Ahead of the election on December 12 2019, Ladywell Live asked all candidates standing in the Lewisham Deptford constituency to briefly outline their plans for our area (including Ladywell!). We’ll be posting these as we get the candidates’ contributions. You might also be interested in the upcoming hustings hosted by Extinction Rebellion Lewisham on 2 December at Honor Oak Community Centre (details here).
Andrea Carey Fuller stood in Ladywell Ward alongside Mike Keogh and Clare Phipps in the 2014 Local Elections.
She lives in Lewisham East but has for the past five years volunteered in Lewisham Deptford – initially as a volunteer to help in the community gardening/cooking Friday session at Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden, and then as the volunteer coordinator helping to set up a Deptford Neighbourhood Forum: Deptford Neighbourhood Action. In this position she coordinated a community campaign to persuade the Council to re-design development plans for Tidemill Garden in order to save it and the 16 Council homes (all perfectly sound) they are intending to demolish. Andrea says, ‘It is a sad indictment on this Council that on the day they declared an emergency motion to take urgent action on Climate Change that they destroyed this wildlife garden which was 2,400 sq m of biodiversity and nature, much loved by the community and far and wide and also acted as a pollution screen from the constant traffic up and down Deptford Church Street!’
Her background is in community care law, helping looked after children, disabled people and older people have their voices heard about the services they need and receive, and helping them to access their benefits and their rights. As a member of Liberty and the Children’s Rights Alliance for England, she is a strong supporter of the Human Rights Act and campaigns for the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child (which the UK signed up to in 1989) to be put into UK Law in the form of a Children’s Rights Act.
Andrea Carey’s plans for Lewisham Deptford:
The NHS to remain public: I am a passionate advocate for our NHS to remain public. Despite what we are told by politicians the NHS has become increasingly privatised over the last 20 years (See this Open Democracy article: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/ournhs/what-did-jeremy-hunt-do-to-the-nhs-and-how-has-he-got-away-with-it/).
In 2016, as part of Lewisham Keep Our NHS Public, I campaigned to Keep Our NHS Public at Lewisham People’s Day and later that year campaigned to support Junior Doctors and to save Lewisham’s Community Children’s Nurses. Our NHS is in crisis due to lack of funding over the past 9 years and as a result of hideous Private Finance Initiative (PFI) deals it has been tied into. The Great NHS Heist premiered yesterday and I would urge everyone who loves the NHS to watch this film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80D4DO7e-Tc
Making Lewisham an Ethical Care Council: It was myself and John Coughlin within the Green Party who pushed Lewisham Labour Party to bring forward a motion to make Lewisham an Ethical Care Council in Spring 2018, and disappointingly no credit was given to the Green Party for this at all!
Make Votes Matter: I also campaign with Make Votes Matter – an organsation to bring about proportional representation in Parliament. In the 2015 General Election the Green party received just over half a million votes (525,665) which only resulted in 1 seat – other parties e.g the SNP who got less than double this amount: 977,568 votes got 35 seats! I would like to see Proportional Voting in our local elections too – I think most people would agree that having no opposition councillors on our Local Council (and prior to and likely the case following this General Election – having all 3 MP’s of the same Political Party) is not democracy – where is the scrutiny? where is the Monitoring of services? Where is the debate?
We are the only party you can trust to fix our broken democracy, by sharing power as well as wealth more equally so that we can all be heard.
Climate Emergency, a final say on Brexit, fixing our democracy: The Green Party are the only party people can trust to act in time to tackle the Climate Emergency in a way that also tackles pressing social problems.
We are the only party you can trust to stand up for remaining part of Europe and for a final say on Brexit, whilst at the same time tackling the underlying reasons why many people voted to leave.
If ever there was a time to vote Green, it’s now.