25 November 2019

Green Party co-leader Jonathan Bartley has today expressed the Green Party’s support for the strike by University and College Union (UCU) members at 80 universities around the UK.

Bartley said: “This is about the long-term wellbeing and welfare of both staff and students. Staff at our universities have been pushed beyond breaking-point by institutions that are not giving them proper pay and conditions, or pensions, and that are leaving huge numbers trapped in the uncertainty of zero-hours and variable hours contracts.

“The future of our world-class universities, and the quality of education of students, is dependent on staff being treated properly. I know from speaking to UCU members at previous strikes how much they fear not only for their own futures, but also their students’ futures. University pay structures need to be rebalanced away from ludicrously high pay for a few management staff, and towards maintaining the pay and conditions for those doing the teaching and research.”

Carla Denyer, Green Party MP candidate for Bristol West and a local councillor representing a ward with many university staff and students living in it, said: “At last week’s Student Union hustings at the University of Bristol, I spoke to many students who are highly sympathetic to the staff’s plight, and who will be joining them on the picket lines.

“Students are weighed down by the huge weight of student debt, a pressure the Green Party plans to take away from them by ending tuition fees and paying off existing student debt, but their lecturers are increasingly suffering also from intolerably low pay, poor conditions and insecurity.

“I have been on the picket lines and at the rally in Bristol this morning supporting striking university workers. The commercialisation of higher education benefits nobody. I fully support the UCU’s demands, especially their call for an end to casualisation of the workforce. The Green Party wants to stamp out casualisation in education, and would do this by offering all hourly paid staff and agency staff salaried contracts.”

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22 November 2019

Green MPs will fight for a new criminal offence of Ecocide, the Green Party’s Deputy Leader Amelia Womack has announced today.

The new criminal offence would punish severe, widespread and long-term environmental damage, and impose individual liability on company directors. 

This would include companies who are responsible for polluting rivers and oceans, companies involved in large scale deforestation of rainforests and polluting soils. 

Additionally, the Greens would work across the United Nations to recognise ecocide as an international Crime Against Humanity.

Amelia Womack, Deputy Leader of the Green Party, said: 

“Big companies can not get away with destroying the forests, rivers and oceans which all of us depend on. These are crimes and should be punished in law.

“Introducing a new law on ecocide will be a clear signal that we are moving away from our old polluting ways and recognising that we need to protect the environment for generations to come.

“Green MPs will fight for the law to treat large-scale environmental damage with the seriousness it so clearly deserves.”

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19 November 2019

The Green Party will announce 10 key pieces of legislation to kickstart the transformation of the country at the launch of its manifesto in south west London today.

The party will set out the Bills Green MPs will push for in the first two years of a new Parliament to tackle the climate emergency, secure the future of the country as part of the European Union and create an economy that is fair for all.

The centrepiece of the manifesto is the Green New Deal, a plan to transform the economic, political and social system to tackle the climate emergency and create a fair and equal society.

The full list of Bills the Greens will pledge to put forward in the next Parliament are:

· Green New Deal Bill – to get the UK on track to reducing climate emissions to net zero by 2030

· People’s Vote Bill – to give people a chance to vote on the future of our relationship with the European Union

· NHS Reinstatement Bill – to increase funding for the NHS by at least £6 billion per year each year, until 2030, and a further £1 billion a year in nursing higher education

· Further and Higher Education Bill – to fund tuition for every higher education student and scrap undergraduate tuition fees

· Sustainable Economy Bill – to set new binding targets to ensure our economy functions within environmental limits

· Future Generations Bill – to require public bodies, including the UK government, to balance the needs of the present with the needs of the future.

· Universal Basic Income Bill – to transform our social welfare system with a phased-in unconditional payment to everyone at a level above their subsistence needs.

· New Homes Bill – to end the housing crisis by creating the legislative framework to build 100,000 new zero carbon homes for social rent each year.

· Renters’ Rights Bill – to transform the lives of renters across the country, making housing more secure and bringing rent levels down, especially in places where they currently far outstrip incomes

· Voting Reform Bill – to replace the archaic first past the post voting system with proportional representation, create a fully elected House of Lords, and extend the vote to those aged 16 and 17.

