22 May 2017

The Green Party has launched its ‘Green Guarantee’ in London this morning [1], setting out the key priorities for MPs elected to Parliament on June 8th, to transform politics and create a confident and caring country.

Co-leaders Caroline Lucas and Jonathan Bartley pledged Green MPs would protect the environment, reverse the privatisation of the NHS, give people a referendum on the terms of any Brexit deal and bring forward plans for a basic income and shorter working week [2].

Notes:

1. The manifesto was launched at 10.30am on Monday 22 May, at Wayra offices, 20 Air Street, Soho, London, W1B 5AN.
2. https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2017/05/22/green-party-launches-plan-for-a-confident-and-caring-country/
3. The Green Guarantee is available at: https://www.greenparty.org.uk/green-guarantee/
4. A pdf copy of the Green Guarantee is available at:https://www.greenparty.org.uk/assets/files/gp2017/greenguaranteepdf.pdf
5. Full speeches (check against delivery):

Jonathan Bartley

Thank you for coming to today’s launch of the Green Party’s Green Guarantee.

It sets out what any Greens elected to the House of Commons would stand up for on your behalf.

These are big bold ideas that, with the right political will, are possible. They are about building a confident and caring Britain and a future that we can all be proud of.

Confident because we are creating a resilient, diverse and people powered economy that allows us all to live larger lives and cope with the challenges ahead.

Caring because we are redefining the welfare state, striving to end inequality and committed to redistributing both wealth and power.

We live in the 5th richest country in the world. In such a country no renter should have to live in damp, cold, and neglected accommodation, no parent should have to compete with other parents to find their child a decent school, no one should have to wait ten hours in an emergency ward before getting the care and attention they need.

 Most importantly of all: no one should tell you that your voice doesn’t matter, that when it comes to the biggest decision this country has faced in generations, you will not get a say on whether, having seen what life outside the EU will look like, we should choose that future or choose to remain.

 The media and the old parties will tell you that there are only 2 options on the ballot paper at this election. That’s not true – and it is a disservice to our democracy.

 If you believe in a welcoming Britain, a country of compassion, a fair economy where those with the most contribute more, the protection of our countryside and a nation confident enough to build bridges, not walls – then you have a choice.

 If you believe things can change for the better, and that the next generation must be defined by fairness, not foodbanks – then we give you that choice.

 If you believe that our future will be defined not by the size of our nuclear arsenal but by harnessing the enormous potential of the people who live in this country – then join us and stand up for what matters.

And on June 8 chose a positive future and Vote Green for a confident and caring Britain.

Caroline Lucas

I want to thank Wayra for hosting this launch. Since 2012 they have supported 160 new start-ups – getting behind bold, creative ideas, setting the agenda and shaping the future through brave leadership.

By being here today, we are choosing a future of opportunities for pioneers and innovators like them.

A new kind of economy, that meets people’s needs and protects the environment.

A confident and caring Britain that reaches for a bigger future that we can be proud of.

The Green Guarantee is about hope, at a time that feels more uncertain than any other in my lifetime.

Brexit. Climate change. An NHS in crisis.

We face challenges that we can’t possibly pretend to fix in 100 days or even 1,000.

Threats to our economic future and our security. Threats to the planet

But by working together and standing up for what matters we can change the course of history.

While other parties ignore the environment, Greens will protect it

We will transform people lives with bold policies like a basic income and shorter working week.

We will protect the NHS and roll back privatisation.

We will defend free movement and we will give the British people an explicit option to remain part of the EU as part of a ‘ratification referendum’ on the Brexit deal.

This election is about our country.

It’s about the future we choose for our children.

It’s about protecting our values of openness, compassion and co-operation.

The Green Guarantee is our promise that a confident and caring future is possible if we work together, do politics differently and dare to be different.

It says: we are ready – and we hope you’ll join us by voting Green on June 8.

