Caroline Lucas

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:00:15. > :00:25.I want to start off by saying how inspired I am to be here because

:00:26. > :00:30.this kind of space sums up to me what makes Brighton what it is.

:00:31. > :00:35.Pioneering spirits like yourselves and also people who recognise that

:00:36. > :00:43.cooperation and collaboration are on the other side of that pioneering

:00:44. > :00:48.spirit. It doesn't have to be an entirely individualistic pursuit.

:00:49. > :00:54.There can be a lot achieved by being together, and that collaboration is

:00:55. > :01:02.key to making ideas fit for the 21st-century. It is good to hear

:01:03. > :01:06.from you about questions you might have. The Green party is committed

:01:07. > :01:13.to doing all we can to support this kind of working which is something

:01:14. > :01:20.pretty different from what our parents and grandparents were doing.

:01:21. > :01:26.People have more approach to their work, it's much less 9-5 than it

:01:27. > :01:32.ever was. We want to make sure the legislative environment catches up

:01:33. > :01:37.to the reality of where work is now and I feel this is the case their

:01:38. > :01:41.rematch when it comes to the self-employed, the freelancers and

:01:42. > :01:46.those moving in and out of employment. It feels like our

:01:47. > :01:51.structures are based on a 20th-century model, when in fact,

:01:52. > :01:56.the way are working now is different so we need to get those structures

:01:57. > :02:01.to catch up with that reality. Let's talk about social enterprise, one of

:02:02. > :02:08.my passions. We are blessed with some amazing examples of this,

:02:09. > :02:18.putting social- capital back into the community. One of my favourites,

:02:19. > :02:25.back in 2010, is How It Should Be the supermarket on London Road. This

:02:26. > :02:40.isn't another health food store that's trendy. This is about making

:02:41. > :02:45.healthy food affordable, normal. Those kinds of trading relationships

:02:46. > :02:54.knowing that when you walk into that shop, everything in it is 100% not

:02:55. > :02:56.exploiting, and supporting local farmers and businesses. And the idea

:02:57. > :03:15.that becoming the norm rather than Nick sketch -- the exception. The

:03:16. > :03:22.big Lemon Bus, when they were using recycled cooking oil to power those

:03:23. > :03:25.buses. Tom drew it has taken that company from strength to strength

:03:26. > :03:32.and we are launching their first bus that is now running on solar power

:03:33. > :03:38.which is topped up overnight at the station. That pioneering spirit

:03:39. > :03:42.where you are combining the environmental way of doing things

:03:43. > :03:48.with the social capital side of things, in terms of it being a

:03:49. > :03:55.community interest company, and putting it back into the community,

:03:56. > :04:01.is really exciting. I've tried to see if this could be taken further,

:04:02. > :04:09.with a whole city approach, and I was struck by the success of the

:04:10. > :04:14.Bristol Pound. It's gone from a different layer to the Lewis Pound.

:04:15. > :04:20.That is a bit niche and isn't being used the day-to-day transactions.

:04:21. > :04:27.But the Bristol pound means you can use it on the railways, to pay

:04:28. > :04:33.council tax, business rates. You can use it on your mobile phone and it's

:04:34. > :04:39.an alternative, parallel currency which is focused on keeping capital

:04:40. > :04:52.in the city of Bristol and to that extent, it stops people from

:04:53. > :04:56.spending in the big chain stores. What this does is absolute the

:04:57. > :05:01.keeping that money flowing locally. We got together to explore whether a

:05:02. > :05:09.Brighton pound would be possible, in the Chamber of Commerce and we

:05:10. > :05:15.didn't get as far as that, but what did spring out of that is something

:05:16. > :05:21.called Good Money of which I am a board member. This is a step towards

:05:22. > :05:31.that, if you voucher system using independent shops in the city. So

:05:32. > :05:34.instead of buying a gift voucher from Amazon, you would have won

:05:35. > :05:38.which is exchangeable in 50-60 local, independent shops and that's

:05:39. > :05:42.to keep capital flowing locally. We are beginning to look at other ways

:05:43. > :05:48.of trying to address some of the problems of the city. Sometimes when

:05:49. > :05:52.you sit in a place like this, Brighton can seem wonderfully

:05:53. > :05:58.trendy, and it is that, but it is also a city of two halves. A city of

:05:59. > :06:04.enormous inequality and what we want to look at, and we haven't quite

:06:05. > :06:09.cracked it yet, is to ensure the people living on the outskirts of

:06:10. > :06:17.the city centre, how are they going to benefit from all of these

:06:18. > :06:22.resources present in the city? So on any given day, if you were looking

:06:23. > :06:27.at the cinema was in the city, there would be lots of empty seats. How

:06:28. > :06:34.could we connect those who are isolated, on the peripheral areas,

:06:35. > :06:38.connecting people on the outside to people on the insides, connecting

:06:39. > :06:45.them to those seats. The issue of inequality is one of the biggest

:06:46. > :06:53.that this city faces and business has eight big, broad role to try to

:06:54. > :06:58.bridge that gap. I want to say a few things about Green party policy on

:06:59. > :07:02.freelancers and independents and sold businesses, because we are

:07:03. > :07:07.passionate about small businesses, because we realise you are the

:07:08. > :07:18.backbone of this economy, in the city. The framework doesn't

:07:19. > :07:23.necessarily recognise that. I've had Rhyl answers coming to me saying why

