6 October 2023

• Greens unveil target candidates for next general election with plan to ensure everybody can afford a quality home
• Fairer, Greener Homes Guarantee will provide funding to help households heat their homes and give renters the right to demand landlords insulate their homes
• Carla Denyer: “We think everyone deserves a warm, secure and affordable home”
• Adrian Ramsay: “Only by having more Green MPs will we have people in Parliament advocating the solutions to the country’s housing crisis”

The co-leaders of the Green Party today (Friday 6 October) officially unveiled the next generation of Green MPs alongside their plan to ensure everybody can afford to live in a quality home.

In a keynote speech at the party’s Autumn Conference in Brighton, (Friday 6 October) [1], co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay set out their ambitious plan to quadruple Green representation in Parliament after the next general election.

They said the party’s four target candidates [2] will hold the next government to account and push for their Fairer, Greener Homes Guarantee – a policy package designed to ensure everybody has access to a warm, secure home.

Denyer said:

“We think everyone deserves a warm, secure and affordable home. That’s how to build stronger communities and better lives for all.

“Yet successive governments have left a generation of renters unable to put down lasting roots because they can’t afford to get on the housing ladder – can’t even touch the first rung.

“The broken housing market leaves people much less likely to feel at home where they live – it’s hard to prioritise building relationships with your neighbours and local shop owners when you know you could get evicted with barely a moment’s notice.

“And too many private landlords in England are lining their pockets despite a quarter of privately rented homes not even meeting the most basic standards of decency.

“So as part of our promise for Fairer, Greener Homes for all, we are announcing a package of policies to make every house – and flat, and bedsit – a proper home.

“Every home should be properly insulated and free from damp and mould. We’d give renters the legal right to demand this from their landlords. No more battling to get things done and no more risk that you’ll get kicked out for insisting your home meets basic standards.

“And we want the amount of rent you pay to be fair, so we’d give councils the power to bring the cost of renting in line with local wages, and make sure housing benefit is enough too. No more lying awake at night worrying your landlord’s going to price you out of your home.

“That’s our promise to everyone – a home that’s warm, affordable and secure.”

The Fairer, Greener Homes Guarantee also includes:

• Investment of £145 billion over ten years to provide grants to retrofit all homes that need it, along with government-backed property-linked finance [3] to make up additional costs
• Give local authorities the power to impose rents controls on the private rental sector ensuring there are affordable homes for key and critical workers in overheated local housing markets
• Plans to increase the stock of social housing by 150,000 homes a year including by bringing empty homes back into use

Co-leader Adrian Ramsay said:

“The other political parties are simply not living in the real world when it comes to dealing with the housing crisis while reaching the critical net zero target.

“The Conservatives are capitulating to developers while Labour still supports the highly damaging Right to Buy [4] which helped create the crisis.

“This is why it is so crucial that we achieve our aim of Four for 24 – the next generation of Green MPs, our four target candidates, elected at the next election.

“Only by having more Green MPs will we have people in Parliament advocating the solutions to the country’s housing crisis.”

ENDS

Notes

1 The Green Party Autumn Conference takes place at The Brighton Centre, in Brighton, from Friday 6 October to Sunday 8 October

2 The party’s four target candidates are:

• Siân Berry, in Brighton Pavilion
• Carla Denyer, in Bristol Central
• Adrian Ramsay, in Waveney Valley
• Ellie Chowns, in North Herefordshire

3 Low interest government backed loans to pay for retrofit not covered by government grants. These loans will be linked to the property, not the owner at the time that retrofitting took place. Homeowners will need to pay off the loan while they live there and benefit from the reduced energy bills.

Tenants will be able to insist their landlord accesses the loans and has the work carried out. If the landlord will not do this, the local authority can receive the loan and their local authorities carry out the work.

4 https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/labour-party-supports-right-to-buy-to-extend-wealth-ownership-nandy-says-82109

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27 September 2023

• “This Government must be held accountable for its complicity in this climate crime” 

Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion, has the following response to the approval of the Rosebank oil field: 

“Giving the green light to this huge new oil field is morally obscene. This Government must be held accountable for its complicity in this climate crime.  

Amidst a summer of raging wildfires and the hottest July on record, this Government approves the biggest undeveloped oil and gas field in the North Sea – set to produce more than the combined CO2 emissions of all 28 low-income countries in the world. 

Energy security and cheaper bills aren’t delivered by allowing highly-subsidised, foreign-owned fossil fuel giants to extract more oil and gas from these islands and sell it overseas to the highest bidder. 

