20 September 2021

* Emergency grants to pay for simple insulation measures

* Large scale retrofit programme in the medium term

* Take back energy generation and sales into public ownership 

The Green Party has called for emergency grants to homeowners, landlords and councils to fund immediate insulation improvements to those at risk of fuel poverty this winter. The call comes in the wake of soaring energy prices.  

Zoe Nicholson, Green Party Green New Deal spokesperson, said:

“Soaring gas prices threaten to increase further the appalling levels of fuel poverty this winter. The Conservative government must shoulder the blame for this crisis. 

“Recently, the Green Homes grant, that offered households the opportunity to insulate their homes and power them with renewable energy, was axed. That’s why Greens are calling for emergency grants to be made available immediately so households facing the prospect of cold and damp homes this winter can pay for simple insulation measures.

“Of course, this short term fix is only needed because of years of government inaction on fuel poverty. Ultimately, we need to see the implementation of a large-scale nationwide insulation programme. This is a key part of the Green New Deal, which will ensure homes are warm and comfortable, reduce carbon emissions and create thousands of green jobs.” 

Greens have also repeated calls for energy to be taken back into public ownership. 

Molly Scott Cato, Green Party Finance and Economy spokesperson, said:

“With unsustainable deals to attract customers, and higher prices charged for those with less ability to pay, it’s clear that the market is failing in the energy sector. In a climate emergency it’s absurd to give responsibility for reducing demand to those who profit from selling the product. A resilient, fair and sustainable energy supply system can only be effective if politicians have the power to act which is why the Green Party is clear that our energy generation and supply systems should be brought back into public ownership.”

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9 September 2021

• Party has calculated expansion could result in an extra 1.5 million tonnes of carbon each year

The Green Party has warned a second runway at Gatwick would be a disaster for the climate and could result in an extra 1.5 million tonnes of carbon emitted each year [1], ahead of a public consultation on the airport’s expansion plans. 

Councillors and members from the South East Green Party met with a former Gatwick-based pilot Todd Smith when they launched their campaign against the plans on the eve of the consultation on Wednesday.

Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion, said:

“Converting Gatwick’s emergency runway to support even more flights is completely incompatible with the UK’s climate targets. The Government should be looking to ways of driving down aviation demand, not facilitating it.  

“More flights at Gatwick will cause more noise, pollution and road congestion and undermine what few efforts there are to put us on the path to net zero emissions.”

Surrey Green Party Councillor Jonathan Essex has calculated that the planned expansion at Gatwick will increase emissions by more than 1.5 million tonnes of carbon a year.

Councillor Essex said:

“Converting Gatwick’s emergency runway to support even more flights would be a disaster for the climate. The fact that these plans have even been put forward implies that the government just reflects business interests rather than providing leadership on the climate. 

“We need a Green New Deal plan to decarbonise every home and journey locally, not a further increase in the noise, pollution, congestion and pressures of Gatwick, whose climate impact already dwarfs that of its surrounding area.”

Todd Smith, 32, former Gatwick-based pilot and co-founder of environmental group Safe Landing [2], said:

“Airport expansion at Gatwick or any other UK airport is in direct conflict with the need for climate leadership and contradicts the advice from the government’s independent Climate Change Committee.

“It’s about time we had a grown up conversation regarding aviation’s role in this emergency and how we can support highly skilled workers’ transition towards the essential low carbon jobs of the future.”

ENDS

Notes

1

This is calculated by applying the increase in carbon emissions set out by the UK Department for Transport (DfT) for 2016 up to 2028 for the proposed second runway using Gatwick Airport Ltd (GAL) and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) figures. 

• Estimate of 4.5 million tonnes CO2 from Gatwick in 2016 (DfT (2017) UK Aviation Forecasts. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/878705/uk-aviation-forecasts-2017.pdf (p146)
• Increase for 2017 based on CAA data to 283,000 Air Transport Movements from Gatwick (https://www.caa.co.uk/uploadedFiles/CAA/Content/Standard_Content/Data_and_analysis/Datasets/Airport_stats/Airport_data_2017_annual/Table_03_1_Aircraft_Movements.pdf)
• Applying uplift from 2017 to 2028 of 32% calculated by GAL during the Landing and Take-off Cycle (LTO) cycle of using the Northern emergency runway as a second runway https://www.gatwickairport.com/globalassets/business–community/growing-gatwick/master-plan-2019/gatwick-master-plan-2019.pdf (Figure 5.8).