:07:24. > :07:30.don't I get maternity pay, paternity pay? The benefits you would get if

:07:31. > :07:37.you were an employee. Given the number of self-employed people is

:07:38. > :07:46.skyrocketing, people who are choosing to do that, able to reap

:07:47. > :07:56.the benefits of that, but also those who are being exploited. We want to

:07:57. > :08:00.recognise the challenges the needs of the freelance self-employed

:08:01. > :08:05.market. It's absolute leaky. I'm looking at the Taylor Reports,

:08:06. > :08:15.looking at the future of work, and I note that the submission was made by

:08:16. > :08:20.IPSI who have made lots of sensible recommendations in there. Some of

:08:21. > :08:30.the things I've been doing is to fight for... Fights against the hike

:08:31. > :08:37.in business rates. Otherwise things will skyrocket here. Brighton Pier

:08:38. > :08:45.facing a 17% increase in business rates, one of the pubs I spoke to

:08:46. > :08:50.his facing a increase. Not sustainable for a city made up of

:08:51. > :08:55.small businesses. We've been fighting that. I'd like to see rent

:08:56. > :09:03.controls to stop landlords putting up rent. The percentage of retail

:09:04. > :09:10.floor space in all new developments to be affordable for small, local

:09:11. > :09:15.businesses. We need to get back the old business Link, that model where

:09:16. > :09:20.you can get face-to-face support, that seems to be crucial to me, not

:09:21. > :09:26.just having someone on the end of the phone. I'd love to see banks

:09:27. > :09:30.about after the financial crash, but about after the financial crash, but

:09:31. > :09:39.we are so far away from the banking model they had in the US and in

:09:40. > :09:54.If anyone remembers the TV programme The Bank Of Dave

:09:55. > :10:07.whereby he knew all those in his bank. . It we had genuine, local

:10:08. > :10:09.banks, if we had community mutuals, more credit unions. That financial

:10:10. > :10:22.ecology needs to be there to And finally, gosh, there's so much

:10:23. > :10:25.more to say... I'm proud of the fact that the Green Party is at least

:10:26. > :10:29.answering some of the questions that are relevant to the 21st-century, in

:10:30. > :10:35.other words, what is the model of work going to be like in ten, 15

:10:36. > :10:41.years' time? A recent report said that we could have lost 10 million

:10:42. > :10:46.jobs in 15 years' time because of automation. How do we make that

:10:47. > :10:51.positive rather than a massive threat? How do we perhaps shift to

:10:52. > :10:56.something like a four-day week. It's been promised for over 100 years,

:10:57. > :10:59.John Maynard Keynes was talking about it. How do we do that and

:11:00. > :11:06.still make sure people have enough to live on and thrive? Is there a

:11:07. > :11:09.role for a universal Basic income, a guaranteed, non-means tested amount

:11:10. > :11:13.of money you get every week which would be a basic security? Obviously

:11:14. > :11:17.if you are earning a lot you get taxed more, but otherwise it could

:11:18. > :11:21.be giving you that basic security. Those are some of the questions the

:11:22. > :11:25.Green Party is asking. There has been lots to say as well about

:11:26. > :11:29.things like the housing crisis in the city, the fact that our schools

:11:30. > :11:33.are being starved of funds by the Government, by the fact that the NHS

:11:34. > :11:39.is also in crisis and the Green Party would like to see the private

:11:40. > :11:44.sector taken out of the NHS. And finally of course the elephant in

:11:45. > :11:46.the room, Brexit. I'm -- and hope somebody would ask me a question

:11:47. > :11:52.about Brexit, because then I could wax lyrical about the fact that I

:11:53. > :11:57.don't think Theresa May has a mandate for the extreme Brexit, that

:11:58. > :12:00.was not in the ballot paper, this extreme Brexit where we are out of

:12:01. > :12:07.the single market and the customs union. I think that spells bad news

:12:08. > :12:10.for Brighton. And I wish, I do wish that the Labour Party had been a bit

:12:11. > :12:16.stronger on that because I do think we could have had an alliance

:12:17. > :12:20.between Labour, the Lib Dems, Green Party, nationalists, and maybe some

:12:21. > :12:26.of the Tories as well, to have a version of Brexit that allowed us to

:12:27. > :12:30.stay in the single market, keep freedom of movement, I think it is

:12:31. > :12:34.an extraordinary gift, a precious gift that we are now just throwing

:12:35. > :12:40.away carelessly. But that ability to study, travel, in other member

:12:41. > :12:47.States, why would we want to deny ourselves or our kids about? So I

:12:48. > :12:52.think there is all still to fight, and our policy would be a second

:12:53. > :12:57.referendum on the terms of the deal. If people like it, then that's fine.

:12:58. > :12:59.But people don't like it, there should be the option to stay inside

:13:00. > :13:34.the European union. What's the first thing every MP has

:13:35. > :13:40.oath of allegiance to the crown. oath of allegiance to the crown.

:13:41. > :13:45.Until the oath is taken, you cannot take your seat, draw a salary or

:13:46. > :13:50.make a speech or vote. And you could have your seats declared vacant or

:13:51. > :13:53.even be fined if you try. An MP holds a sacred text in their

:13:54. > :13:59.uplifted hand, and says the words of the vote -- the oath. I well by

:14:00. > :14:05.Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her

:14:06. > :14:06.Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, her heirs and successors, according