Barney Norris: 'Green Party offering real creativity and real ideas at this election'

WE at the Journal have asked each of Salisbury's election candidates some questions in the lead-up to the general election on July 4.

In the first of the interviews to be published, Green Party candidate Barney Norris has given us his answers.

Why should people vote for you?

I'm asking for the opportunity to work with integrity, dedication and compassion on behalf of this constituency and our local environment. I believe the Green Party are offering real creativity and real ideas at this election, that can tackle our housing crisis, unlock the economic potential of the coming green revolution, heal some of the damage that's been done to the NHS and restore dignity to working people who've borne too much of the burden of the last fourteen years.

What would be on your to do list on day 1 and what would be your top three priorities going forward?

The first thing I would do is listen to my fellow residents. On day one, I'd be in Odstock at the hospital, I'd be in the train stations at Salisbury and Tisbury, and I'd sit down with farmers and the military to understand what the pillars of this community need from their MP.

My first three priorities would be to stop the discharge of waste into our rivers; to push for an overhaul of new housing construction in the city; and to instigate a review of public transport with a view to improving links across the area.

What are your policies on climate change / net zero?

I'm proud to stand for the leading environmental party in the UK, and our whole manifesto is organised around the central principle that we have to protect our environment in order to unlock our potential.

The Green Party wants to get to net zero faster than any other party standing in this election; we believe that the quicker we achieve this goal, the quicker we'll unlock the immense benefits of becoming a global leader in the green revolution. Anyone who tells you that being at the forefront of this next technological revolution is too expensive for the UK is practising very, very short term economics.

What do you think needs to be done to fix the NHS, especially with regards to NHS dentists?

There's clearly a need for significant new investment, which the Green Party have committed to; but there's also a need for an overhaul of infrastructure, it's going to take care as well as cash.

The NHS is held back by creaking IT that requires renewal, and by a recruitment crisis that requires dynamic action.

Dentists in this city need affordable premises to move into, so that more can be recruited, just as we need to recruit more local GPs.

Salisbury has a fantastic training hospital, and supporting that work at Odstock can be part of the nationwide solution to the crisis in the NHS. What I really want to stress here, though, is that part of the solution lies in changing the stories we tell about our NHS. We mustn't accept the narrative that the NHS has crumbled naturally, like an old house. When you can't get an appointment with your dentist or your GP, what you are experiencing is the deliberate result of systemic underfunding, initiated opportunistically in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

Is housing a priority for you? Especially with regards to housing for young people in Salisbury (given the number of retirement homes) and the issues with building on flood plains.

I honestly believe the Green Party's proposal to replace the right to buy with a community right to buy that can convert existing housing stock into new social housing will end up being adopted by the next government, however many Greens are in parliament - I'm proud to represent a party that's having some of the best ideas in politics right now. It's clear that we need to overhaul the long neglected issue of affordable housing for younger people in Salisbury, and that the current solutions being constructed aren't fit for purpose.

New estates on the outskirts of our city with no shops and no community centre, on a floodplain, with no new transport links to the city centre, don't serve Salisbury.

The full list of candidates for Salisbury is: 

• Matt Aldridge: Labour Party

• Victoria Charleston: Liberal Democrat

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• John Glen: Conservative

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• Chris Harwood: Climate Party

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• Julian Malins: Reform UK

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• Barney Norris: Green Party

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• King Arthur Pendragon: Independent