2

Safe Landing is a group of eco-conscious aviation workers campaigning for long term sustainable jobs and a sector governed by the realities of climate science: https://safe-landing.org/

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8 September 2021

The Green Party has criticised the government after it was reported that ministers have sacrificed Paris climate agreement conditions in its trade deal with Australia. [1]

Green Party peer Natalie Bennett said:

“Sacrificing climate commitments to try to make up for the disastrous trade impacts of Brexit shows just how unprincipled and dangerously short-sighted this government is.

“The Paris agreement’s commitment to aim for below 1.5 degrees temperature rise is there to protect the future of everybody on the planet right now and future generations. This grubby trade deal is nothing more than a blatant cover-up for the mess Boris Johnson has left the UK to gain power for himself.

“As chair of COP26, the world expects the UK to be stringent in holding up existing climate commitments and energetic in pushing for even more. Instead, all we see is self-serving games being played, from a group of politicians who are willing to put all of our futures’ at risk for short-term and extremely limited financial and political gain.”

ENDS

Notes

1

https://news.sky.com/story/exclusive-ministers-bowed-to-pressure-to-drop-key-climate-commitments-for-uk-trade-deal-with-australia-12401988

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8 September 2021

The Green Party has condemned the government’s mismanagement of the Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme, after a National Audit Office report identified it has wildly underdelivered on new energy efficiency home installations and creation of Green jobs.

Deputy party leader Amelia Womack said: “News that the Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme has been a failure comes as no surprise and yet again demonstrates the government’s total lack of commitment to substantive action on the climate crisis.

“Decarbonising home heating is a key part of reaching net zero – even the government has managed to identify that. But here we have a scheme that was supposed to contribute to that goal while also delivering energy savings for hundreds of thousands of households and more than eighty thousand jobs, and it’s been totally mismanaged.

“A wasted opportunity doesn’t even begin to cover it!”

Delays by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy in issuing vouchers to homeowners and paying installers were also highlighted in the report.

Green Party Green New Deal spokesperson Zoe Nicholson said: “People are really on board with taking steps that will help reach net zero so it’s so disappointing that this mish mash of schemes hasn’t been easy for householders to engage with.

“For a genuinely Green recovery from Covid, local authorities need to be given the proper funding and support to play a significant role in decarbonisation – making it a priority in both the public and private sectors.”

ENDS

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6 September 2021

• Greens call to replace national insurance with single unified income tax to reduce loopholes and raise £24 billion to help fund social care

The Green Party has condemned the Chancellor’s proposal to increase tax on working people and called for national insurance to be scrapped entirely in favour of a single unified income tax which could raise an additional £24 billion to fund social care.

Molly Scott Cato, Green Party economy and finance spokesperson, said:

“Increasing national insurance will simply force working people to pay more while protecting the more well off in society, whose wealth is wrapped up in property and other investments.

“The Green Party proposes a single tax so that all incomes, including rental and investment income, are taxed at the same rate. We would be prepared to increase income tax until it reaches a level comparable with other economies that have comprehensive health and care systems. [1]

“Our single tax would remove the unjust loophole whereby earnings above £50,000 are charged only 2%. These changes together would bring an additional £24 billion into the Exchequer.” [2]

Green Party acting leader Sian Berry said:

“A decent, dignified social care system without anxiety or unfairness is long overdue, and we need new ideas.

“But, rather than taking a penny-pinching approach, the Chancellor should build a social care system fit for everyone’s needs and which creates good new jobs paying a decent wage. We should be following the example of post-war Chancellors who built our health system despite a crisis in the public finances.

“It’s time for all parties to work together in order to build a social care system that is free for everyone to use at the point of service, and which will also make sure carers are paid a decent wage for their hard work.”

ENDS

Notes

1

See table 1: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/8625f8e5-en/1/3/1/index.html?itemId=/content/publication/8625f8e5-en&_csp_=10eecbf76519867b3d14d98d90e8aff0&itemIGO=oecd&itemContentType=book#figure-d1e280

2

Increasing additional rate of employees National Insurance from 2% to 12% (same as standard rate) would raise around £11bn per year for the treasury 

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/737597/Dec_17_Main_Reliefs_Final.pdf

According to figures from the Institute for Public Policy Research, taxing income from assets in the same way as income from work could gain £15bn per year by 2025:

https://www.ippr.org/research/publications/just-tax

Entrepreneurs’ relief has now largely been reduced by the government, so a realistic increase would be £13bn.

This means, coupled with the increased rate, the total extra revenue would be around £24bn per year.

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