ONE of Europe’s major scout leaders is standing for the Green Party in York Central.

Lars Kramm is from Essen, Germany, and moved to York 11 years ago after meeting his Yorkshire-born wife on a scouting jamboree in Iceland.

The 42-year-old former Regional Chair of the European Regional Scout Committee of the World Organisation of the Scout Movement joined the Green Party in Germany.

He told the Press: “At my heart and core, I am an environmentalist. That drove me to the Green Party.”

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These days Lars works for a Leeds healthcare company as its lead for privacy, legal and governance.

He was previously a Green Party councillor in Micklegate during 2015-2019, until moving to Copmanthorpe, where he lives today.

He stood for the Greens in the 2019 European Union Elections, and in York Outer in 2019 until pulling out, to maximise the vote against Brexit supporting MPs, a seat retained by Conservative MP Julian Sturdy.

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Back on the campaign trail in Micklegate, Lars says people are ‘aligned’ to the Green Party literature.

People accept there will be a Labour government, he says, but how big the majority?

Lars said: “The disaffection that people have with the two main parties is evident. We need to have the Green voice in parliament. We need to have Green MPs to make Labour braver on housing, the climate and nature emergency.”

Net Zero is down on the agenda of other parties, he says and “there’s not much time left when we need to have bolder action.”

Immigration has cropped up on the doorstep and the Greens have a policy of ‘open borders.’

York Press: Lars Kramm in Ambrose Street

“Open borders does not mean unfettered,” he said, noting former EU migrants faced rules linked to their employment.

Lars says people support migration when you look at individuals such as nurses, doctors and students.

The country needs ‘legal routes’ to asylum seekers to gain entry without having to cross the Channel on boats. It also needs to look at sectors needing migrants, such as healthcare.

Lars said: “We need to have honest discussions about immigration and how dependent our economy is on immigration, the failure of the skills gap in our labour market and the failure to invest in education.”

Overall, the Green Party has five priorities. They are NHS, social care and health; Affordability and availability of housing; water quality, sewerage and rivers; and standard of living.

The Greens want to return water companies back to public ownership, saying as a monopoly, water is a failed privatisation. People should not need an app to warn of polluted seawater, something Lars experienced in Morecambe Bay.

The party also seeks ‘protection for renters’, rent controls, an end to no-fault evictions and the Green Belt must be protected.

The NHS should be ‘properly funded; to reduce waiting lists, including the time taken to see a GP.

York Press: Lrs Kramm enjoys the outdoors

The Greens support a wealth tax, starting at £5-£6million. Lars doubts it will cause rich people to flee, saying this did not happen in Norway.

‘Proper federalism’ for the various members of the United Kingdom is also Green Policy.

The party would also increase universal credit and have a minimum wage of £15 an hour for all over 16s, if it achieved power.

Lars added: “Voting Green means voting for real hope, real change and not just the least worst option.”

The other candidates are to date Richard Hudson (Conservative), John Lavender (Workers Party), Rachael Maskell (Labour) and Alan Page (Liberal Democrat).

Based on current polling Electoral Calculus has Rachael Maskell safely back with a huge majority, followed by the Conservatives, with Reform UK in third, should it find a candidate. The Greens are tipped to come fourth, with the Lib Dems fifth.