Flytipping in one part of Rotherham has become so bad, it’s a case of ‘Rat’s Life’, say local Green campaigners.

Green Parish Councillor Tom Hill says that the flytipping between Birch Park Court and the railway line in Ferham has even attracted a kestrel, along with less wanted wildlife:

“Flytipping now takes place at least once and sometimes two or three times a week in this area, and has attracted large volumes of rats as well as birds of prey. I’m normally a fan of biodiversity, but not in these circumstances!”

Local resident and campaigner Joao Carlos added, “to be fair to council workers, they usually clear the rubbish pretty quickly, but without enforcement action it just returns within days.”

Green Party parliamentary candidate for Rotherham Tony Mabbott concluded:

“Flytipping was one of the main issues raised on the doorstep in Rotherham during the local and general elections. The Council has the legal powers to take action against those who fly tip and they need to use these powers now before residents suffer more.”

Local Greens have condemned this week’s refusal by the Labour Government to scrap the two child benefits cap, and say that it shows Labour’s promises of change were short lived.

Tony Mabbott from Rotherham Green Party said: “the two child benefit cap is inhumane and unnecessary, and removing it would lift a quarter of a million children out of poverty.*  if ever there was a clear opportunity for the new Labour government to show that their promises of change were more than just words, this was it. But sadly they fluffed their lines.”

He went on: “Labour’s treatment of rebel MPs who voted to scrap the two child cap shows that they care more about looking strong and responsible than about helping the vulnerable and the worse off. It’s more of the same from Labour, and we all lose out.”

“I’m proud that all four Green MPs voted to scrap the two child cap, and disappointed that my Labour MP Sarah Champion voted to keep it. Greens will keep pushing Labour to be more ambitious in tackling the inequality and unfairness of the Tory legacy, and give us real change instead of broken promises.”

*Source – Local Government Association report into the two child benefit cap, using figures from ‘End Child Poverty’.

With a fraction of the resources and none of the free publicity given to the big political parties we achieved a record result for the Green Party across the Borough.

In Rotherham we received 2632 votes – almost three times as much as our previous best result, and built on our unprecedented success in the May local elections, where we were the main opponents to Labour in the town centre wards.

In the new seat of Rawmarsh and Conisburgh, we went from nothing to a fantastic 5% of votes cast, and in Rother Valley, despite it being a tight Labour/Tory contest where our vote was squeezed, we still managed to increase our vote and our vote share from last time.

People were clearly fed up with the Conservative Government and wanted to get rid of them, but, despite our unfair electoral system pronouncing this a ‘Labour landslide’, there was little enthusiasm for Keir Starmer’s alternative. They only received just over a third of the votes nationwide, and they received fewer votes in Rotherham this time than in their humiliating 2019 General Election defeat.

For the last few months we’ve been speaking to people on their doorsteps a d around town, and many of them have said that they want a change from the broken politics of the past, and that they like the solutions the Green Party offers.

We are all extremely humbled at the trust thousands of local people put in us – we all live and work locally too, and are proud to call Rotherham home. We are not just politicians who fly in for a soundbite and fly out again five minutes later. We promise to stay here and fight for our vision of a fairer, better Britain.

The new Government promises change. We will be watching to ensure that they give us real change.

Yours in hope,

Tony, Paul and Tom

Green Party candidates for Rotherham, Rother Valley and Rawmarsh & Conisbrough.

The Green Party candidate for Rotherham, Tony Mabbott, welcomed internal polling that showed the Party on course to win two safe Conservative seats.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jun/21/polling-for-greens-suggests-party-could-take-two-rural-seats-from-tories

Tony said: “This is further proof that there is no longer a ‘typical’ Green seat – the Green Party is predicted to win MPs in formerly safe Conservative areas in Suffolk, Norfolk and Herefordshire, as well as in previous Labour strongholds.”

“Taken together with the Green Party’s record breaking performance in last month’s local elections in Labour’s former northern strongholds such as South Tyneside, Merseyside, Leeds, Bradford and Rotherham, it shows that there are no longer any no go areas for the Green Party.”

He concluded: “Last month’s Local Election results across Rotherham Constituency show that, in terms of votes per candidate, the Green Party is ahead of the other parties and snapping at Labour’s heels in second place.

Voters in Rotherham no longer have to choose between the lesser of two evils – they can vote Green for real hope and real change.”

The Conservatives failing to stand a candidate in Rotherham is proof that the Government has abandoned the town, says local Green candidate Tony Mabbott.

He said, “This heartless Government abandoned northern towns like Rotherham long ago. Not even putting a candidate on the ballot paper in Rotherham for July’s General Election shows that even they admit it.”

“Because there is no Tory candidate in the election, Labour can no longer use the tired old scare tactic of saying that if people vote Green they will let the Tories in. That can’t happen this time, so voters have an opportunity to vote Green and hold the next Labour Government to account.”

“So, I’d like to thank the Conservatives for giving local people the chance to choose real hope and real change over the old two party politics of division and disillusionment. They no longer have to choose between the lesser of two evils. They can vote Green in Rotherham and start to fix broken Britain.”

Rotherham Green candidate Tony Mabbott welcomed the launched of this year’s Green Party Manifesto, calling it “serious, honest and ambitious“.

Tony said: “Only the Green Party is serious about tackling the major problems facing the country, honest about the resources needed to do so, and ambitious enough to put in place radical change that will help us meet the needs of current and future generations”

“The old parties are vying with each other to say that they won’t raise taxes, but this will inevitably mean more cuts to essential services after election, hitting the most vulnerable first. The Green Party is the only one honest enough to reject this approach and say that greater investment is needed, not more cuts”

“Millions of people are living in substandard housing or have no secure home at all. Fixing this is a priority, but will cost billions to put into practice. The Green Party would find this by taxing the super-rich – those with assets of more than £10 million.”

“The same applies to the much needed investment in finding for repairs to hospital buildings and increased availability of social care.”

“And all of these measures will also help to save us from the worst impact of the climate emergency – hospitals and homes build to strict environmentally friendly standards are good for those who use the buildings, good for those who pay the bills on the buildings and good for all of us, as they will help us transform our economy to a climate neutral one.”

“During the past decade or so of Tory government a few have become even richer while most of us have suffered for the Government’s greed, callousness and incompetence. To change this we need to raise a modest amount from the very wealthy and use that where it is most needed.”

“The people of this country are being offered more the same by the old parties when they need real hope for real change. That’s what the Green Party, and only the Green Party, can deliver.”