Ashley Baxter, Nottingham East, Green Party

Link / contact details for potential supporters
www.greenparty.org.uk/nottingham
 
  i.
 what do you think is the most important issue in this election?

Politics itself.
Canvassing ten years ago was about persuading people that Green Party
policies were better than Labours. Now I spend most of my time explaining
why voting for anyone will make any difference to anything.

  ii.
  why did you make the decision to stand in this constituency and for the
Green Party?

Why Nottingham East?
I went on a 'Drop the Debt' rally in London two or three years ago and met
my MP, the government whip, John Heppell. I asked him what we could do to
make the Government listen to concerns about poverty and injustice, and he
said if we didn't like the way he and his party were behaving then we should
vote him out.  Given that John Heppell has voted for everything the
government has put forward, including wars, tuition fees, ID cards, PFIs
etc, I wanted to make sure that people in this constituency had the
opportunity to vote for a more left-wing and sustainable alternative.

Why the Green Party?
Because their philosophy and policies most closely match my own beliefs and
opinions.

  iii.
  what kind of vote are you expecting on May 5th?

A cross against my name, in fact lots and lots of crosses against my name.

  iv.
  aside from the vote what are you hoping to get out of this campaign?

Everyone who votes Green encourages other people to vote Green next time
round.

I also want Nottingham City Councillors to wake up to the fact that Green
Party votes could cost them their majority in 2007. I want potential Green
Councillors to realise that with a bit of effort, they could change the
political culture in Nottingham for the better.

  v.
  in your view what is the greatest threat to our civil liberties at the
moment?

Widespread apathy in the face of a government that has completely lost the
plot.

  vi.
  Blair has taken us to war three times since coming to power (not including
the occasional ad hoc bombing raid) in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq ).
  Can war ever be justified?

I'm tempted to say 'No' on the basis of the wars you mention, but if you had
asked me as a well travelled young man in 1940, or maybe as an idealist
during the Spanish Civil war, then I would have to say "maybe".

  vii.
  There is very little left to privatise in this country, if you had your way what would be brought into public hands.

The Downing Street press office, the media and lots of other things.

  viii.
  Some environmental campaigners have started talking about nuclear power as
a   way to bring down CO2 emissions - what do you think of this?

The argument is hogwash. The way to bring down CO2 emissions is to change
our consumerist lifestyles, and to educate people about the effect we are
having on the planet and its people. Nuclear power brings a whole new set of
problems e.g. a new set of nuclear power stations equals a new set of
potential terrorist targets. The Governments commitment to renewable energy
is risible.

  ix.
  Asylum and immigration will be central issues in this election.   What action on this issue would you like to see the next government push through?

Allow asylum seekers to work and otherwise participate in our society
without reproach, so that people realise that people from overseas are
actually very much like people, although perhaps a tad less xenophobic.

  x.
  What question do you wish was on this list but doesn't appear?

"If I was stuck on a desert island with Sue Lawley, what 6 records would I
take?", but I would need some time to answer it!

 

April 2005