In the run up to this year’s general election we wanted to find out a bit more about some of our local candidates and share with you what they had to say. Jonathan Ingleby of the Greenparty kindly agreed to speak to us. Here’s what he had to say. If you wish, you can ask him and the party more questions on their Facebook Page, Twitter or Website
Did you go to university? If so, did you have to pay tuition fees and/or did you receive a grant? How would you change the current tuition fee system?
I did, and I had all my tuition fees paid as well as a maintenance grant. I would go back to the same system. The State should be responsible for educating its citizens to the highest level of their ability. This is a sensible investment.
A lot of younger voters often feel patronised or overlooked completely, which of your parties policies do you feel specifically benefit young people and why?
See the answer above. The Green Party is also worried about housing for young people and plans to build 500,000 houses in the next five years, paying for them out of fairer taxation. Decent jobs will become available for young people leaving school and College when we switch to a Green Economy and think seriously about a living wage.
A lot of music venues are getting closed down to noise complaints from people who just moved to the area. Do you feel this is an issue? What solution would you propose?
Well established music venues should be retained. People must have known about them when they bought their houses. New ones can be constructed with the needs of local residents in mind.
Prime Ministers questions have made a mockery of the political system in recent years, like watching jeering school boys attempting to one up each other – how would you change the current system to turn it into a useful debate rather than an incessant insults throwing and question dodging?
If you watch the debates in, say, the House of Lords, they are perfectly civilised. This is just a bad tradition that needs to be stopped and substituted by a better one.
A minimum turnout for strike ballots has been proposed recently – do you think this is fair? If we need a minimum turnout for a ballot strike should we also have minimum turnouts for all elections and referendums?
I am afraid this is just another attempt to make life difficult for the Trade Unions. I think things should be left as they are.
House prices are still rising yet salaries generally aren’t – young professionals can only dream about home ownership while giving money every month to landlords – what do you think should be done about this? What would you propose?
See my answer to the second question. There is no doubt that at the root of our housing problem is simply that we do not have enough available housing. Builders must be encouraged to build. Instead the government is putting the money it could have used to build homes into subsidising wealthy landlords through housing benefit.
The NHS appears to be struggling these days and is most likely underfunded – how would you go about resolving the issues the NHS faces or do you believe we’d be better off moving to a system based around private medical insurance?
The NHS is one of our great institutions. We are a wealthy nation and we can afford it. There are two simple answers to its present problems. Firstly, it needs to be adequately funded and second we need to turn our backs on the present policy of privatisation. Health care is not something out of which a profit needs to be made.
What’s your opinion on tax money being used to fund arts?
The arts are an essential part of our civilised life. I would continue to fund them out of taxation.
What is your view on renewable energy? Should we push for more renewable sources? What is your view of nuclear energy?
Renewables are the future. They must be. We simply cannot go on causing global warming through the way that we use fossil fuels. Nuclear energy is more problematic. I feel that issues to do with safety and storage have never been properly addressed.
Did your parents buy you a car when you were in your teens or early twenties?
No.
Did you have a part time job during A-levels and/or Uni?
No. I did not need one. I spent most of my holidays travelling.
Have you ever held a minimum wage job before going into politics?
No.
Outside of politics, what do you do? What are you hobbies?
Reading and writing. I have published a number of books. I listen to a good deal of music. I am a lay preacher and church leader.
For people who are reluctant to vote, for whatever reason, why should they take part in the General Election?
It is very simple. Firstly, it is in their own interests to do so. The young have fallen behind in this country because party strategists are well aware that they are not very reliable voters. (Contrast pensioners.) More importantly, there is an ethical imperative to maintain democracy. Just think what happened when they gave up on it in the Thirties in Germany. However badly we are governed democracy means that at the very least we can throw out the government at the next election.
Which of your party’s policies do you hold most dear?
The emphasis on the environment and a Green Economy may be the Green Party’s most important contribution (see Naomi Klein’s book ‘This Changes Everything’) but the renewed emphasis on social justice –‘For the Common Good’ is the Party’s strap line – is the one that pleases me most.
In your opinion, what is the number one priority of your local constituency?
Most of what we need in Gloucester would be obtainable through a reversal of bad policy at the centre. We need effective localism so that we can become a resilient, prosperous and just community.
Music and TV
If you could only listen to 5 albums for the rest of your life, which albums would they be?
I am afraid I am a square. They would all be classical. Schubert’s Winterreise, Mahler’s Das Lied von Der Erde, Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion, Britten’s War Requiem and Mozart’s Requiem. However I would also try to sneak in Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon.
Which film, released in the last year, would you awarded ‘Best film’ to if you could have curated this year’s Oscars?
The Imitation Game, though I thought last year’s output was disappointing.
Do you ever attend live music? If so, what was the last gig you went to?
Does that include concerts? If so, it was a performance of Berlioz’s Grand Messe des Morts in Gloucester Cathedral.
Do you play video games? If so, which game are you currently playing?
No.
Are there any TV shows you just can’t miss? Or any shows you’re upset have been cancelled?
Transatlantic Sessions
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