The 2019 Local Economic Assessment commissioned by Derbyshire County Council showed that the local economy has been declining over the last decade. To put in context how bad the graph below is, the 10% growth in England was not seen as particularly impressive for a period of recovery after a recession.
We won’t know the full economic impact of coronavirus for some time, but it is not likely to be good.
You may wonder why the Green Party is talking about economic growth. Don’t we want to shift the economy to protecting the environment and improving our wellbeing? This is true. However, current policies are failing on their own terms.
Policies focused on supporting disruptive and polluting industries in the Dales are driving away high-value parts of our economy such as tourism and small creative businesses.
A lack of interest in the wellbeing of people is destroying the services we rely on when earning a living becomes difficult.
A row of closed shops on St John Street, Ashbourne, 2019.
Whether by strangling activity through austerity, or isolating us through Brexit, the Conservatives can no longer be described as reliable stewards of our economy. A prioritisation of the economy over health has led to a disastrous response to coronavirus, and ironically but inevitably a worse economic impact than comparable countries.
A determination to ‘get Brexit done’ cost us investment and jobs. Many people live in the Dales and work at businesses such as Toyota or Rolls Royce; businesses that held off investment for fear of barriers to their supply chains and export markets. The uncertainty of the last few years had a huge impact but making those barriers a reality was not an improvement.
Rather than pushing blindly forward with failed policies, Green Party policy focuses on transforming the economy, re-purposing it to protect and enhance the wellbeing of citizens, society and the natural world. Economic growth will no longer be the way we measure progress. Instead, we will prioritise measures of real prosperity and wellbeing, like improvement in health, availability of fulfilling jobs, thriving small businesses, reduction of inequality and the restoration and protection of the natural environment on which we all depend.
The economy should serve us, not us serve it.
Promoted by JOHN HILL, 103 MAYFIELD ROAD, ASHBOURNE, DE6 1AS on behalf of the GREEN PARTY, The Biscuit Factory A Block (201), 100 Clements Road, London, SE16 4DG