Politics can be hard to understand for all of us, especially at election time. Brighton & Hove Green Party have created an easy-read version of their manifesto for people with learning disabilities as well as an Arabic version as part of their efforts to make politics accessible for everyone.
One local Green Party candidate has a personal motivation for making politics easy to understand as May 7 will be the first time his 22-year-old daughter, Ushka, has the chance to vote and she has Downs Syndrome. Matthew Moors, Green Party candidate in Goldsmid, Hove said that one of the key reasons in his decision to stand was to support people who are marginalised in politics.
Matthew, Equalities and Diversity Officer for Brighton & Hove Green Party, explains:
“We talk about democracy, we use the word but how do we actually achieve it? I chose the Green Party to stop more cuts and so that adult and child services would have a voice.
“Brighton and Hove Green Party is strongly committed to making the local democratic process as inclusive as possible for potentially marginalised groups in our community. As the party’s Equalities and Diversity officer I am very proud to be publicising the availability of these documents today.”
The Green-led council have initiated the first city-wide disability needs assessment in Brighton and Hove and their 2015 manifesto focuses on recommendations to further protect the rights of disabled people. The Green Party have provided various versions of their national and local manifestos to ensure that the information provided is clear and focused for any voter who wants to understand their views. All the local Green candidates are committed to making everyone feel included in the local council election and have worked with Mencap to produce 10 election pledges from their ‘Rejuvenating our City’ Manifesto in an Easy-Read format.
There are around 6,000 people in the city with learning disabilities so the Easy-Read manifesto is an important document for them to make the right decision for them in the local election. It’s also important to note that there are many more voters who have reading difficulties so the document could be beneficial for a significant amount of people in the next seven days before the local election.
Hannah & Katie who are local residents with learning disabilities were very happy with the Easy-Read Manifesto and how they were spoken to by the local Green Party and Caroline Lucas when she visited.
Hannah Child, of Hove, said,
“It’s been great, we feel like we’ve been listened to and it will be really helpful. Everyone’s looking at it and talking about what it says, it’s cool!”
Katie Lord, of Portslade, said,
“With some of these things you can get information overload but this is broken down into easy chunks which is good.”
Brighton and Hove Green Party have also had their election pledges translated into Arabic.
Matthew explains:
“Arabic is the second most widely spoken language in the city after English. I’m proud that the Green-led council carried out the city’s first ever needs assessment of black and minority ethnic communities.”
Notes
Versions of the local manifesto “Rejuvenating our City” are available on the publications page
The national Green manifesto is also available in a variety of formats: www.greenparty.org.uk/we-stand-for/2015-manifesto.html
For more information please contact Brighton and Hove Green Party on 01273 766 670.