FROM THE STUMP: Young people need to be a priority in Wokingham

By Andrew Gray

Young people need to be a priority for local decision making in Wokingham.

Children are our future and we need to make sure Wokingham is an area where young people can thrive and have a bright future ahead of them.

As a teacher in a local secondary school, I am passionate about the importance of young voices being heard, whether it is at a school level, across the borough or in national politics.

The issues important to young people need to be taken seriously by councils and government to ensure the future is more prosperous for generations to come.

A recent youth politics event hosted by Wokingham Youth council members saw a range of issues highlighted including; the ongoing climate emergency, mental health, lowering the voting age and the cost of living crisis.

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The Conservatives have failed on all of these issues in government over the last 13 years and have neglected these areas locally in their time in control of the council.

The Labour party are the only party which can fix these issues in our society. Labour councillors have long campaigned for a Citizens’ assembly on the climate emergency. This would give residents from all walks of life the opportunity to make informed choices on climate emergency policy in the borough. Councillors in Wokingham are not representative enough of residents in the borough; a Citizens’ assembly would ensure voices from younger generations were fully heard.

We need to open the debate to more young people.

If we are to take engagement of the younger generation seriously, we need to put more trust in them. The Labour party has always believed that young people deserve a say; Labour members can vote for local candidates at 14 and take active roles in policy making in meetings.

I also support the party’s policy to lower the national voting age to 16, a move that will force politicians to take young people’s priorities seriously.

Young people know too well the mental health crisis affecting their generation which has been exacerbated by the rise in technologies and pressures of 21st century life that are alien to older generations. The Conservative government have been sleepwalking into this crisis and been totally ineffective at solving it. Waiting lists to see mental health specialists are growing and only the most severe cases get immediate action, leaving so many children left behind.

All of these problems have got worse under the Conservatives and will never be solved under more Conservative leadership.

To improve the generational representation in council, we not only need to listen to the young people through initiatives like local youth councils, but we need to encourage people of all ages to put themselves forward for local elections.

I am standing as a Labour candidate in Shinfield North this year because I want to make a real difference to my local area, but also because the borough deserves fresher voices on council who have a breadth of knowledge and experience, so we can represent the needs of absolutely everyone in the borough.

Andrew Gray is a member of Wokingham Labour