Meet the Candidate: Rebecca Drake Hopkins for The Green Party
Rebecca Drake Hopkins, Green Party candidate for Gravesham. 2 June 2024.
In the run-up to the general election, I aim to talk to each candidate.
Rebecca Drake Hopkins, a freelance science writer, is the Green Party candidate for Gravesham; she lives in Gravesend with her family.
I talked to Rebecca during a Green Party event in Dartford on June 2nd, before the publication of the Green Party manifesto.
Q1: Most of us agree public services need improvement. How would you do that without raising taxes on the individual?
Rebecca said taxes would need to be raised in some form to pay for the level of investment the Green Party had committed to. However, that should be part of a fairer and more equitable taxation system. She said, "... we don't believe in raising taxes for the ordinary hardworking person." The Green Party would propose a system where taxes are raised for the ultra-wealthy—"multimillionaires and billionaires". She said, "I don't think it's an unreasonable thing to ask of people who have that much money that they put they put more into making a fairer and more equitable society, which then benefits everyone."
Q2: What are the three most important issues facing the country following the election?
Health: Rebecca said that the NHS had been impacted by a lack of funding and the result of Brexit on staff recruitment. She also thought that the cost of living had made it more difficult for many people to eat healthily, which affected their overall well-being, in turn impacting the NHS.
Housing: The Green Party believes we need more affordable homes and council housing. It is against no-fault evictions. She said, "... everybody should have the right to a home and a secure one."
The Environment: It was interesting to hear a Green Party candidate start talking about the environment by conceding that when people struggle to pay their bills, they're less likely to be concerned about the environment.
Rebecca went on to talk about climate change and its impacts, which we've seen in Kent, including pollution in rivers and seas—the Green Party advocates for the renationalisation of the water industry.
She believes that we need alternatives to increased car use. Comparing public transport in the UK with that on the continent, she said, "We need to invest in a transport system that is affordable and flexible."
Q3: Is net migration at the right level?
Rebecca said the level of migration should depend on what's right for the country and the needs of the economy. She advocated for a structured immigration system that allows people who come to the UK to work and contribute to the country. However, she accepted that the necessary infrastructure needs to be in place for them to do that.
She said she didn't think that the number of immigrants is the problem. The problem is the way we're managing the routes that migrants use to come into the country and the opportunities they're given when they get here.
Q4: How do we maintain energy security while moving to greener sources of energy?
Rebecca said there needs to be a transition and that you can only cut off fossil fuels once alternatives are in place. She believes there should be public education about the impacts of the proposed changes and that many people hear net zero and understand that to mean they need to cut their individual energy use, which she believes isn't necessarily the case.
She is not in favour of building more nuclear power stations, citing concerns about long-term waste management. However, she accepts it is a cleaner form of energy than fossil fuel alternatives. Rebecca went on to say we need greater investment in sustainable energy sources. She believes that a big incentive to invest in green energy infrastructure and a formalised transition plan would produce faster results than we've seen under the Conservative government.
I asked if it was fair to summarise her position as one where we would maintain existing gas and nuclear power stations but not invest further. She said yes but wanted to make clear that she sees both nuclear power and fossil fuels as "necessary evils" for the short term because of a historic lack of investment in sustainable alternatives.
I want to thank Rebecca for her time. I plan to interview the other candidates over the remaining three weeks of the campaign.
The candidates standing in Gravesham are:
Rebecca Drake Hopkins - The Green Party
Matthew Fraser Moat - Reform UK
Adam Holloway - The Conservative Party
Ukonu Obasi - Liberal Democrats
Lauren Sullivan - Labour Party
