Greens respond to Frank Hester’s remarks on Diane Abbott

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The Green Party has accused the Conservative Party of being funded by racists and have challenged them to donate the £10m received from Frank Hester to anti-racism and domestic violence charities. 

Green Party spokesperson for Policing and Domestic Safety, Amanda Onwuemene
Green Party spokesperson for Policing and Domestic Safety, Amanda Onwuemene

Green Party spokesperson for Policing and Domestic Safety, Amanda Onwuemene, said: 

“It’s clear that racists are funding the Tory Party to the tune of millions of pounds. No wonder they fail to call this out for what it is – a vile racist and misogynist attack on a woman who made history by becoming Britain’s first Black woman MP and who has had a remarkable political career.  

“The Green Party stands in solidarity with Diane Abbott and all Black women. Nobody should have to face the abuse and threats she is subject to.  

“Labour wants the Conservative Party to return the £10m donation – to a man guilty of racism and misogyny. As Greens we challenge the Conservative Party to donate the sum it has received from Hester to some of the many anti-racism and domestic violence campaigns around the country that are doing such valuable work. That would demonstrate the Tories are genuinely concerned about fighting racism and misogyny.” 

Continue ReadingGreens respond to Frank Hester’s remarks on Diane Abbott

Greens say that people can see through pre-election Budget tax bribes

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Image of the Green Party's Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.
Image of the Green Party’s Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.

“People can see through these pre-election tax bribes that will have to be paid for by cuts to our NHS and other vital public services,” says Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer. 

Denyer said: 

“People are crying out for investment in social care, in our NHS and in dentistry. We needed a ‘care full’ Budget but have ended up with a careless, reckless Budget. 

“Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is attempting to bribe the electorate through tax cuts, which can only mean more pain for public services that are already on their knees.   

“People won’t be richer, healthier or happier because of this Budget. People know a con when they see one.  

“The Fairness Foundation found only 16 per cent of the British public and 17 per cent of Conservative voters would support tax cuts if it meant public service cuts.

“Councils are going bust up and down the country, NHS waits are getting longer, dentists can’t be found, while anyone travelling by train or bus, or visiting our town centres feels the lack of investment all around them. 

“These headline tax cuts will do nothing to reverse the decade-long, real-terms wage freeze most workers have faced under successive Conservative governments. 

“The Resolution Foundation says those earning up to £19k pa will be losers because of freezing of tax thresholds, while pensioners and those on benefits gain nothing at all.

“There is wealth in the UK, but it is distributed unfairly. Our economy is failing because our wealth, rather than circulating and benefiting everybody, is held in the stagnant assets of the super-rich.  

“So, we needed a Budget that released the money available from a wealth tax to invest in the green jobs of the future, to cut NHS queues and restore nature and the places we live and work. 

“We needed a Budget that introduced a Wealth Tax, and reformed Capital Gains Tax and National Insurance to raise over £50bn per year.

“That would have provided the vital public investment our country is crying out for. 

“Now we have Labour huffing and puffing but offering no real alternative to being locked into a Conservative-forged cuts straitjacket. 

“Thankfully, a General Election is coming where people can vote Green for the real change that will lead to a fairer, healthier and more caring country.” 

Continue ReadingGreens say that people can see through pre-election Budget tax bribes

Cross party group of MPs call for green Spring Budget to tackle ‘underinvestment crisis’

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https://www.businessgreen.com/news/4180633/cross-party-group-mps-green-spring-budget-tackle-underinvestment-crisis

Image: The Spring Budget is due to be delivered on 6 March 2024 | Credit: iStock

MPs from Labour, Lib Dems, Green Party, SNP, Plaid Cymru, and Alliance have jointly called for a green investment-friendly Spring Budget on Wednesday

A group of cross-party MPs and peers have called on the Chancellor to prioritise new public investment in net zero infrastructure and skills in this week’s Spring Budget, in a move they argue would help to “futureproof our economy and our energy system”.

In a letter addressed to Jeremy Hunt on Friday, Parliamentarians from across political divides urged the Chancellor to “use the forthcoming Spring Budget to address the ongoing underinvestment crisis the UK is facing” by funnelling more public spending to help deliver on net zero goals.

It also calls on the government to publish a Net Zero Investment Plan in order to “identify and close the gap between actual and required financial flows” and help catalyse increased investment from the private sector.

