25 January 2022

Greens have welcomed the announcement by the Metropolitan Police that they will investigate a number of events at No 10 and Whitehall because they appear to constitute “the most serious and flagrant type of breach” [1]. 

Green peer, Jenny Jones, who launched an official complaint into the failure of the police to investigate ‘Partygate’, said:

“I welcome this much delayed police investigation into rule breaking by the Prime Ministers’ Office. The decision, finally, to investigate Partygate suggests there were serious and flagrant breaches of the rules at the time. 

“The Met Police should have started their investigation weeks ago when I launched an official complaint into their failure to enforce the law at Number 10 [2]. While other parties have kept their focus on Boris Johnson, Greens have been holding the police to account [2].

“The delay has damaged the reputation of the Met Police for impartiality and the timing of the announcement appears to have been used by Downing Street to delay the publication of the Sue Gray report, which we expected to be made public this week. 

“I hope the Met will now look at the charge of “misconduct in public office” as this allows the use of search warrants and goes beyond what Sue Gray has been able to do. It would also be good to see the Met Police add other matters to their list of questions such as cash for peerages, the fast track scheme of PPE contracts and cash for access involving the decoration of the Downing Street flat.”

Notes

[1] https://news.sky.com/story/met-launches-investigation-into-a-number-of-downing-street-events-12524866 

[2] https://inews.co.uk/news/downing-street-party-met-police-investigate-boris-johnson-drinks-event-1398216  

[3] Thousands of people signed a Green Party petition demanding the Metropolitan Police investigate the Downing Street parties: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/police-must-deliver-a-full-fair-and-independent-investigation-into-partygate 

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24 January 2022

Responding to the escalating situation in Ukraine and Boris Johnson’s response, Green peer Natalie Bennett, said: 

“It is deeply worrying that there is an escalation towards conflict. With the growing build-up of military forces, Boris Johnson is right to warn that an invasion would be a painful, violent and bloody business [1]. 

“However, Brexit and an over-reliance on gas for electricity and heating has strengthened Putin’s hand. 

“Johnson’s government has also dragged its feet over clamping down on property ownership by Russian oligarchs in London – part of that pit of global corruption that the resignation of Lord Agnew of Oulton on the floor of the House of Lords has highlighted today. 

“Transparency International reveals Russian money in London property to be an eye watering £1.5bn and that almost 150 land titles are owned by Russian individuals with links to Putin’s regime [2]. 

“Under these circumstances, Boris Johnson cannot cast himself as a leader in diplomacy over Ukraine.

“As Greens we continue to emphasise the need for intensified diplomatic efforts while underlining the risk posed by the stockpiles of nuclear weapons, and Britain’s plans to increase its numbers of warheads. We will continue to press for the implementation of the United Nations nuclear weapon ban treaty [3].”

Notes

[1] https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/breaking-boris-johnson-warns-putin-26032301 

[2] https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jan/23/no-10-casts-boris-johnson-as-head-of-anti-russian-alliance-over-ukraine 

[3] https://www.icanw.org/the_treaty 

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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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