Because of the pandemic’s economic consequences, jobs are at threat all over the country. 

Many people face an uncertain future with their employers closed or struggling because of lockdown. Due largely to the pandemic, we face the biggest economic downturn in modern times.

Furlough payments and Government grants have helped, but these will not last forever. Some groups within the self-employed and small-business community do not qualify.

Greens don’t just believe in caring for the environment. We believe in looking after people too. 

No-one should be faced with deciding whether to feed their children or turn on the heating. And no-one should feel forced to go to work following a positive Covid-19 test, because they have no other source of income.

Greens have long argued for a Universal Basic Income (UBI), which would replace most existing benefits and which would be paid unconditionally, without means-testing, to every person in the country. 

The introduction of UBI could be the 21st century’s equivalent of the founding of the NHS in the 1940s.

It would stop people from worrying about paying for the basic necessities of life, it would remove the complexities and frequent unfairness of the benefits system and it would give people more flexibility in their lives.

UBI would be a huge benefit to the people of Essex.

That’s why I am calling on Essex County Council to adopt a position that supports UBI and to request the Government to fund a UBI trial for the county so that the people of Essex can experience first-hand its advantages.

Universal Basic Income is a system whose time has come. The question we should all be asking is not ‘why?’, but ‘why not?’.

Councillor Mark Posen
Green Party Candidate for Essex County Council, Hedingham Division