Meet Zoe Garbett of the Green Party! London's Next Mayor?
I heard she was in town, so I hopped a bus and headed to Fairfield Halls
Dear Human of Planet Earth,
The UK’s Green Party has selected their candidate for London Mayor!
She’s Hackney Councillor, Zoe Garbett.
Zoe Garbett has a professional background working with the NHS in public health, fighting against health inequalities. She describes herself as ‘motivated by the root cause of things.’
Now, that’s a woman speaking my language!
When I went to Fairfield Halls to hear what she had to say, I didn’t realise I’d be the only non-Green Party person there! You can’t blame me. The invitation I clicked on had been posted in a WhatsApp group with no political affiliation.
But half an hour in, I began to feel like a spy!
To honour that brief feeling, here’s my Spy Report:
Zoe wore trainers (what Americans and Trinis call ‘sneakers’), very fitting for someone intending to run for office. The meeting was small, informal and cosy. And Zoe did a lot more listening than speaking. <End of Spy Report>
Now back to the meat (grassfed-organic-labgrown-vegan substituted?) of the meeting:
Zoe Garbett is leader of Hackney’s Green Councillor Group and the local councillor for Dalston Ward. In 2019 she helped re-write the Green Party’s policy on illegal drugs and is in favour of ‘legalisation with regulation’.
She’s passionate about local economies and has been fighting on behalf of Dalston’s Ridley Road Market which she describes as an important social and cultural space.
Beyond the affection residents have for spaces with historical significance to their communities, markets such as Ridley Road Market provide lower-cost, healthy food to residents. She points out that while big-chain supermarkets might suit some residents, we shouldn’t see them as inevitable ‘replacements’ to traditional markets, or discount the value that such markets bring to communities.
As a Hackney Councillor, she’s committed to ending the strip-searching of children by police. (aka ‘adultifying’ of children, esp black kids and poorer kids in general).
Zoe Garbett received a creditable vote share of 17% in Hackney’s 2022 Mayoral Election, just under one-third of what the winning candidate garnered. But The Green Party is on the ascent, with the 2023 local election their best ever.
And, as Garbett emphasised, while she has no doubt she can win, Green voices in politics are working to hold both Labour and the Tories to account. She cites Zack Polanski, current Deputy Leader of the Green Party and a London Assembly Member, as challenging Mayor Sadiq Khan on his refusal to condemn private jets without reservation, and his support for the Silvertown Tunnel. Garbett argues all evidence concludes more roads simply encourages more road usage - and shifting to mass transit is key to getting to Net Zero Polanski’s also pushed back on London Pride 2023 receiving sponsorship from companies like United Airlines.
What the audience had to say
Party members had plenty to say as well.
On the police
One 60-year-old, a lifelong Croydon resident and ex-Labour supporter, pointed out Croydon had a high proportion of first-generation immigrants for as long as he’s lived here, his own Irish family among them. ‘The police have been a problem since the 1970s, but to me, it’s worse now.’
On youth crime
A woman lamented First Aid being taught at her son’s place of education in response to rising knife crime. She reasoned that while teaching First Aid is always a good thing, the focus was on the wrong end of the problem.
On housing
The subject of housing triggered a long and animated chat about everything ‘wrong about the housing market.’ Homeowners, an ex-landlord and renters had plenty to say.
The general consensus: rent controls are needed.
One speaker declared that only 30% of rent hikes last year were linked to increased mortgage payments. So the other 70% were a response to market forces.
I submitted this idea for the would-be mayor’s consideration:
Why not make it a routine option for tenants to challenge rent hikes if they deem them unreasonable? The matter then goes to an independent arbiter and the landlord has to prove the rate increase is necessary - or else it’s denied. A similar process exists for disagreements about whether the tenant’s deposit should be returned in full at the end of a tenancy. I’ve used this deposit dispute process before and found it both helpful and fair.
I would have fleshed out this idea and sent it to the Labour Party when they were accepting members’ policy idea contributions - but sadly I missed the deadline! But good ideas need wings, so I’m happy to let the idea loose anywhere.
The impact of Airbnb on the rental market was discussed and Hackney’s Fairbnb mentioned as an alternative. I’d never heard of Fairbnb and perhaps you haven’t either, so here’s a summary from the Fairbnb Co-op website:
In summary: Fairbnb Co-op gives half their platform fees to a local project of your choice from among projects decided by local communities. Fairbnb homes are verified by the local council which allows for local regulation and oversight. Unregulated tourism can put excessive pressure on local resources, including housing, so Fairbnb takes a sustainable community-oriented approach.
Peter Underwood, Croydon’s best know local Green as well as the Croydon-Sutton London Assembly Candidate for the May 2024 election, lamented there are more Airbnbs in Central London than homeless people!
