19 January 2022

The Green Party has urged Boris Johnson to follow the advice of his MPs and resign to limit the damage currently being done to public health in the country.

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer has warned that the Prime Minister’s mixed messages and hypocrisy over the Downing Street lockdown parties are undermining trust in both the government’s vital public health response to the continuing pandemic, as well as the political process at large.

Following senior Conservative MP David Davis’ call on Johnson to resign at PMQs today [1], Denyer said:

“Politicians like Boris Johnson undermine trust in the government, in public health advice and ultimately in our democracy. The unedifying spectacle in Westminster today makes it seem as if this is all one big joke, but let us remember that more than 150,000 people in the UK have died from covid, and this sham of a government is distracting us from the real work at hand.

“We are still in a pandemic, while at the same time millions of people are facing the prospect of choosing between heating and eating this year. With his ridiculous excuses about whether he broke any rules, all Boris Johnson is doing is distracting from the work that so desperately needs doing to tackle these issues.

“It is time for Boris Johnson to resign, for the good of everybody in the UK, to allow the country to focus on tackling the pandemic and the cost of living crisis, as millions of people across this country want.

“But I am under no illusion that his Conservative replacement will be much better. The trouble is that our political system is so broken that it breeds politicians like Johnson – there’s a culture of hypocrisy and entitlement that goes deep in our political system and we need to change the way our democracy operates to root it out.”

Notes

1

https://www.itv.com/news/2022-01-19/pm-laughed-at-in-pmqs-as-he-repeatedly-asks-mps-to-wait-for-the-inquiry

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18 January 2022

The Health and Care Bill ignores a staffing crisis which has left both NHS and care staff on their knees and fails to address social inequality and long waiting lists, the Green Party has warned ahead of an online SOS NHS rally tomorrow [Wednesday 19 January]. [1]

The Greens have also accused the government of missing a vital opportunity to integrate health and social care in the bill, which fails to tackle the issues surrounding social care despite being in the bill’s name.

Green party Co-leader, Carla Denyer, said:

“The Health and Care Bill fails to address the severe staff shortages and low morale that our health and care services face – a crisis intensified by both Covid and Brexit. NHS and social care workers say they are on their knees and there are inadequate numbers of new staff being trained. All of which leaves millions of patients on very long waiting lists, many of whom have urgent health and care needs.

“This Bill was an opportunity to genuinely integrate health and social care. It fails to do so. Indeed, social care is not tackled at all in the bill despite it being in the title.

“The government is also failing to address the huge health inequalities which have been exposed by Covid. We need a Bill that makes local and national government responsible for eliminating health inequalities and provides the resources to do so, together with a broader set of national policies to address widening social inequalities such as a wealth tax, a citizen’s income and a Green New Deal to ensure everyone has a warm home.”

SOS NHS, a coalition of campaign groups and trade unions demanding emergency funding for the NHS, will hold an online rally tomorrow, Wednesday, at 7pm. 

Notes

1. HNS Confederation overview of the Health and Care Bill: https://www.nhsconfed.org/publications/health-and-care-bill  

2. The SOS NHS online rally will take place at 7pm on Wednesday 19th January https://sosnhs.org/events/

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14 January 2022

Green Party peers have welcomed an announcement by the Labour Lords that they will finally pledge to reject most of the 18 pages of Government amendments to the Police, Crime and Sentencing Bill which would effectively criminalise protest on Monday [1].

Following a campaign by Green parliamentarians, elected representatives and members to defend the right to effective protest [2], the move means that the Greens, Labour, the Liberal Democrats and some independents will have enough votes to defeat the government.

This will force Government ministers to either drop the proposals or bring them back in completely separate legislation at a later date, if they choose. 

The Lords only have this power on very rare occasions. In this case because the Government introduced the amendments late and by-passed scrutiny in the Commons. 

These Government amendments would give the police the power to stop people attending demonstrations who have no criminal conviction, and to stop and search without suspicion. 

Green Party peer, Baroness Jenny Jones said:

“This is crunch time for opposition to this increasingly authoritarian Government. We welcome the Labour Party’s decision to support us and others in opposing the majority of these repressive laws. There is every chance that we can strike a blow for civil liberties and defend democratic rights in this country. This will be a huge victory for green campaigners.

“These are Belarus-style laws, but the Lords can stop them if we can motivate enough peers to stay with us during Monday’s late night sitting and vote for basic democratic values. It’s no way to run a country, but a lot will come down to stamina and I’m bringing my sleeping bag.”

ENDS

Notes

1

https://twitter.com/LabourLordsUK/status/1481958957392568321

2

https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2022/01/12/green-parliamentarians-call-on-labour-to-%E2%80%9Cstand-up-against-this-government%E2%80%9D-over-right-to-protest/

3

Green Party peers Jenny Jones and Natalie Bennett are both available for interview – for more information or to arrange an interview please contact press@greenparty.org.uk or call 0203 691 9401

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13 January 2022

• Jenny Jones: “This is clearly a matter for the police”
• Carla Denyer: “Police should be doing their job without fear or favour” 

The Green Party has called for the police to take over the investigation into Partygate. The call follows Green peer Jenny Jones’s latest letter to the Met Police Commissioner questioning their failure to investigate the breach of lockdown. [1]

Green Party peer Jenny Jones said, “Since Boris Johnson’s admission of a party at 10 Downing Street, this has clearly become a matter for the police, not an internal inquiry to be carried out by a colleague of the people who attended these gatherings. Sue Gray may be independent minded but this is not an independent inquiry. Her inquiry is owned by the Prime Minister and she has to check its publication with him. Given that civil servants have a duty not to embarrass the Prime Minister, I think it would be best if all her evidence is handed over to the Met Police and that they dig out the CCTV recordings of the garden party that their officers have sat on.”

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said, “There’s little reason to believe that Boris Johnson will take seriously an inquiry being led by a civil servant who is ultimately answerable to himself. Government ministers must not be allowed to consider themselves above the law. The Prime Minister’s alleged breaking of lockdown rules must be taken up by the appropriate body – the police – who should be doing their job without fear or favour.”

Notes 

1 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/downing-street-party-met-police-witness-b1991716.html

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