2 March 2022

Local councils who want to help Ukrainian refugees are being prevented from doing so by the Government’s failure to adequately fund support services, the Green Party has warned. 

Green Party councillors in Brighton and Hove and in Lewes District Council say they are desperate to provide refuge for Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion but unless the Government provides funding for affordable housing and resettlement of refugees then those seeking asylum will be forced to live in unacceptable conditions. 

The Government is offering to take in 200,000 people fleeing Ukraine [1], but the Greens warn that there could be a repeat of the catastrophic handling of the Afghan refugee crisis last year. [2]

The Greens have repeatedly warned over the last year that refugees and asylum seekers, including children, are being accommodated in overcrowded and unsuitable hotels due to the lack of appropriate housing. [3] They have also warned that the lack of funding for fostering and children’s services is leaving children without the support they need to recover from trauma. 

The Green Party is calling on the Government to provide the funding that is needed for local councils to resettle refugees in secure accommodation where they can restart their lives.

Green Party Migration and Refugee Support Spokesperson Benali Hamdache said, “Councils all over the country are ready to step up for Ukrainian refugees, just like they were for Afghan refugees. But the biggest barrier is this Conservative government. 

“We need to match the generosity of our European neighbours by waiving visa requirements for refugees fleeing war and we need money unlocked to provide decent accommodation and adequately fund support services. Councils with support can provide housing by repurposing empty homes, partnering with private landlords and building affordable new homes.”

Green Deputy Leader of Brighton and Hove Council and lead member for children’s services Hannah Clare said, “The Conservative government seems to have no conception of the urgency or the scale of what is needed to save lives now. Councils are doing all they can to support the most vulnerable, including those who are now fleeing the horrific events in Ukraine. 

“But we are stretched to breaking point and unless the Government steps up its funding, support services including those provided by voluntary sector organisations will not be able to cope. 

“As a City of Sanctuary, we proudly welcome refugees and continue to commit to doing all we can to help those fleeing conflict and persecution. The Government’s chaotic response is insufficient.”

Green Leader of Lewes District Council Zoe Nicholson said, “Councils are giving all they can to help people in desperate situations, but unless the government ensures that councils have the resources to help then refugees will be left stranded and without support. Commitments to take in more refugees have to backed with the support services that these people need.”

Notes

1 

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/uk-could-over-200-000-130221772.html 

2

https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2021/08/18/green-party-warns-government%E2%80%99s-pledge-to-resettle-afghan-refugees-is-%E2%80%9Cempty-pr%E2%80%9D/

3

https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2021/08/17/green-party-urges-local-authorities-to-take-in-fair-share-of-child-refugees/

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28 February 2022

The Green Party has called for the UK to follow the lead taken by European leaders in response to Ukrainians seeking sanctuary from war and Ukrainian resistance to Russian aggression. Greens are calling for all Ukrainians to be granted asylum and for the establishment of safe routes for people to come to the UK.   

Green spokesperson on Migration and Refugee Support, Benali Hamdache, said:

“The government response to those fleeing war in Ukraine and seeking sanctuary is not the compassionate response the crisis requires. Priti Patel’s announcement that ‘immediate family members’ will be allowed to come to the UK will still close the door to many Ukranians in need of sanctuary [1].   

“Greens are the party of compassion – refugees are welcome here. We demand the UK follow the EU’s lead and grant asylum to all Ukrainians, open safe routes for people to come to the UK and join the EU wide plan for resettling refugees. The Nationality and Borders Bill, which would criminalise Ukraine’s refugees, also needs to be shelved.

Green Party Global Solidarity spokesperson, Carne Ross, added:

“We welcome the support given to brave Ukrainian resistance fighters by EU and NATO partners. In the absence of the multilateral security frameworks that Greens across Europe have long argued for, we cannot allow Ukraine to face Russian aggression alone.”

Notes

[1] https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/priti-patel-home-office-ukraine-refugees 

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28 February 2022

The Green Party has urged the government to make it a key national security objective to focus on eliminating our dependence on gas following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said:

“The latest IPCC report makes clear how humanity’s use of fossil fuels has had a devastating impact on our climate and environment. Security experts have long warned that the climate crisis is a major national security risk but Putin’s use of energy aggression in Ukraine strongly underlines this. However, our reliance on oil and gas also leaves us susceptible to major national security concerns, such as those we are currently witnessing with Russia.

“It is imperative that the government starts taking the necessary steps to wean us off this addiction to fossil fuels and develop the renewables and efficiency measures required to ensure we are not beholden to despots such as Putin.

“Our addiction to fossil fuels has encouraged us to turn a blind eye to Putin’s decades of outrages. We have encouraged Russian energy companies and Russian oligarchs and Russian energy companies into the heart of our economy and society. 

“To strengthen European defences against Russian aggression we must install thousands of wind turbines, millions of new solar panels and millions of well-insulated homes. The government needs to treat this with the seriousness it deserves as a potential cause of conflict in the near future.”