Ends

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Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party, speaking at the party’s Culture manifesto launch in Hull, said:

There could be no better place to launch our cultural manifesto,
Labour’s plan to guarantee a ‘Creative Future For All’, than right here in
Hull.

In the last Labour Government our then Culture Secretary, Andy Burnham,
was impressed by how Liverpool had been transformed after being made the
European City of Culture.

So Andy proposed the idea that every four years we should have a UK City
of Culture. 

And in 2013, thanks to a brilliant bid from Labour-run Hull City
Council, it was Hull that was chosen.

And what an inspiration you have been as a City of Culture

Hull had hoped to encourage an extra million people to visit Hull during
2017.

A third of a million visited in the first week.

And I’m not surprised. Look at what you’ve offered. 

‘Blade’ saw a 200 foot wind turbine blade, made locally at Siemens Green
Port factory go on display in Queen Victoria Square.

The Poppies Weeping Window had 450,000 visits in just two months.

And finally you created the ‘Sea of Hull’ by encouraging 3,000 local
people to strip naked, paint themselves blue and be photographed in the early
hours of Saturday morning.

Those photos by the brilliant photographer, Spencer Tunick, are now on
display in the refurbished Ferens Art Gallery.

So in a very nice way, the people of Hull have literally made an
exhibition of themselves.

I’d like to thank Hull’s Labour council leader Steve Brady for all his
hard work in helping the city deliver for culture, along with Hull 2017’s Chief
Executive Martin Green. 

Because we can see what the transformative powers of culture have done
for Hull.

Not just by attracting visitors and creating world class cultural
events. But here in Humber Street, where a former Fruit Market has been
regenerated into a thriving cultural hub, creating new business and new jobs.

The New Humber Street Contemporary Gallery next door has seen 60,000
visits in its first six weeks.

It is estimated that being the UK City of Culture will bring a £60
million economic boost in 2017 alone.

Now Labour wants to replicate what we’ve seen in Hull across the rest of
the UK

And here’s why: Our music industry alone contributes £4 billion to our
economy each year. But every Adele or Stormzy has to start somewhere.

And small venues like Hull’s New Adelphi and larger ones like Fruit give
artists their first break as they learn their craft.

But over the last ten years in London alone 40 per cent of small venues
have closed.

And this Conservative Government has made matters even worse for
artists. 

Since 2010 they have slashed £48 million of funding to the Arts Councils
in England, Wales and Scotland.

There is creativity in all of us. Labour’s mission will be to set free
that creativity.

We need to give people the opportunities for this creativity to
flourish.

So today we unveil Labour’s cultural manifesto which sets out a bold and
inspiring policy programme to encourage creativity.

We’re pledging £1 billion to launch a new Cultural Capital Fund to
support our world leading cultural industries savaged by Conservative cuts.

We will end austerity to boost creativity.

It will be amongst the biggest arts infrastructure funds ever
created. 

It will boost arts, music, theatre and literature, upgrading our
cultural and creative infrastructure for the digital age, and supporting our
economy.

The fund will also invest in creative clusters across the country based
on a similar model to business enterprise zones. 

I don’t want to see just one city benefit from the transformative powers
of culture every four years.

Our Cultural Capital Fund will help many more towns and cities like Hull
benefit all year round.

The fund will be administered by the Arts Council over a five-year
period and help to transform our country’s cultural landscape.

We will also protect and invest in music venues to support grassroots
and professional music ensuring a healthy music industry across the
country. 

Labour will review the business rates system to make it fairer to
organisations like music venues extending the £1,000 pub relief to help small
music venues that are suffering from rates rises. 

We will also maintain free museums and invest in our heritage sector
which is central to both the identity and economy of local communities across
the country.

Because access to culture is vital for the emotional and intellectual
growth of our people, especially the young.

We want to unleash the potential of every young person, not just through
education, but also through culture. 

In every one of us there is a poet, a writer, a singer of songs, an
artist. 

