I was the Green Party General Election candidate for Finchley and Golders Green in 2010. At this election I am supporting Labour’s candidate Sarah Sackman to be our next MP and I would like to explain why.

Sarah has already been getting things done for residents in a way that Conservative MP Mike Freer has conspicuously failed to. Sarah successfully campaigned with the Granville Road Residents’ Association against over-development that was going to destroy green spaces and reduce the amount of affordable housing in Childs Hill.

I have never heard Mr Freer speak out against property developers who put profit before people and the environment. Parents at Moss Hall Nursery in West Finchley and at Mapledown School for disabled children have publicly thanked Sarah for her support and advice, which helped them overturn cuts planned by Conservative councillors. Having met Sarah, I believe she will be a fantastic MP for our area.

She has spent her whole career as a lawyer fighting to protect human rights and the environment.

Sarah has also spoken out against the proposed cuts to Barnet’s excellent library service, and was instrumental in saving Friern Barnet Library from closure. Mr Freer gave a half-hearted comment about libraries only after the recent consultation process ended.

Either Labour or the Conservatives will form the next Government and as an environmentalist and a member of Friends of the Earth, it is clear to me that Labour’s policies for our planet are far preferable to David Cameron’s, who promised his Government would be “the greenest ever”. Where is the evidence?

If the Conservatives get back in, we will see uncontrolled fracking, lower investment in renewable energy, and constant threats to pull us out of Europe, where we should be working for environmental protection that no one country can provide on its own. The Conservatives want to abolish the Human Rights Act, which protects our right to life, expression and privacy.

Five years ago, like a lot of people, I was angry with the legacy of the Blair/Brown government. Many of us voted Green or Lib Dem to send them a message. But the result locally was a Tory MP, who beat Labour by a small number of votes, and a Conservative Government whose polices have been disastrous for the majority of Finchley & Golders Green residents.

Most people here don’t want a Conservative MP; the late Rudi Vis served our constituency well for 13 years. Let’s unite and stop Finchley & Golders Green having a Conservative MP for another five years. Voting for Sarah Sackman is the best way of doing that.

Donald Lyven

Glenhill Close, Finchley