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.”
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.
“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.
“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.
“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.”
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”.
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.
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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
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.
* 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.”
