Green or Labour - my voting dilemma

The general election is just around the corner and here I am, having read the manifestos, still unable to decide who to vote for. Most people I know are against another right wing government. Most of those people also do not want to vote for the Liberal Democrats after their performance in the coalition. 

The Liberal Democrats have got some really promising policies but they stand very little chance getting anywhere in this election. Everyone has seen their performance in the coalition and it does not reflect well on the party. This leaves two main candidates – Green or Labour.


Green party – what they want to achieve

• Limit climate change: obviously the environment is a big topic for the green party. Their focus is on renewable energy. This is a great thing for everyone, it ensures future generations a place on this planet.
• Equality and diversity: one of the key reasons why a lot of young people want to vote Green is because of their focus on equality. The Green Party want lessons on this in schools, they want to work to end the stigma attached to mental health. They are also looking to spend more money and time on supporting women who are victims of violence. This seems promising. These policies show the Green Party to be accepting and forward thinking. There is no doubt that these views are the most accepting and tolerant of all people.
• Young people: the party has proposed an increase in the minimum wage to £10 an hour by 2020. They also want to scrap tuition fees (and herein lies a big issue…) which a certain party promised before. This led to Lib Dems getting a lot of votes from students but as we all know, this did not end well. Now, while I do not think that the Green Party would increase tuition fees, I am sceptical about whether they could possibly get rid of them altogether.
•  Economy: this is the main issue for all the parties in this election. The Green Party take a completely different approach to the others. They want to stop focusing on growth and focus on a fair and equal society. They believe this will improve the economy. This, to a very liberal and left wing person, sounds wonderful. After all, so many problems stem from trying to get more money. But, this is the sort of policy which could be initially damaging before any real progress is made and we have to be aware of that.
• Mental Health: it makes me happy that all the parties are addressing mental health so clearly in this election. The Green party wants no more than 28 days wait for talking therapies. Importantly, they also want to give priority to the mental health of minorities. They plan to do this by increasing mental health funding.

So are these policies achievable? How are they going to do it?

• There is a lot of money needed for most of these policies. Where it will come from is a question that everybody wants to know the answer to. The Green party has proposed that money will come from increased tax (due to increased wages), increased tax on tobacco and alcohol (which will also tackle drinking problems), ensuring that tax avoidance is kept under control. These are just a few and you can view the full financial plan in their manifesto. I was initially sceptical but it all seems to make sense.
• There are concerns that voting for a small party is pointless because they will not know how to run the country. The policies seem great in theory but whether it would happen in practice is a different story.
•  One thing I did notice about the Green manifesto is the detail and length of it. This is a party that is passionate and really cares about their policies. However, it might be that they have set themselves too many targets which they cannot possibly achieve.

Labour Party – what they want to achieve

• Health: GP appointments within 48 hours, more investment in mental health care and stopping the privatisation of the NHS. These are all things which are important to so many people in the country.
• Young People: Labour wants to give the vote to 16 and 17 year olds. I agree with this idea because I think that the more people who get to have a say, the better the representation will be. If schools provide better education on our political system, these young people will be able to make informed voting choices. Labour have also said that they guarantee all young people will have a job after 1 year of unemployment. If they do not take this job, their benefits will be stopped. That is all well and good in theory. But, if a young person has various issues with accepting whatever job it is then they should be able to decline it without being pushed into poverty. Labour have promised to reduce tuition fees to £6,000 a year which seems realistic but hopefully will be the start of reducing them further.
•  Economy: Labour want to promote the living wage and increase the minimum wage to £8 an hour. They have policies aimed at getting fairer rents and banning high letting fees. These are all things which many people over the country would benefit from.

How are they going to do it?

• Labour claims that none of their policies in their manifesto require any more borrowing of money. They have said that every policy can already be paid for within budget. This sounds great. However, I remain unsure of whether this is entirely true. Surely, they will have to spend some money to change things?
•  In order to achieve shorter waiting times for GP appointments, labour will be employing more GP’s and nurses. They aim to pay for this by enforcing mansion tax, something which I am sure will push rich people towards the tories.

Who to vote for?

I am completely behind all of the Green Party policies. I am behind some of the Labour party policies. I have more faith that Labour can achieve their aims as the Greens seem to have set the bar very high for themselves. So it all comes down to this: do we vote for policies or parties? If the Greens had been in power before and we had evidence that they could achieve certain things then we would be quicker to vote for them. That is why Labour and Conservative are always at the top of the poll. We have seen history and we trust that the big parties can act, even if they do mess up. However, there is uncertainty with the Green Party and any other small party. This time round, I think I’m going to give the Green Party a chance. If they did get in and achieve their aims, this country would be a much better place to live after all. As I have said in a previous post, politics will never change unless we start realising that we have more options.

Still unsure who to vote for on the left? Want to keep the tories and UKIP out? Head over to vote swap to see where your vote would make the most difference in your constituency!