Jonathan Bartley, co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, will say:

“Today, we’re proud to put forward a manifesto which puts us on track to remain in the European Union and make the whole country carbon neutral by 2030, while delivering social justice across Britain.

“And it’s the most ambitious Green New Deal proposed anywhere in the world.

“While the other parties are trying to catch up, we’re still racing ahead, reaching new horizons.”

Sian Berry, co-leader of The Green Party, will say:

“The Greens are clear about which path we must take as a country. And that’s why each and every Green MP elected this December will have in their in-tray a legislative agenda ready to go.

“Ten Bills ready for the next Parliament to hit the ground running. Because the future won’t give us another chance to get these next two years right.”

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17 November 2019

The Green Party will increase the Living Wage to £12 for all workers as part of its radical plans to tackle poverty and improve wellbeing, it has announced today.

The proposal will end the Government’s fudge in calling their minimum wage a ‘National Living Wage’ by bringing all workers up to the necessary level of pay for a decent life. 

The higher rate for the Green Living Wage compared with all other previous suggestions comes from a more realistic estimate of housing costs for families and the need for a buffer for unexpected and seasonal costs, like home repairs and school uniforms.

The proposals also make a commitment to extending the £12 living wage to those under the ages of 18, 21, and 25, and to include apprentices, to end the discrimination against young workers and trainees. 

Under the current system, the minimum wage for under-18s is £4.35, for 18 to 20-year-olds it is £6.15, and for 21 to 24-year-olds it is £7.71, while apprentices can be paid as little as £3.90. The national rate for those aged over 25 is £8.21, while the Living Wage Foundation’s Living Wage rate is now £9.30 outside London.

The Green Living Wage would be phased in over two years and would mean those aged 18-21 would see an increase of £5.85 in their hourly wage by April 2022.

Sian Berry, co-leader of The Green Party, said: 

“The Living Wage must mean what it says on the tin, and the Government has made a mockery of this concept by simply renaming the minimum wage, while not using the evidence to set the rate at a level people can build a life on. I’m proud that the Green Party will set this right and make sure all workers in the UK receive at least £12 an hour.

“The Green Party will end the discrimination against young people where it is legal to pay under-21s a genuine pittance for doing exactly the same work as someone older. It isn’t fair, it doesn’t make sense, and it must stop.

“What message does that send to young people? That their time is worth half someone else’s? Everyone, no matter how young or old they are, deserves to be paid enough to live a decent life.

“The Living Wage is another example of how Greens lead and others follow. In our 2015 manifesto, we were the only party to promise a Living Wage of £10 an hour by 2020, while Labour only wanted £8 an hour, below what even the Conservatives have in place now. This election, all the political parties claim to be offering a Living Wage, but only the Green Party is using the evidence to set the rate at the right level.”

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14 November 2019

The Green Party has announced that it is standing 500 parliamentary candidates in the December General Election. 

This is up from 453 parliamentary candidates in the 2017 General Election. 

The Green Party is aiming to hold the seat in Brighton Pavillion, and capture new seats elsewhere in the country. 

The Party announces that it will be launching its manifesto next week, pledging to tackle the Climate Emergency and eliminate poverty within a decade. 

Jonathan Bartley, Co-Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales said:

“The Green Party has had a whirlwind year, more than doubling our number of local councillors and electing seven Greens as Members of the European Parliament. We are running the Green Party’s most ambitious campaign ever and our Green ideas are setting the agenda.

“It was a Green Party Councillor who got the first climate emergency motion on Bristol City Council, which led a movement of hundreds of local authorities who followed suit. This culminated in the House of Commons declaring a Climate Emergency this spring.

“Where Greens lead, others follow. That’s why we are so excited that in 500 constituencies, people will be able to cast their vote for a Green Party Candidate. We need more Green MPs in Parliament to put pressure on the Government and campaign for their constituents. Every single vote in this election sends a strong and clear message: Yes to Europe and No to climate chaos.”

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