And the letter calls on the Treasury to work with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) to set out a plan to ensure “every household has access to energy efficiency measures and fossil-free heat via a combination of grants and low-cost loans”.

https://www.businessgreen.com/news/4180633/cross-party-group-mps-green-spring-budget-tackle-underinvestment-crisis

Continue ReadingCross party group of MPs call for green Spring Budget to tackle ‘underinvestment crisis’

I’m still reeling from Rishi Sunak’s shameless, dangerous speech

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Caroline Lucas

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/03/sunak-speech-protest-tories-friday-no-10-caroline-lucas

Rishi Sunak giving a press conference outside No 10 on 1 March 2024. Photograph: Aaron Chown/PA

The prime minister’s address on Friday was a masterclass in gaslighting and made a new art form of rank hypocrisy

“We must face down the extremists who would tear us apart,” Sunak declared to the country on Friday evening. And perhaps never were truer words spoken – at least not by this morally bankrupt prime minister, who is rapidly proving to be one of the most dangerously irresponsible leaders this country has ever faced.

I am still in disbelief at the sheer chutzpah of Sunak wheeling out the No 10 lectern and calling on the whole nation to tune in to an emergency address. Because what came next was not the announcement of a major natural disaster or attack. It wasn’t, as we saw from other world leaders that day, a condemnation of open gunfire against starving people trying to reach aid trucks in Gaza, or a statement of solidarity with Russian protesters against Putin. It wasn’t even the calling of an election.

Instead, what Britain got was a masterclass in gaslighting. Sunak’s performance made a new art form of rank hypocrisy, as he pretended not to know that the very extremism he criticised was being actively driven by his party and peddled in his speech.

Caroline Lucas Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion. Official image by David Woolfall Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
Caroline Lucas Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion. Official image by David Woolfall Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.

By choosing to give that inflammatory speech, Sunak has shown that he is prepared to lurch even further to the right in a bid to stop defections to the Reform UK party. The mask has well and truly slipped: this was yet another step in the culture war right from the very top. The hard right of his party will have been overjoyed to see Sunak the strongman, cracking down on dissent, stifling protest and taking aim at immigrants and Muslims.

Ultimately, that speech was a dark moment in British politics. Democracy is indeed under threat from extremists. The problem is, they’re running the government itself – and we need to wake up and stand up to the seriousness of the threat that they pose.

  • Caroline Lucas is the Green MP for Brighton Pavilion

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/03/sunak-speech-protest-tories-friday-no-10-caroline-lucas

Response to Rishi Sunak's extremism speech at Downing Street 1 March 2024. Second version of this image with text slightly altered.
Response to Rishi Sunak’s extremism speech at Downing Street 1 March 2024. Second version of this image with text slightly altered.

Sunak’s extremism speech 1 to 5

Continue ReadingI’m still reeling from Rishi Sunak’s shameless, dangerous speech

The Green Party proposes five steps to a fairer, greener country  

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The Green Party is proposing to raise over £50bn annually by the end of the next parliament through taxing wealth fairly. 

The proposal is part of the Green Party’s five-point plan to counter the cost-of-living crisis and deliver a fairer and more caring country in next week’s Budget.

Image of the Green Party's Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.
Image of the Green Party’s Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.

* Raise over £50 billion through taxing wealth fairly 

* A large-scale green investment programme to transform our economy 

* Billions more for health and social care;  

* Funds for local authorities to invest in warm, affordable to heat homes 

* VAT exemption for hospitality and cultural businesses 

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said:  

“There is wealth in the UK. It is distributed unfairly. Our economy is failing because our wealth, rather than circulating and benefiting everybody, is held in the stagnant assets of the super-rich.  

“The Budget this year should focus on recirculating that wealth and making it work for everybody. 

“Our wealth tax and wider tax proposals would also begin to tackle the desperate inequality that is a source of so many of our problems as a country. 

“Taken together, we estimate that changes to Capital Gains Tax and National Insurance, alongside a new wealth tax, would raise over £50bn per year that would be available for the vital public investment our country is crying out for. 

“We need to face up to the long-term threats to our economy, and the immediate costs which are currently being carried by those who can least bear them. 

“We need a large-scale green investment programme to transform our economy from one reliant on cheap labour and fossil fuels to one that puts people and planet first.  

“We need to deliver a housing programme that offers people warm, affordable- to-heat homes and helps councils cut people’s energy bills by upgrading home insulation. 

“We need to invest in a health and social care system that guarantees dignity for all and to end the blight of long-term sickness. The rising cost of social care is hitting councils hard. Our reforms could help them too. 

“We need to give a hand to hard-pressed small businesses in the hospitality sector which have been hit by Covid and the cost-of-living crisis. The temporary 5% VAT rate should continue and extend to all activities in the cultural and sports sectors, and leisure activities. Indeed, we would be more ambitious, zero-rating all these activities for the life of the next Parliament. 

