labour manifesto https://www.tusc.org.uk/17481/23-02-2021/could-councils-implement-the-green-policy-pledges-in-labours-2019-manifesto).”
