Scrap to the two-child benefit cap urge Greens
The IFS (The Institute for Fiscal Studies) have today warned that 250,000 children will be hit by the two-child benefit cap next year, rising to an extra half a million by 2029. Green Party Co-Leader, Adrian Ramsay, responded saying,
“Greens have unequivocally pledged to scrap the two-child benefit cap in our fully costed manifesto.
“Today I am urging the Labour Party to show real strength and conviction and join us in making this pledge.
“This one decision could lift 250,000 children out of poverty.
“The power to do this will be in Labour’s hands.
“But I want to be very clear.
“If they fail to do this, elected Green MPs will not let this rest.
“We will push them every day of the next parliament demanding that they do what is right.
“That is what a Green vote will enable – voices in parliament to keep Labour honest on these important issues.”
Green Party manifesto pledges to nationalise water, railways and energy companies
The Green Party has unveiled its election manifesto, sold as a plan to “mend broken Britain”.
Addressing the Greens’ launch event in Brighton and Hove, co-leader Carla Denyer said the manifesto contained measures to “offer real hope and real change”.
“Our manifesto is based on investing to mend broken Britain and offer real hope and real change”, she said, adding: “We can’t go on with an economy where most people are working harder and yet getting poorer while inequality keeps growing.”
The Greens’ policies include introducing a new wealth tax of 1 per cent annually on assets above £10 million and 2 per cent on those above £2 billion, banning domestic flights for journeys which would take less than three hours by train, and moving to a four-day working week.
The party would also bring water companies, railways, and big five retail energy companies into public ownership; end immigration detention for all migrants unless they pose a danger to public safety; invest £50 billion in health and social care “to defend and restore the NHS”; scrap university tuition fees and increase the schools budget; and stop all new fossil fuel projects and cancel those recently licensed, like Rosebank in Scotland.
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Boost NHS salaries, guarantee access to NHS dentists, and give free personal care say Greens
- Green Party previews manifesto with extra spending on health and social care rising to over £50bn per year by 2030
- This sits alongside an additional £20bn capital investment to bring crumbling hospitals, primary care buildings and outdated equipment up to modern standards
- Greens will increase NHS frontline workers’ salaries including doctors, dentists and nurses
- “Cast-iron Green guarantee” promise that Green MPs will fight privatisation of the NHS
Green Party Co-Leader, Adrian Ramsay and the party’s Health and Social Care Spokesperson, Dr Pallavi Devulapalli, today announced a “game-changing” package for the NHS and social care totally £50 billion a year in investment by 2030 and an additional £20 billion in capital investment to improve crumbling buildings.
Ramsay said “Today’s announcement represents a game changing package that is more than any other political party is offering. It has been fully costed and could be fully delivered.”
Mr Ramsay, who described his personal experience in recent months supporting a family member both through hospitals and then into the care system, said that “many people” could see that the NHS was “stretched to breaking point” despite the “commitment of hard-working NHS staff”.
The Greens used the announcement to reveal a package of spending pledges alongside a “Green cast iron guarantee” that Green MPs would fight the privatisation of the NHS at every stage. The announcement included a commitment to :
- Invest £20bn in a capital investment to bring our crumbling hospitals and old equipment up to standard.
- Invest £50 billion per year by 2030 into health and social care – more than any other major party – and would use the money to:
- Dramatically reduce waiting lists
- Offer everyone access to an NHS dentist
- Guarantee rapid access to a GP when there is urgent need and dramatically reduce waiting times for all
- Ensure people needing mental health support can access relevant therapies within 28 days
- Invest £5bn per year to boost NHS salaries and keep our wonderful nurses and doctors in the UK
- Invest £20 billion per year into adult social care to ensure dignity for those in need of care and take pressure off the NHS – including introducing free personal care.
- Restore public health budgets with £1.5bn uplift in spending .
The large spending commitments they say is part of a fully costed manifesto due to be released on the 12th June in Brighton that includes commitments to “tax wealth fairly” by introducing a wealth tax of 1% on assets over £10 million and 2% over £1 billion.
EXCLUSIVE: Over 250 parliamentary candidates pledge to push for £40bn per year extra funding for NHS
Two thirds of those who have signed the pledge are standing for the Green Party
More than 250 parliamentary candidates from 10 different political parties have signed a pledge saying they will work towards the NHS getting an extra £40bn a year in funding if they are elected in the general election. The pledge also commits candidates to push for outsourced services within the NHS to be brought back in house.
The ‘Pledge for the NHS‘ has been put together by anti-privatisation campaign group We Own It, with the backing of more than 20 other organisations including Keep Our NHS Public and Doctors’ Association UK. Public figures including Stephen Fry, Frankie Boyle, Rosie Holt, Lost Voice Guy and Ken Loach have also endorsed the pledge and called for candidates to sign it.
We Own It says that more than 11,000 people have contacted their parliamentary candidates about the pledge. That campaigning has led to 253 MP-hopefuls to sign up.
Over two thirds of the candidates to sign the pledge are standing for the Green Party of England and Wales. Both the Green Party’s co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay are among the 176 candidates for the party to have signed the pledge. Sian Berry, who is hoping to replace Caroline Lucas in Brighton Pavilion, has also signed.
The SNP has the second highest number of signatories, with 21 of their candidates committing to it. Amy Callaghan – the SNP’s health spokesperson in Westminster – is among those to have signed.
Presently, just 10 Labour candidates have signed the pledge, with most signatures coming from the left of the party. Prominent left wingers to have signed up include John McDonnell, Zarah Sultana and Bell Ribeiro-Addy.
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