Statement of support to Young Greens

New Labour broke their pledges and introduced tuition fees. They even brought in the chief of British Petroleum to decide the future of education.

The Lib-Dems betrayed young people. I am not going to bother talking about Cameron.

Mainstream politics is stagnant.

The student movement has been a breath of fresh air.

I would like to thank the LSE Green Society and Young Greens in general for all the work in organising protests, producing placards and taking risks in the face of aggressive policing.

We need to recognise what you have done not just for students, nor just for London but also for the Green Party.

We must also pay tribute to our current assembly members for the important work they do.

But we cannot just pat ourselves on the back in London.

We are now members of what can only be described as a two-speed Green party.

In Brighton, they have been moving fast. They have been bold. They have set an agenda to successfully reach out to a wider group of the electorate.

In London, we are in danger of falling far behind. We lost most of our councillors last year, We failed to retake Ladywell. We fear we may not hold both our Assembly seats.

We cannot ride on the success of Brighton. We must achieve successes of our own in London.

So, instead of planning to stand still, we should plan to increase the number of Assembly Members.

We have to come out of our comfort zone.

Business-as-usual will no longer do.

That's why we have to choose a mayoral candidate that can appeal to new groups; to groups who think about voting Green but never do.

I am running because I believe I can do that.

There are three groups in particular who are sympathetic to our message:

To students: we should say that we will stand by you, fight the cuts agenda, create a decent future. That for our society & economy, education isn't a cost. It's an investment.

Because today's students become tomorrow's knowledge workers, keeping the capital afloat.

To the one in 3 Londoners of foreign origin: that we are a party that doesn't ignore you, but values you and will fight for your rights.

To 100,000 f small businesses, that we understand your concerns, that we demand the banks support you as they promised when they were bailed out and that we demand a level playing field with big business.

We must show London how our radical message is so different to that of 3 very similar parties.

That means talking up the Green Party, standing up for environmental and social justice, and showing the wider public what that means.

That's why I urge you to vote for me.