16 September 2019

Former wind turbine engineer and current city councillor, Carla Denyer, has been picked to contest the winnable seat of Bristol West for the Green Party at the coming General Election.

The Green Party is now the clear frontrunner in Bristol as the countdown continues to the next elections, after the party saw spectacular results in the 2019 EU election, receiving 35% of the vote across the city. This was 17,606 votes clear of the nearest contender and more than double the Labour vote – a fall in vote share which was widely attributed to Labour’s shifting and ambiguous national policy on Brexit [2].

Carla Denyer, who is credited as having started the national movement on Climate Emergencies in the UK by proposing the first one here in Bristol, has been a long-standing activist, and Bristol City Councillor since 2015. She said:

“We’re facing a joint crisis for our climate and for our democracy, but the Greens have the ideas and the political will to push for progressive solutions. I’m hopeful and proud to have been chosen to fight this election for the Green Party. We speak with one voice in saying ‘Yes to Europe and No to climate chaos.’”  

As well as her work on the Climate Emergency, Carla Denyer has a strong track record fighting council cuts and standing up for the vulnerable in Bristol. She worked with ACORN tenants’ union to stop cuts to the Council Tax Reduction Scheme, resulting in a reluctant U-turn from the Labour Mayor, and proposed and won a budget amendment to save the city’s Local Crisis and Prevention Fund which helps prevent homelessness.  

Councillor Denyer said: “Bristol already has a strong group of Green councillors who have been holding this Labour-run authority to account. Our city needs people who get things done, and we need them representing us in Westminster. Caroline Lucas has demonstrated what a Green MP can achieve. She was the first MP to propose that Parliament declare a Climate Emergency [3], the first to call for a People’s Vote on the Brexit deal, and the first to bring forward an NHS Reinstatement Bill. She also fought against fracking, nuclear power and pollution, and championed clean, renewable energy. Our country needs more Green MPs and Bristol can make that happen.”

Former Green Party Bristol West candidate Molly Scott Cato was re-elected as a South West MEP in May 2019 with an hugely increased majority. Molly Scott Cato, now standing as the Green candidate for Stroud, said: “Carla will be an excellent MP for Bristol West and I look forward to supporting her campaign.”

The Green Party are the main contenders in Bristol West, which is historically a swing seat. It has been held by Labour and the Lib Dems within the last five years, and the Greens came a close second in 2015 [4].

The Green Party has chosen candidates for all four seats in Bristol in the event of a snap General Election. Tony Dyer (Bristol South), Conan Connolly (Bristol East) and Heather Mack (Bristol North West) are all also announcing their candidacies today.

ENDS

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Green Party members are this morning celebrating the appointment of former leader Natalie Bennett to the House of Lords. 

Green Party co-leader Sian Berry said: “This is recognition of the views of the two million Green voters in this year’s European elections, the huge numbers who backed us in the council elections, and the 1.1 million votes we won when Natalie was leader in 2015.

“But still, this 50% increase in the Greens’ parliamentary representation is still only 0.2% of the total parliament – a reminder of just how far we have to go to make the UK a democracy.

“However, having worked with Natalie in Camden Green Party over many years, I know that Natalie will be a voice for the many who have not been sufficiently heard in parliament. She will bring into the Lords the voice of the anti-fracking protectors, the supporters of universal basic income and our nation’s beleaguered wildlife, disability & refugee rights and Climate Emergency campaigners.”

The current Green peer, Jenny Jones, said: “I am delighted to have Natalie joining me in the House, the chance to double our opportunities to hold the government to account and be the advocate for great Green ideas like the Green New Deal and universal basic income.”

Sheffield Councillor Alison Teal said: “Natalie’s relentless passion is evident at every public event she attends. I have found her to be an inspiration, and a wonderful mentor.

“Soon after we met she said to me, “If in doubt, be bold.” I have taken her advice to heart, and she helped me find courage. I have no doubt that Natalie will be a brilliant member of the House of Lords, and I am so thrilled that she has made Sheffield her home, and she will represent us in Parliament.”

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4 September 2019

Responding to Sajid Javid’s Spending Review today, Green MP Caroline Lucas said that the Chancellor appeared to be modelling his environmental approach on Jackson Pollock on a very quiet day.

Caroline said: “We’re used to official greenwash from government, but what we saw today was a mere slapdash swipe, a few drops of paint, on a canvas that otherwise entirely overlooked our climate emergency.

“Our environment was totally ignored in the overview of the UK economy, and the Chancellor only got around to a specific climate announcement two-thirds of the way into the speech. 

“Any Chancellor fit for office would have announced a Green New Deal as an economic cure for the triple crisis of inequality, climate breakdown and failed finance.

“This spending review doubles down on a failed economic model that is trashing our environment, and trashing the prospects for young people.

Caroline added:

“The Chancellor has splashed the cash on health and education, although this money will do little to repair the deep damage he and his party caused with the years of austerity. Voters will see through his attempts to buy their support ahead of an election.

“There is nothing in this spending round which addresses the scale of the climate emergency.  No detail on decarbonisation, nothing on renewable energy, nothing to promote a programme of building millions of zero-carbon homes. Barely anything to transform transport and far too little to reverse the catastrophic decline in our biodiversity and health of our environment.

“This is all achievable and the climate crisis can’t wait.  Public demand for climate action is higher than ever. We’re tired of promises unmatched by action.  Sajid Javid hasn’t just missed a vital opportunity. He’s betrayed our future.” 

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31 August 2019

Video footage has emerged of Green London Assembly member Caroline Russell being arrested in Trafalgar Square while taking part in a Defend Our Democracy protest (1)

Her fellow Green London Assembly member Sian Berry, Green Party co-leader, said:

“Earlier today, I was speaking at the main rally of the Defend Our Democracy protest. I said then that we were calmly determined not to have our rights chipped away. Protest, and direct action were needed, I said then.

“I’m proud that Caroline has been at the forefront, with others, of showing that determination. 

“History tells us that all the rights we have we had to win. No one has ever handed them to us. 

“And Caroline and the others on the streets in London today were defending those hard-won rights that are now under attack from Boris Johnson.

“We, the people, will come back on the streets again and again in the coming weeks of national crisis to defend our MPs and win our final say. 

“We will keep saying to Boris Johnson, to Jacob Rees-Mogg, to Dominic Raab – your actions do not represent us

“If you abuse power, we the people will make sure you won’t be in power much longer.”

Notes

1. https://twitter.com/murphy_simon/status/1167818626424025088?s=20

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28 August 2019

Jonathan Bartley, Green Party co-leader, commenting on the announcement from Boris Johnson this morning of plans to prorogue parliament, said:

“This is an outrage, a cynical attempt to subvert the will of parliament.

“It is clear there is already a huge public reaction against this, with signatures flooding in on petitions and plans being made for peaceful demonstrations at Westminster, which the Green Party will be supporting.”

“It is important that everyone doesn’t despair, but gets active instead. There are four key actors in this situation: the government, the parliament, the people and the courts.

“Certainly the first three, and probably the fourth, are going to have important roles – we want to encourage the people to be at the forefront, as should be the way in a democracy.

“There is no democratic way to deliver a crash-out Brexit. We need a People’s Vote: that is the most democratic way forward that hands the crucial issue back to the people.”

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