Thatcher’s old ‘right-to-buy scheme’ came under fire. The sitting Mayor of London supports the right-to-buy scheme but party members are concerned that new social housing stock is never built fast enough to replace property purchased through right-to-buy.
I guess the paperwork to buy your house from the council might take a few months, but from design and planning permissions, to handing over the keys to a new owner, building a new house takes longer. And the Lib Dems and Tories in particular seem to forever oppose new construction.
Mayor Sadiq Khan
Underwood felt Mayor Sadiq Khan’s position and powers could be strengthened if co-operation of the General London Assembly and local councils was sought and leveraged.
Such talk is sound. Competition is so yesterday, so 20th century. Collaboration and co-operation are what the 21st century is begging for.
Community
Other matters raised included a concern that developers ignore legislation requiring them to support home building with some social infrastructure - like schools and parking.
The loss of affordable or cheap community spaces over the years was raised. A man referred to young people he knew wanting to start a band but having nowhere easily accessible to meet and play.
Cost of train travel
Someone described travelling a distance like that between East Croydon and Brighton for just 1,60 euros in Portugal. Train travel in the UK is exorbitant, though our rail services are worse despite our higher fares.
Supporting growing our own food
A horticulturist at the meeting noted finding in her line of work a repeated, constant theme of both eco-anxiety and a desire to grow food. She pointed out that growing food brings benefits to mental and physical health and well-being.
Community-scale competitions for growing food were suggested to help re-ignite the habit of people producing some of their own food for family and their communities.
Greater food security at the local level is essential to preparing for the climate change already baked in. Individual and community action play important roles in giving people greater hope, confidence in their own resilience and especially that of their community.
What was it like being ‘a Labour Spy’ at a Green Party Meeting?
Well, halfway through I introduced myself and mentioned I had ‘other’ party affiliation - though interestingly, nobody asked what affiliation that might be. Later, I explained I attended hoping to get some interesting material for my newsletter, which isn’t Labour Party affiliated. Nobody objected, so I’m trusting they’ll be as happy about this report as I am. And obviously, I’m joking about being a Labour Party spy.
I’m writing this newsletter after a funny old week in which Neal Lawson was expelled from the Labour Party for proposing more co-operation between opposition parties in a 2021 tweet!
What a bizarre premise on which to expel a member!
But …
In other news
We’re on track to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming much sooner than anticipated a few decades ago. Surface sea temperatures are higher than ever, and if you remember those graphs of exponential Covid cases, you can see how temperature rises are startling - in the horrifying sense.
Still, the world turns. There is no emergency action plan in the making to avert the worse. Denial and delay continue.
Indeed, our billionaire Prime Minister has been accused by Zac Goldsmith of indifference to climate action. I remember when Sunak ran for the Tory leadership last summer, he was less than lukewarm in his enthusiasm for Net Zero. I remember thinking, given the lack of commitment from any of the three would-be Tory leaders, we’d be better off with Johnson!
Lord Deben offers a scathing criticism of the UK Conservative Party’s climate record and inaction - while expressing some hope for the Labour Party’s climate policy, mixed with profound disappointment that by holding their cards tightly, they’ve failed to hold the government to account on the details of Tory inaction. The full interview is worth a listen on The News Agents Podcast.
Meanwhile, the Deputy Leader of the Green Party, Zack Polanski, might be the most exciting emerging politician of our times. Here he is, in this energetic interview with Novara Media: Can the Green Party Transform British Politics? | Aaron Bastani Meets Zack Polanski | Novara Media
(subscribing is completely free - I have no paywalled content!)
How am I doing?
More than two months after my aunt’s passing, I’m impatient to be back to writing again. My grief journey continues, but I’m finally processing all that’s happened and seeing the whole, rather than my sole role in my aunt’s care over the last weeks of her rapid decline.
There’s some comfort in the knowledge that the world goes on without us.
And on the existential level for our species, there’s some comfort in the knowledge that planet Earth will go on without us if the sixth extinction includes homo sapiens.
Maybe a few billion years later there’ll be another amazing, blooming ecology with a new balance and a new climate, wisely excluding our destructive species.
With Love,
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Radical,
Croydon,
London,
That patch of earth known today as the United Kingdom
Lat +51.51 Long, -0.118
Further Reading:
An excellent piece: Is Pride the right target for Just Stop Oil? Yes, when it’s letting our common enemy off the hook | James Greig | The Guardian
Sadiq Khan defends the Silvertown Tunnel: Silvertown Tunnel: London mayor Sadiq Khan defends project - BBC News
The Silvertown Tunnel, arguments for and against: What is the Silvertown Tunnel - and why the protests? | LondonWorld