But too few of us fulfil our artistic ambition. 

And under the Conservatives it’s getting worse. Per pupil funding for
schools is going to be cut for the first time in a generation.

It has become so bad that headteachers are sending out begging letters
to parents to make donations to keep the school running.

This is a shameful state of affairs.

So as well as scrapping tuition fees, fully funding our schools and
introducing universal free school meals – something pioneered here in Hull – we
will go further.

Labour will introduce an Arts Pupil Premium that will allow every
primary school child in England the chance to learn an instrument, take part in
drama and dance, and have regular access to a theatre, gallery or museum. 

Labour will not only feed our children’s bellies, we will feed their
minds and unleash their creativity.

The Arts Pupil Premium will provide £160 million per year to boost
creative education and ensure arts facilities in state schools match standards
found in many private schools.

We will deliver a creative future for all and culture for the many not
the few.

But we need your help.

If people want to see these transformative changes then they have to be
able to vote.

Those who are not on the register have just over 12 hours to get
registered. 

Since the election was called more than two million people have
registered to vote – 40 per cent of them aged between 18 and 24.

If you’re tired of being held back and want to lead a richer life, then
get registered and have your say.

We can stop a Conservative Government that wants to pit the old against
the young.

And replace it with a Labour Government that offers hope and unity.

A government for the many not the few and a government that ensures
culture is for the many not the few

Thank you.

Labour will create a £1 billion Cultural Capital Fund to invest in
the UK’s cultural infrastructure – across arts, music, film, theatre and
culture – as it sets out plans to build on Britain’s status as a world leader
in culture and the creative industries.

Labour Leader, Jeremy Corbyn, and Shadow Culture Secretary, Tom Watson, will
unveil the fund at an event in Hull, the UK’s 2017 City of Culture, on Monday.

Labour’s election manifesto, published last week, included a commitment to
create a pupil premium to help children of primary school age fulfil their
artistic potential.

Labour announces today that a £1 billion Culture Capital Fund will invest in
‘creative clusters’ across the country.

Labour will guarantee a Creative Future for All by:

* Establishing a £1 billion Cultural Capital Fund to support our world-leading
cultural industries, which have been badly hit by Tory cuts.

The fund will be one of the largest arts infrastructure funds ever created. It
will give the country’s creative sectors an opportunity to bid for extra
funding and help the UK protect its status as a creative and cultural hub in
the digital age.

It will protect and invest in live music venues in order to support grassroots
and professional music and ensure there is a vibrant music industry in all
parts of the country. Labour will review the business rates system and extend
the £1,000 pub relief to help small music venues that have been hit by rate
rises.

* Ensuring museums and art galleries remain free and invest in our heritage
sector, which is central to the identity and economy of local communities
across the country.

* Introducing a £160 million arts pupil premium for every primary school in
England to boost creative education and ensure state schools have arts
facilities of an equivalent standard to those available in many private
schools.

Shadow Culture Secretary, Tom Watson, who is a graduate of Hull University,
said:

“As a former resident I’m proud to see Hull staging world-class
cultural events and that it is attracting tourists from around the world who
want to visit the UK City of Culture.

“Labour believes that cities like Hull have demonstrated that creativity can
drive inward investment, regeneration and tourism as well as being an important
expression of local and regional identity.

“Our thriving creative industries define how we are perceived overseas and make
a vital contribution to our economy.

“Under the Tories, the arts and cultural institutions have been forced to
absorb huge cuts; under Labour, they will get the investment they deserve.

"Our £1 billion Cultural Capital Fund will give museums, galleries and
theatres in all parts of the country access to investment that can be used to
upgrade and regenerate their buildings and facilities.”

Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party, said:

“We want to unleash the potential of every young person not just through
education but also through culture. In every one of us there is a poet, a
writer, a singer of songs, an artist. But too few of us fulfil our artistic
ambition.