“The Conservatives have broken Britain and Labour seems to be shredding any policy that might fix it. Our five-point Green Budget alternative would create a fairer and more caring country. 

“Of course, this ambitious programme of rebalancing our economy toward planet and people and away from profiteers and speculators must be paid for. That’s why we are proposing an immediate wealth tax and other tax reforms, while recognising that much of the investment would generate revenue in the medium- and long-term.    

“Our wealth tax on the super-rich and wider tax reforms would be the fair way to fund the things we need to create a healthier society – high quality housing, social care and good jobs in a green economy.   

“The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has warned the Chancellor: “the economic case for tax cuts before the next Spending Review is completed is weak” and reliant on severe cuts to local government, disability benefits and other key public services. The IFS is also correct to note that “the UK’s tax system is in dire need of reform.”

“Our approach offers a fairer, greener alternative – it doesn’t pay for election tax bribes by slashing spending on public services.  

“Instead, it argues the case for real reforms and investment that put people and planet first. 

“That is why we are proposing a wealth tax that will begin to shift the cost of dealing with the long-term crises we face away from those who can least afford to pay it to the super-rich.” 

Continue ReadingThe Green Party proposes five steps to a fairer, greener country  

‘Utterly shameful’: Suspended Labour politician slams Starmer’s Gaza stance

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Original article by Ruby Lott-Lavigna republished from OpenDemocracy published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence.

Four London councillors have been disciplined by their local party after calling for a ceasefire

A Labour politician suspended for backing a ceasefire in Gaza has labelled the party leadership’s stance on the conflict as “utterly shameful”.

Martin Abrams was one of four councillors in Lambeth, south London, suspended by the local Labour group on Monday night after voting for a motion put forward by the local Green Party.

It called for “an immediate ceasefire and the end to human rights atrocities in the Israel/Palestine conflict”.

Speaking to openDemocracy, Abrams hit out at Keir Starmer and the Labour leadership for its position on the conflict, which has seen over 50 Labour councillors resign since 7 October.

“It is truly a moment of great shame for the Labour Party for us to be in this place,” Abrams said. “I will continue speaking out for what I believe is right because there is a complete absence of that happening from Keir Starmer and the Labour Party leadership.”

Abrams said Starmer’s leadership on Gaza has been “utterly shameful”, adding: “It has been from the very beginning.”

He referenced an interview on LBC radio in which Starmer, the UK’s former top prosecutor, appeared to sanction collective punishment of the Palestinian people by Israel – which is illegal under international law. Starmer has since denied this is what he meant.

Last week, chaos ensued in Parliament as Labour refused to back an SNP-tabled motion on a ceasefire. Although Labour has now supported a ceasefire, the party has been criticised for doing so through its own parliamentary motion, which was less critical of Israel than the SNP’s original text.

Abrams, who is Jewish, said Lambeth Labour’s decision to suspend him had been “disproportionate” considering it was a vote on “calling an end to the slaughter of children”. But he said he would not resign from his position as a councillor and would continue “standing up for the oppressed people”.

End the bloodshed

Abrams told openDemocracy that the crisis had taken a toll on councillors hoping to represent their ward.

“Many of us are very emotionally impacted by this because we’re solid members of our local communities. Some of us are Jewish, some of us are Muslim,” he said. “The vast majority of us are humanitarians and want to see an end to the bloodshed and the fighting.”

Lambeth Labour, which decided to suspend the four members following a disciplinary hearing on Monday, had said the motion risked “exacerbating the impacts of the deeply worrying rise in antisemitic and Islamophobic hate crime across London witnessed in recent weeks.”

Sonia Winifred, another Labour councillor who voted for the motion, resigned as a councillor after being suspended. Winifred is a veteran Windrush campaigner, and said on Twitter the decision had left her with “no choice” but to resign.

Grassroots group Momentum said: ​​“This is an outrageous attack on a Jewish Labour councillor for having the temerity to stand up for the people of Gaza. Martin is a principled socialist and internationalist – and it is shocking that he has been forced out for standing up for a position endorsed by the majority of voters. This anti-democratic decision should be immediately reversed.”

Lambeth Labour has been contacted for comment.

Original article by Ruby Lott-Lavigna republished from OpenDemocracy published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence.

Zionist Keir Starmer supports Israel's Gaza genocide.
Zionist Keir Starmer supports Israel’s Gaza genocide.