They come from grasping the opportunities of unblocking and upscaling abundant and affordable renewables, and properly insulating the nation – ensuring clean air and water, thriving nature and wildlife, and high-quality skilled and stable jobs in the process. 

If we’re going to secure this liveable future, we must stop all new fossil fuel projects like Rosebank once and for all.” 

ENDS 

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26 September 2023

Responding to Suella Braverman’s US speech [1], Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said: 

“This is a horrifying speech from a British Home Secretary that would not be out of place on a far-right conspiracy website. 

“It is language straight out of the gutter that should have no place in a fair and compassionate society. 

“The Prime Minister should have the decency and moral courage to sack the Home Secretary now. 

“Suella Braverman has singled out gay people seeking asylum despite the fact they make up around 1.5 per cent of applications and come mostly from countries where being openly gay can lead to a lifetime in prison or even a death sentence. 

“She claims that so-called uncontrolled and illegal migration is an ‘existential challenge for the political and cultural institutions of the West’, when our country draws its strength a from the diversity offered by centuries of migrants sharing their skills and experiences and building lives here. 

“The international refugee convention has proved a cornerstone of protection for people around the world and serves as a reminder to every country of our shared obligations.  

“We need a government that recognises its international responsibilities and sits down with its neighbours to work out how to create the safe, legal routes that enable people to seek asylum without risking their lives.” 

Notes 

1. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-66922119  

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21 September 2023

Responding to the news that the Bank of England has held interest rates at 5.25%, Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said:

“Today’s decision to hold interest rates will come as some relief to households who have been finding it hard to make ends meet over the last couple of years.

“However, keeping the base rate at 5.25% will do nothing to actually help those who are struggling as a result of this Conservative government’s complete and utter inaction in the face of an economic crisis.

“It’s clear the Bank of England feels it has been left with no option but to use the blunt instrument of rising interest rates over the last few months, and risk recession, due to the fact that the Chancellor and Prime Minister see no need to do anything to help those who need it right now.

“It is clear as day that these two millionaires simply cannot see the devastating impact the current economic climate is having on millions of households.

“What we need to do is look for ways to support the economy without fuelling inflation by shifting consumption from the wealthy to those on lower incomes.

‘This means paying public sector workers in line with inflation and funding this through taxing the super-rich. Shifting spending power in this way would reduce any potential consumption impact on inflation without piling pressure on the struggling majority.

“It is the companies currently making billions in profits and the most wealthy who can and should bear the burden of a crisis rooted in inequality.

“At the same time, an increase in Universal Credit of £40 per week, and the same for legacy benefits, would provide immediate support to those that need it right now.”

ENDS

For more information or to arrange an interview contact the press office on press@greenparty.org.uk or call 0203 691 9401

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20 September 2023

Responding to Rishi Sunak’s press conference in which the Prime Minister confirmed he is weakening the government’s net zero policies, Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said:

“This is a desperate and dangerous u-turn from the Prime Minister which will throw the UK economy, the wellbeing of its citizens and the future of our environment out the window in a misguided attempt to create divisions for political gain.

“More than anything this speech sounded like an admission of the government’s failure to implement climate policy in a way that brings people with them while showing the benefits of a more sustainable future.

“The government should be taking responsibility and leading the way by investing in the green transition, rather than putting the burden onto individuals. At the same time, it needs to be honest with the public about the need to reach net zero and what it will take to get there.

“We know that people are extremely concerned about the environment [1] and want clear leadership and action on the climate. This means insulating people’s homes, investing in renewables and making sustainable transport more affordable, accessible and convenient.

“Not only would this help the UK reach its climate commitments but it would also help households through the cost of living crisis through cheaper bills and creating jobs.

“Instead, we have a government which is going backwards on all of these things, stoking fears of change and undermining the good work already being done.

“And let’s not pretend there isn’t the money around to make this happen. The government is currently spending billions of pounds subsidising the fossil fuel industry [2] which is actively making the climate crisis worse, costing us all billions more in the process.

“Meanwhile, a wealth tax on the richest 1% could go a long way to fund the changes necessary to reduce emissions and ensure those with the broadest shoulders play a part in improving the lives of those who are struggling right now.”

ENDS

Notes

            1

https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/public-importance-climate-change-and-environment-doubles-become-joint-third-biggest-issue-facing

            2

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/09/fossil-fuels-more-support-uk-than-renewables-since-2015

For more information or to arrange an interview contact the press office on press@greenparty.org.uk or call 0203 691 9401

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