“The arts pupil premium will allow every primary school child the chance to
learn an instrument, take part in drama and dance and have regular access to a
theatre, gallery or museum. Labour will deliver a creative future for all and
culture for the many, not the few.”

Ends

Notes to editors:

·        
Labour will introduce a £1 billion Cultural Capital Fund to invest
in new facilities communities can be proud of and upgrade existing cultural and
creative infrastructure for the digital age. The fund will invest in creative
clusters across the country, based on a similar model to business enterprise
zones.

·        
The Cultural Capital Fund will be administered by the Arts Council
over a five-year period and help to transform the country’s cultural landscape.
This will be funded from Labour’s new National Transformation Fund, announced
in the manifesto last week, that will invest £250 billion over 10 years to
upgrade our economy.

·        
Since 2010 there are now 600 fewer music teachers, 1,200 fewer
arts teachers and 1,700 fewer drama teachers in our schools, and teaching hours
in arts subjects has fallen by nearly 38,000. New pledges in the Conservatives’
manifesto requiring 90 per cent of pupils to study the EBacc combination of
subjects by 2025 could all but wipe out creative education in our schools. Labour will revamp the EBacc and restore the importance
of creative education to the curriculum.

·        
You can download Labour’s Cultural Manifesto ‘A Creative Future
For All” at  www.labour.org.uk/culturemanifesto

22 May 2017

*While other parties ignore the environment Greens will protect it

*Green MPs will protect NHS and roll back privatisation

*’Ratification referendum’ promised to the British public

*Party pledges to fight for bold policies like a basic income and shorter working week

The Green Party has today set out its key priorities for MPs elected on June 8th [1]. At their Green Guarantee launch in central London the co-leaders of the party pledged that Green MPs will fight to transform politics and create a confident and caring country.

They promised Green MPs would protect the environment, reverse the privatisation of the NHS, give people a referendum on the terms of any Brexit deal and bring forward plans for a basic income and shorter working week. 

Caroline Lucas and Jonathan Bartley focussed on young people, claiming that a generation has been let down by a Government ‘hell-bent on an extreme Brexit’ and an economy that ‘fails the majority’. 

The Green Party also announced plans to introduce an NHS Reinstatement Bill to Parliament, to reverse the privatisation of the Health Service. They also pledged to ‘reverse the NHS funding gap’, in part paid for by scrapping Britain’s nuclear deterrent.  

The Party pledged to immediately guarantee the rights of EU citizens, protect freedom of movement and give the British public, rather than just Parliament, the final say on any EU deal. 

The Green Guarantee also promises to ‘take steps towards the introduction of a universal basic income, including a government sponsored pilot scheme’ and ‘phase in’ a shorter working week. 

At the launch Caroline Lucas, the party’s co-leader, said:

“The Green Party has big, bold ideas to create a confident and caring country we can all be proud of. That means protecting our environment for our children and grandchildren. Saving our NHS from crisis and ridding it of private sector profiteering. It means giving people a proper say on the Brexit deal, not shutting them out of the process. And it means exploring changes to our economy to make it fairer and fit for the future. Green MPs elected on June 8th can be trusted to protect our public services, fight for a close relationship with the EU and truly hold whoever is in Government to account.

“If we do end up with a Tory Government you can be sure that Green MPs will hold Theresa May’s feet to the fire.”

Jonathan Bartley, the party’s co-leader, said:

“By voting Green on June 8th people can elect MPs who will always fight their corner, and push for the major changes we need to make this country a world leader, rather than the little Britain envisioned by the Tories. We are unapologetic in fighting to remain close to Europe, and in defending free movement as a wonderful gift to my generation that is being robbed from the next. We will always defend our public services, stand up for our NHS and push for bold changes so our economy delivers on fairness and on pioneering new technology.

Notes:

[1] The ‘Green Guarantee’ outlines the key priorities for MPs elected to Parliament on June 8th. It is available here: https://www.greenparty.org.uk/green-guarantee/

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