Continue Reading‘Utterly shameful’: Suspended Labour politician slams Starmer’s Gaza stance

Natalie Bennett: The state of our NHS is down to long-term political failure

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https://leftfootforward.org/2024/02/natalie-bennett-the-state-of-our-nhs-is-down-to-long-term-political-failure/

The Green Party holds that the profit motive should have no place in our health care – in any form of care

Natalie Bennett is a Green Party member of the House of Lords. She was leader of the Green Party of England and Wales from 2012-16.

Perhaps because it is a continuing story of disaster, there’s few stories now also about the impact of privatisation, despite the level continuing to rise. In 2022 nearly 10 per cent of treatments for NHS patients, more than 2 million people, were provided by private companies, up from 3 per cent in 2011. Yet there’s evidence that in areas where privatisation is at the highest levels the outcomes are dire – in the form of more people dying from treatable causes.

In mental health care – in the face of terribly tragedies, and much higher levels of privatisation, with public provision gutted – there’s been more attention. Now 55 per cent of under-18 inpatient mental health care is delivered by for-profit providers.

Meanwhile, we are all continuing to pay for the disaster of Labour Party-promoted Private Finance Initiative (PFI) schemes. That sees some hospitals paying a sixth of their total budget on payments, frequently to offshore hedge funds, and from a £13 billion original investment a final bill that will reach £80 billion, the equivalent of £1,200 for each person in the UK.

The Green Party holds that the profit motive should have no place in our health care – in any form of care – but the current largest opposition party, Labour, appears to be a fan of even further steps of privatisation.

There’s also long term underfunding, with austerity in the face of a growing and ageing population having disastrous impacts. Provision for investment on infrastructure and technology collapsed; the RAAC crisis was just one visible tip of a very large iceberg of decline.

And that austerity saw a collapse in real terms of the pay of nurses and doctors, which has seen a huge exodus overseas and to other jobs, meaning huge understaffing, which puts massive pressure on remaining staff.

Make no mistake. The state of the system is not the fault of medical staff. It is not the fault of managers. It is a long-term political failure, the application of ideology over evidence, the interests of private companies over public good.

https://leftfootforward.org/2024/02/natalie-bennett-the-state-of-our-nhs-is-down-to-long-term-political-failure/

Continue ReadingNatalie Bennett: The state of our NHS is down to long-term political failure

State of Our Rivers Report: Green Party repeats call to take water companies into public ownership

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Green Party Co-leader Adrian Ramsay. Wikipedia CC.
Green Party Co-leader Adrian Ramsay. Wikipedia CC.

The Green Party has repeated calls for water companies to be brought into public ownership in response to the latest State of Our Rivers report. This has found not a single waterway in England is in good overall health. The Rivers Trust study reveals that the impact of pollution from treated and untreated sewage and agricultural and industrial runoff means rivers are in a worse condition than ever.  

Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said: 

“The state of our rivers is a national scandal. Despite public outcry over our polluted waterways and coastline the latest State of Our Rivers report shows things haven’t improved since the last report in 2021.  

“For too long water companies and consecutive governments have failed to act. Taking our water companies into public ownership, so they work for people, not profit, will be a clear Green Party manifesto commitment.  

“For decades, money that should have been invested in improved infrastructure has been siphoned off to water company executives and shareholders. It’s time to flush this failed experiment with privatisation down the drain and for a service as vital as water and sewage to be run for the public good. 

“It should also be acknowledged that agricultural pollution contributes to 62% of waterways in England failing to meet good standards. We need to learn from the many innovative farmers who are using regenerative and organic farming methods that prevent chemical runoff into rivers.  

“Our rivers should be havens for wildlife and biodiversity and healthy places for people to enjoy. In too many cases they more closely resemble open sewers. Green MPs will make cleaning up our act on water pollution a key priority.” 

Continue ReadingState of Our Rivers Report: Green Party repeats call to take water companies into public ownership

Green Party on Lee Anderson’s Islamaphobic remarks

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Green Party Co-leader Adrian Ramsay October 2023.
Green Party Co-leader Adrian Ramsay October 2023.

As Lee Anderson doubles down on his controversial comments made over the weekend, when he claimed “Islamists” had got “control” over London and that the mayor, Sadiq Khan had “given our capital city away to his mates”, Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay, said:  

“Sunak needs to recall his pledge to act with integrity and challenge the divisive and dangerous rhetoric being used by some of his MPs.”

“We need our leaders to work for unity rather than creating division. For some time, senior Conservative Muslims have been raising concerns about the extent of Islamophobia in their party and criticizing the failure of the leadership to tackle it. Sunak needs to make clear that there is no place for such views in his party, and to instigate an immediate review of Islamophobia.” 

Continue ReadingGreen Party on Lee Anderson’s Islamaphobic remarks