Bethan Williams: Labour’s ‘GB Energy’ plans are vague and insubstantial Bethan Williams In 2019, Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party embraced the concept of the green new deal, a comprehensive set of integrated policies ranging from creating green jobs to improving home insulation. I was a young climate activist about to vote in a general election for the first time, so a concrete programme for tackling the climate crisis was the push I needed to vote Labour. It’s been a long five years. During this time, I have graduated twice, worked full-time for 10 months, and watched the Conservatives arguably become the laughing stock of climate policy. Meanwhile, the Labour party has undergone significant transformations, many of which I believe are for the better. However, these changes have resulted in the demise of the green new deal in mainstream UK politics. In February, Labour announced that it would cut its £28bn green investment pledge by half. “GB Energy” dominates its promotional material, yet it’s a concept I struggle to make sense of, even as someone working in the renewable energy industry. It feels as if I’m reading a proposed policy where every other line is missing. The green new deal provided a practical, tangible roadmap for tackling the largest problems facing Britain. In contrast, Labour’s current plan to tackle the climate crisis seems vague and insubstantial, relying on ambiguous plans such as GB Energy accompanied by weak climate policies. I am pleased that Labour is committing to achieving clean energy by 2030, but we can’t settle for a piecemeal approach when the survival of our planet is at stake. Bethan Williams lives in Cardiff Niall Hignett: Labour is the only party serious about building homes Niall Hignett My biggest issue going into this election is the housing crisis; I’m fed up with being further down the political priority list than “possible” damage to trees. The reality is, we aren’t building enough homes. Tinkering around with renting rules isn’t going to fix it. Britain desperately needs planning reform. Someone who buys organic quinoa from Waitrose, hops into a 4x4 to drive to their acreage and unloads their grass-fed beef into a fridge with a built-in screen gets to object to planning at every turn, lecturing everybody else about environmentalism. Without a hint of irony, our politicians too often nod along, emulating the wrong Churchill. The frustration this causes in the planning system means sky-high rents for dodgy housing are the new norm. As things stand, I’ll probably never be able to own a home, and renting will likely eat up more than half my take-home pay. Every party talks the talk on housing. The Tories promised rent reform and 300,000 homes a year in their 2019 manifesto. Neither happened. That’s why I’m voting based on parties’ records, not promises. This means I won’t be voting Conservative, and the Liberal Democrats and Greens won’t be getting my vote either. I’ve never seen a Lib Dem leaflet that doesn’t brag about blocking housebuilding, and Ed Davey tried to dump the party’s housing targets last year. The Greens are cosplaying as a radical party of the young without any substance to back it up. Their sole MP’s crowning achievement is creating a GCSE in natural history, having spent 14 years objecting to nuclear power, HS2, and housebuilding. That leaves Labour. I only have to look to Andy Burnham’s record in Manchester to be convinced the party is serious about sorting out the housing crisis. The party’s target of 1.5 million homes strikes me as unambitious, but it’s at least presented with conviction. Starmer is even a self-professed yimby, which is far stronger rhetoric than any other leader has managed. So I’ll be voting to give myself the chance of affordable rent and, eventually, home ownership. Starmer’s Labour gets my support on 4 July. Niall Hignett is a law student and freelance writer based in Durham Hassan Ali: Starmer’s lack of backbone on Gaza will cost him votes Hassan Ali It looks increasingly likely that Starmer will stumble into No 10 on the back of historic dissatisfaction with the Tory government. But as far as world events are concerned, Labour’s stances – particularly on Gaza – leave a lot to be desired. I grew up watching the adults around me supporting Labour because, as the mantra states, it was the party for the many, not the few. Much of the Muslim community felt not only heard but listened to, and there was a tangible connection between the needs of the masses and the solutions actioned by the party. Now, however, the connection seems to be hanging on by a thread, if at all. Keir Starmer’s weak stance on Gaza is costing him in constituencies up north, and will quite frankly be costing him across the country. I, for one, cannot in good conscience vote for a leader who can sit comfortably while condoning the deprivation of power and water while so many suffer. Despite later taking it back, I still find it ironic that someone who was once a human rights lawyer could make such a remark. Had he instead shown some backbone and spoken out against Israel’s actions, perhaps called for an unequivocal ceasefire earlier, he might have re-engaged voters who already felt alienated by Labour’s rightwards drift. Instead, he remained complicit, ducking and swerving any real accountability for his words. Although my local seat is a safe Labour one, I will vote. And I encourage others feeling similarly disenchanted to vote as well. Even if you don’t feel represented, at the end of the day it’s these numbers that matter to parties the most. Hell, spoil your ballot if you must, but the onus is on you to make sure you’re using your vote, even if it is just to say “I’m here, I