ENDS

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28 February 2022

Responding to the latest report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [1], Green Party MP Caroline Lucas has said:

“This report sounds what should be a deafening alarm bell about the urgency of tackling the climate emergency and, in stark terms, makes clear that the impacts of the climate crisis are greater than many feared. 

“With the Red Cross already warning that around two million people a week need humanitarian assistance because of the impacts of climate breakdown, it’s clear that we’re facing not just an environmental crisis, but a humanitarian emergency of monumental proportions. 

“One of the most terrifying parts of the report are the impacts of extreme weather which it predicts are already baked in, even if the world succeeds in limiting global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. 

“That means there must be a ramping up of investment in adaptation, including in the UK where the Government’s own independent advisors say it has long been ‘underfunded and ignored’. When the impacts of the climate emergency are already upon us, adaptation can no longer be left to the side-lines. 

“The COP26 Presidency must also ensure that rich countries finally come-good on their existing finance commitments and that new and additional adaptation finance is prioritised for the post-2025 goal.

“Just over 100 days have now passed since the  Glasgow Climate Pact was agreed, with its renewed commitment to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees – but we have seen little action. And in the UK, Ministers perversely plan for more domestic oil and gas in response to the global gas crisis. 

“The dangers of our addiction to fossil fuels are clear and the Government must stop pouring fuel on the fire to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis. This means urgently ruling out future oil and gas licences, delivering a just transition for workers and investing in clean and bountiful renewable energy.

“Crucially this report shows that there is a deep injustice at the heart of the climate emergency.  Whilst nowhere is safe from the impacts of the climate crisis, those in the poorest countries will be hardest hit.  

“We cannot leave those on the front lines of this crisis to bear its costs alone, and as COP26 President, the UK must heed the call for new finance for loss and damage and do much more to build consensus ahead of COP27. Rich Governments cannot continue to turn a blind eye to this moral issue.”

ENDS

Notes

1

https://www.ipcc.ch/2022/02/28/pr-wgii-ar6/

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28 February 2022

Ahead of Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Spring Budget Statement, Green Party MP Caroline Lucas will personally deliver a letter to the Chancellor today [Monday 28 February] calling on him to take immediate steps to get dirty fossil fuels out of our economy and invest in the energy transition that’s needed to bring down household bills.

The letter urges the Chancellor to make key spending commitments to help people facing extreme poverty as a result of soaring energy bills and to end our continued dependence on fossil fuels. These include:

• Much higher spending on home insulation to reduce demand for fossil fuels and bring down people’s energy bills
• A Dirty Profits Tax on the massive profits of North Sea oil & gas producers to help support people struggling to pay their energy bills
• Funding for a 1.5 degrees compatible energy transition, including support for a just transition for oil, gas and coal sector workers
• Future proofing the stability of the economy by ending all tax reliefs, financial support and other subsidies for the fossil fuel industry
• Reporting on indicators of wellbeing that show whether people can live healthy and fulfilled lives.

Caroline Lucas said:

“For too long, the Treasury has blocked effective climate action.  In his past budgets and spending reviews, the Chancellor has barely even acknowledged that we face a climate and ecological emergency.

“It’s time he woke up to the reality and looked at the climate science.  We have to act now if we are to have any chance of limiting global heating to 1.5C.  We need to leave fossil fuels in the ground and accelerate the transition to a carbon-free future with properly insulated homes kept warm with clean renewable energy. 

“Our future is at stake. We have to reclaim it from a Chancellor and Treasury which are too stuck in the old ways and too cosy with fossil fuel interests.  Subsidies and financial support for the oil and gas sector must end now.”

Earlier this month, Parliament’s Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee warned that the Government is failing to cut greenhouse gas emissions from heating the UK’s homes, “lacks clear direction” on the issue, and that its current policies were inadequate to the scale of the problem.

Soaring gas prices mean that 6.5 million UK households will be living in ‘fuel stress’ when the domestic energy price cap rises this April, according to National Energy Action. Citizens Advice and other agencies are warning that millions of people are facing extreme poverty and ever deeper debt as a result.

Rocketing oil and gas prices also mean that the companies extracting the fossil fuels that are destroying our climate system are making bumper profits, with BP’s boss boasting recently that his company has become a “cash machine”.

Global levels of CO2 and methane, the main greenhouse gases, have continued to climb after a pandemic-related dip in 2020, and both hit record highs in 2021 according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

ENDS

Notes to editors

1

The letter can be read in full here

2

Net Zero & decarbonising heat in homes – Government’s approach lacks strategic direction, says Business Committee

https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/365/business-energy-and-industrial-strategy-committee/news/160772/net-zero-decarbonising-heat-in-homes-governments-approach-lacks-strategic-direction-says-business-committee/

2

Families suffering from ‘fuel stress’ set to treble overnight to six million households as energy bills soar

https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/press-releases/families-suffering-from-fuel-stress-set-to-treble-overnight-to-six-million-households-as-energy-bills-soar/

3

Global emissions hit record highs in 2021 according to Copernicus Climate Change Service

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/10/last-7-years-warmest-on-record-globally-by-clear-margin-eu

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