As I was named and apparently criticised by Prof. Christine Wheeler McNulty in your letters page (People before planet, Letters, May 31) for being both “young” and a Green Party member, I thought I would take the opportunity to address some of the points raised.

READ MORE: Letter: Stop putting the planet before the people

Young people are raising their voices by going on strike and voting for parties they actually believe in. We have been left to inherit a burning planet and a society in which the gap between rich and poor has expanded dramatically, leaving us with insecure work and completely unaffordable housing.

It’s incredibly unfortunate that Christine chose to focus entirely on the climate activist Greta Thunberg’s autism and mental health rather than the inspirational and effective campaigning she has been engaging the world in, to save us from disaster.

Christine conflates Thunberg’s autism with eco-anxiety. That doesn’t make either experience less valid. Everyone would do well to listen to Greta carefully and consider that we require radical system overhaul in order to prevent the elimination of our current way of life by climate breakdown.

The author also implies that I’m a “[watermelon]: green on the outside, red on the inside”. This is an accurate observation and I’m pleased to see people recognise that the Green Party is not a single issue party - we know that you can’t have social justice without environmental justice, and vice versa.

I hope that all people in South West Hertfordshire will take the time to judge the political parties who are fielding candidates in the constituency, based on their manifestos and their candidates.

I’m proud to be standing in the constituency I grew up in with the Green Party - the only party which recognised the incompatibility of our current economic system and avoiding climate breakdown, and is committed to stopping Brexit.

Tom Pashby

Green Party prospective parliamentary candidate for South West Hertfordshire