Politics can be difficult to understand, that's why we have asked some important questions to help break it down.
Cara Hunter – SDLP
Mental Health
We are incredibly concerned about the mental health and wellbeing of young people. NUS UK’s Manifesto for our Future found that 46% of students’ mental health has worsened since September 2023. What will you do if elected to tackle the mental health crisis, and safeguard the wellbeing of students and apprentices in Northern Ireland?
This is an area very close to my heart. As some of you may be aware, it was after the passing of very close friend from suicide that I decided to get into politics. For far too long mental health resources in the north have been underfunded and we must see the Executive put their money where their mouth is if we are to ensure best mental health outcomes. The executive scrapped the Happy Healthy Minds scheme from our primary schools, a scheme that allowed thousands of young people help with mental health; I have been a vocal opponent of the decision to scrap it and am actively campaigning to have it reinstated.
Moreover, in the wake of the pandemic we are seeing that mental health and behaviours associated with poor mental health are on the increase. If elected to Westminster, I would be a vociferous advocate of increased spending on mental health services throughout our society, targeting specifically the availability of counselling services for school age students, as research has shown that the best safeguard for life long mental wellbeing is to develop healthy, resilient, and balanced young people.
With regards to young people in university and higher education, I would use my platform at Westminster to ensure that all young people are able to avail of free counselling sessions in a timely manner. We must stop the sharp distinction between physical and mental health, and push to ensure that adults are able to get the help they need before they find themselves in crisis situations where all too often they fail to receive the care and support they need when picked up in ambulances only to be bounced back into the streets soon thereafter.
Sexual Health and Education
Our Sexual Health And Guidance campaign has had the most engagement of any of our campaigns in the last two years. Home students from Northern Ireland come to university with very little understanding of safe sex and healthy relationships, which is a huge problem. Whether they are having sex or not, young people must be armed with the tools to make informed decisions about their bodies and their relationships with others. What will you do if elected to ensure that our young people have access to the education and resources they need to make these decisions?
I wholeheartedly agree with the premise of this question that all students should leave school, fully knowledgeable regarding the ins and outs of sexual and reproductive health. I led a campaign on the dire need for appropriate RSE in our schools and pushed for the link of consent education and the of prevention of violence against women and girls in our society here.
Education around health, consent, respecting boundaries and healthy relationships is key. They are a part of adult life. Moreover, as we become more cognisant of the shifting thinking on ideas of gender, sexuality and relationships, it is hugely important that no one leaves school having been deprived of an education in this domain. As an MP, I would continue to apply pressure to ensure that all young people are given the necessary facts around sexual consent, respect, reproduction and sexuality in inclusive RSE.
The Climate Crisis
Time and time again, students have told us how concerned they are about the climate crisis. Many are worried about their future, and the quality of life they can expect to have if this disaster is not averted now. What would you and your party do to tackle the climate crisis?
The climate and biodiversity crisis that we are facing is something that is also very concerning to me, one that it not just a crisis for us in Northern Ireland, but an existential crisis for humanity. In the last 20 years we have seen a catastrophic drop in our wildlife, including birds, mammals and insects. There are serious concerns about the impact of the agricultural industry to sustaining even current dwindling levels of biodiversity, and the pollution from this sector is wreaking havoc on our rivers, lakes, shores and drinking water. Northern Ireland occupies 12th spot as the least biodiverse rich region in the world and this is an indictment on our governance in this area.
There can be no discussion of a healthy, prosperous Northern Ireland that does not factor in the urgent need to address the climate and biodiversity crisis. As a prospective MP, I will do everything I can to encourage a just transition to a green economy. This means asking the hard questions of the agricultural industry that is often so reticent to engage with the discussion. It also means ensuring that the costs are borne first and foremost by those who can afford to pay, namely, taxing the fossil fuel industries that continue to profit from harmful business models. Additionally, it means promoting renewable energy, investing in our public transport, encouraging rewilding and enabling our farmers to thrive as custodians of our land. And at the same time, ensuring that costs incurred in such a transition are not heaped on middle and low income earners already struggling with the cost of living crisis.
Housing and the Cost of Survival
One of the biggest, reoccurring problems we hear about through our UUSU Advice Bureau is housing. From sky-high rents to abysmal quality, the student housing market is a shame to us all. It’s seen as a cliché or some sort of rite-of-passage, but when students are living in mouldy, insect-infested houses and living on tins of beans we need to call it what it is; poverty. What will you do if elected to improve the quality of life for students?
I wholeheartedly condemn the shameful state of so much of the housing stock available to students and the extortionate prices that students are increasingly being asked to pay. The characterisation of poverty you present in the question certainly is not conducive to good mental health or academic success. As an elected representative, we must ensure that students who further themselves and acquire the skills needed by society, are able to live affordably and with dignity.
Housing is of course a broader problem, and in here on the north coast we have an acute problem with second home ownership and air bnb lets diverting accommodation from those in need of homes. If elected MP, I will continue to push for solutions to housing, be it increasing taxes on those who let second homes out on air bnb, or by taxing those who keep properties unoccupied. If elected MP, I will push for the government to create a student housing regulatory agency to ensure properties are maintained to good standards and will advocate for rent controls as are the norm in other European cities.
Israel/Palestine
Students have been paying attention to international policy and conflicts across the globe in recent years, but particularly to what is happening in Israel/Palestine. Please outline your party’s position on the conflict in Gaza.
The SDLP has led the campaign for a full and immediate ceasefire in Gaza. I put forward a motion demanding a ceasefire which was successful and will continue to advocate in every capacity for the end of violence against the Palestinian people.
Unlike other parties, we did not attend the St Patrick’s day gathering at the White House this year in order to express our opposition to the United States role in financing and supporting what appears to be a genocide in Gaza. I have spoken in fierce of opposition to the ongoing slaughter that we are witnessing in Gaza and if elected MP, I will put significant pressure on an incoming Labour government to take immediate action and end military and financial support of the Israeli state whilst they are engaged in blatant and relentless war crimes. I will also continue to urge the Irish government to join with South Africa’s case against the genocide. It is the responsibility of all those with a platform to advocate for the voiceless and uphold human rights.