Green Party leader Zack Polanski calls in Sheffield for free bus fares for young people
Green Party national leader Zack Polanski visited Sheffield on Saturday, announcing a new national policy of free bus fares for young people and speaking to party activists.
The newly-elected leader announced his party’s policy at Sheffield bus interchange on Pond Street, watched on Saturday (January 17) by young Green supporters with placards and many of the party’s 14 city councillors.
He told the Local Democracy Reporter Service: “I’m here in Sheffield today because we’re announcing the Green Party policy of making sure that all under-22s have a universal free bus pass across the country.”
He added: “The reason why this is important is because we have a choice to make here. We can have tax breaks for multi-millionaires and billionaires and wealth that’s not redistributed.
“And we can recognise that bus routes are a lifeline for people. Whether this is about getting training, whether it’s going for a job interview or for education or frankly just to see their mates.
“We know that bus travel is really important for connecting communities, also for tackling the climate emergency and a really good way of making sure communities are connected and that’s why we’re announcing this today.”
Multiplier
Asked how the party would finance this policy if in power, Mr Polanski said: “I listened to an accountant. So, the accountancy firm KPMG say that for every pound that you spend on bus travel, you get between £4.55 and £5 back.
“And the reason for that is because £35 billion is spent every single year by bus commuters on the local economy. That money isn’t going into the local high street if people can’t afford the bus to get there.”
Mr Polanski said that investing in bus services is called a spending multiplier, making sure that money is going back into local communities.
Asked how he thought the Greens are goingto do in the May Sheffield City Council elections against the background of political party changes, Mr Polanski replied: “Well, I’m really excited for Sheffield in 110 days. Not that I’m counting every single day to May 7! and we’re not complacent at all.
“We’re going to be out there door-knocking and campaigning for every single vote and making sure that we listen to residents. But I’m really proud of the record that the Sheffield councillors are standing on.
Hungry
“I also know that people are hungry for change. They are rejecting the old party politics of the Labour Party and the Conservative Party.
“And we know that it’s not just the Green Party are offering new politics. Reform are claiming to offer new politics.
“But Nigel Farage is a man who claims to be a man of the people, but he’s a man of the wealthy people. And the Green Party in Sheffield are offering a politics of the 99%.
“Whether that’s our working-class communities, our students, whether it’s people running local businesses or medium-sized businesses, or people who are unemployed, we all have so much more in common, particularly on the local level, when we come together to recognise politics can be different than the multi-millionaires and billionaires or corporations who have no interest in actually investing in the local economy.”
Donations
When asked why people in Sheffield should vote Green in the council elections, Mr Polanski replied: “People should vote Green on May 7 because we don’t have vested interests.
“I’m speaking to you now. I’ve never taken a penny from oil and gas, from private healthcare, from arms trade companies or gambling companies.
“And we make sure that our councillors also aren’t in hock to vested interests. We’re funded by regular donations from regular members.
“So when you vote Green at the local level, what you’re voting for is a local representative who will be there on the council who can speak up for the community with no vested interest and that’s as powerful as it can get.”
Mr Polanski said that nationally the the biggest key issue for people is the cost-of-living crisis.
“We know that rents are up, people dread opening the next water and energy bill, and people are just struggling to get by. Sometimes it just feels like we’re running just to stand still.
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“So, tackling the cost-of-living crisis both by lowering people’s bills, by taking money off energy bills, for instance, nationalising our water companies, but also genuine investment in local communities.
“And the reason why we differ from other parties is we want to do this all at the same time while protecting our planet and our environment and making sure we’re putting people over profit.”
Mr Polanski also spoke to a packed meeting of party activists and election candidates at Victoria Hall in Sheffield city centre. He visited Barnsley earlier in the day.
People attending the Victora Hall event were greeted outside by a small protest organised by supporters of the trade union Unite. Supporters gave out leaflets and held up a banner that said “SOS Shame of Sheffield!” and “Sheffield Council, clean up Veolia’s mess”.
The banner referred to the long-running Sheffield Veolia bin workers’ strike for union recognition. It showed pictures of the council’s eight environmental services and regulation policy committee members, including Greens Coun Peter Gilbert and Christine Gilligan Kubo.
The banner said at the top: “Refuse workers who worked through the pandemic are fighting for basic union rights. They have been left to rot on a picket line for over a year by ALL councillors, while Veolia raked in nearly £12m profit in 2023 for Sheffield taxpayers.”
The leaflet called for Green councillors to intervene to help settle the dispute, which it said was in deadlock.
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