will vote, and I’m disappointed in the whole lot of you”. Hassan Ali is a student from east London Paris Haigh: From climate to education, the SNP has lost young voters Paris Haigh The SNP has always been good at saying the right things, but not actually following through on its promises. Its recent announcement that it will be ditching its 2030 climate targets just shows how empty these promises really are. Young people are tired of politicians throwing away our future while they cosy up to fossil fuels. Just last year, with fellow activists from Green New Deal Rising, I spoke to several SNP politicians, including former first minister Humza Yousaf, who told me himself that there is no future for Scotland in oil and gas. Earlier this year, the SNP announced that the first decade after independence will be bankrolled by oil and gas revenue. The science is clear: if young people are to have a livable future, no more oil and gas projects can be allowed to go ahead. It’s not just the climate crisis that’s endangering our future but the lack of funding for education, with strike actions happening across Scotland. Chatting with fellow students, it’s clear that, despite the negative impact on our learning, we support our lecturers as they demand fair pay. We want to know that we can trust our leaders to secure our future, but right now, the SNP isn’t offering us that. Many young people have lost faith in the SNP, so it will have to prove to us that it will do everything in its power to protect our future, if it is to earn our votes. Paris Haigh is a student and organiser with Green New Deal Rising, living in Scotland Tiger-Lily Snowdon: I’ve seen the impact of the social care crisis on family members Tiger-Lily Snowdon We all know that our NHS is in crisis, and a major part of this is the lack of social care. Across the country, thousands of hospital beds are occupied by people waiting for care to be put in place. Roughly 62% of people currently or previously providing unpaid care say they had no choice in taking on the role because no other care options were available. This is an issue close to my heart, both as a young disabled person and as someone who has watched family members become unpaid carers and older relatives go through the care system. Ed Davey’s experience as a carer has been at the forefront of his campaign. The Liberal Democrats’ pledges to introduce free personal care (so no person would have to sell their house to pay personal care costs), a higher minimum wage for paid care workers, and to give unpaid carers a fair deal are impressive. The Green party has also prioritised this issue, with similar pledges including free personal care and increased rates of pay for carers. Although Labour was disappointingly quiet about the topic until its manifesto was released, it does highlight the impact of social care on healthcare and the need for deep reform. Its favouring of a “home first” approach and a fair pay agreement is encouraging, but it neglects to mention unpaid carers. Even the Conservatives mention the invaluable role of unpaid carers, although the issue of social care takes up only one paragraph in the “health and social care” area of their manifesto. It’s disappointing that the two major parties are failing to address and tackle the issue head-on. They appear to be leaving it to the smaller parties to propose the bold moves needed to have a significant impact on the crisis. It’s undeniable that social care is expensive, taking up at least 65% of council budgets (2023-24), but budgets will have to be increased to cope with the demands of our ageing population. Our health and social care systems have crumbled under the Conservatives, and one cannot be fixed without improving the other. Tiger-Lily Snowdon is a student and lives in rural Devon Daniel Cadel: Our relic of a voting system urgently needs reform Daniel Cadel A significant flaw of our democracy is the continued use of first past the post voting in elections. As can be clearly seen in the UK, this system has led to a two-party state. The result of this for the country is that both Labour and Conservative have become lax and unimaginative. Everyone predicts that Labour will win the coming election, but this is arguably because of the sole alternative performing poorly, rather than because of genuine interest or support for the party or its policies. In our system, a winner is created by one party doing worse than the other, rather than a party garnering genuine support. Reforming this system in favour of proportional representation or another voting method would remove the need for tactical voting. Although there are many issues in our country that affect people’s lives more, I truly believe fixing our democracy will lead to a brighter future for us all in the longer term. It would mean a future where politicians had to take responsibility for their mistakes and their actions, or face real electoral consequences. As a result, they might actually aim to fix the country, rather than continue what we’ve had for the past few years. With first past the post, the politicians who have done little to resolve the cost of living crisis, partied during Covid while people’s loved ones died and gave us the ineffective and expensive Rwanda scheme, still have a chance of remaining as MPs, or even to be re-elected in five years’ time. If this relic of a system was reformed, all these people would face the deserved consequences of their actions. Daniel Cadel is a computer science student and freelance writer based in Cheshire The Guardian worked with several organisations to access a representative sample of young people. They include: UK Youth, Citizens UK, Shout Out UK and Green New Deal Rising