20 November 2022

Responding to the final Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan [1] from the COP27 climate negotiations in Egypt, Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said:

“The agreement to set up a fund for loss and damage is a significant and historic step towards climate justice for the poorest and most vulnerable countries, those least responsible for the climate crisis. 

“However, the fund is currently empty and we now need rich countries like the UK to step up, honour their commitment to this fund and pay for the harm they have inflicted through historical emissions. 

“But the real failure at Sharm el-Sheikh was that no significant progress has been made in commitments on fossil fuels, which is unsurprising given the hundreds of fossil fuel lobbyists who were active inside the negotiation. In terms of the commitment to eliminating fossil fuels from the global economy, COP27 represents a backward step.

“Future COPs must keep out the oil and gas giants and open the door wider to those with real solutions to offer as well as to a much greater proportion of women, who are bearing a disproportionate burden from climate breakdown yet made up only a third of the negotiating delegates [2].

“There has been a failure of international leadership from the world’s most powerful leaders. That includes the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who had to be dragged kicking and screaming to Egypt, before rushing home to back his chancellor as he announced a continuation of business as usual – new licences for North Sea oil and gas, windfall tax loopholes for the fossil fuel giants [3] and billions on new roads. 

“This COP was billed as an implementation summit where countries were supposed to come with detailed action plans showing how they would create the credible path that the UN says is missing to keep global heating to below 1.5C. Yet there is scant reference to the 1.5C target, let alone a credible path to get us there.

“We needed to make giant strides toward achieving net zero and holding down global heating below 1.5C. Instead global leaders have, at best, taken a few tiny, teetering steps back from catastrophe.”

Notes

1. Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan. Revised draft decision -/CP.27 | UNFCCC

2. COP27: Lack of women at negotiations raises concern – BBC News

3. Loopholes mean oil and gas giants will avoid more than half of govt’s updated windfall tax – New Economics Foundation

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18 November 2022

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s refusal to carry out a Tory Manifesto pledge to “fix social care” through a cost cap highlights the urgent need for a radical NHS-style solution, Green co-leader Adrian Ramsay says today.

“Social care should be free at the point of use for all adults,” says Ramsay.

“A fully publicly funded, free at the point of use system would offer people certainty and dignity in times of need.

“Any of us may develop a long-term condition that requires social care support at any point in our lives, as well as in old age.

“Today – and thanks to Hunt’s Budget for many long years to some – people will have to pay the full cost of private social care if they have assets of more than £23,250 and even those who receive some publicly-funded social care end up paying, between them, nearly £3 billion a year towards their support. [1]

“Even the government’s own analysis shows that people’s homes are having to be sold after their deaths to pay care costs. [2]

“Hunt’s Budget postponed a Tory pledge to put an £86,000 cap on social care costs for individuals until beyond the next General Election. Yet local councils are reporting increasing requests for help, with demand from working-age adults in particular increasing by 15 per cent since 2015/16.

“The Dilnot Commission was set up in 2010 and the Tory government claimed to accept its recommendations, but even Dilnot’s partial costs-cap solution has been kicked down the road again [3].

“The Tory government previously said that charges should be capped at £86,000, now it says they should be unlimited for at least another two years. We say they should be capped at zero – social care should be free at the point of use.

“And there are options to fund a new NHS-style service that the Chancellor simply rejects – a wealth tax on the richest 1 per cent [4], a single unified income tax which could raise an additional £24 billion [5], or adding a social care levy to a more progressive tax system are just three examples.

“The funding options are available to be examined in detail, what’s missing is the political will to solve the social care crisis once and for all.”

ENDS

Notes

1

https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/projects/nhs-in-a-nutshell/social-care-nutshell 

2

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1015737/Build_Back_Better-_Our_Plan_for_Health_and_Social_Care_web_accessible.pdf 

3

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/17/delaying-social-care-reforms-jeremy-hunt-uk-vulnerable

4

https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/33819/20/33819%20TIPPET_The_Case_for_a_Progressive_Annual_Wealth_Tax_%282021%29_v2.pdf

5

https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2021/09/06/green-party-proposes-to-abolish-not-increase-national-insurance-tax-to-fund-social-care/

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17 November 2022

The Green Party has urged the Chancellor to avoid imposing Austerity 2.0 in today’s budget and ensure those with the broadest shoulders and those profiting from the current energy crisis bear the greatest burden.

As the government is expected to announce greater public spending cuts and tax rises that will severely impact the least well off in society, the Greens have called on Jeremy Hunt to introduce a wealth tax that will address the serious imbalance in the UK’s economy.

Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said:

“The UK is the sixth largest economy in the world. We simply should not be in a position where people are having to choose between heating their homes or feeding their children and public services, such as schools and health services, are facing even more cuts at a time when they are needed the most.

“The main barriers stopping us from being able to deal with the crises we are currently living through is the vast inequality we see in this country and the Conservatives’ reluctance to invest in the green infrastructure we so desperately need, which could also create millions of jobs in the process. 

“Any cuts made today by Jeremy Hunt will force local councils and vital national public services to deny people help. 

“Meanwhile, the urgent need to move to a net zero carbon future, highlighted at this week’s COP27 summit in Egypt and by the fear among households across the country to turn their heating on, cannot be put off any further.

“Our Green proposals would end the spiral of chaos and create a virtuous circle of green investment by taxing both the richest 1% and the oil companies making eye-watering sums from fossil fuels and the energy crisis in order to invest in insulating peoples’ homes and building our renewables.”

The Green Party’s proposals include:

• Taxing the wealth of the richest 1% of households to raise at least £70 billion [1]
• Imposing dirty profits taxes, without any loopholes, on the oil and gas companies making huge sums from fossil fuels and the energy crisis
• Provide increased funding for the Environment Agency and Ofwat to ensure proper enforcement of privatised water companies so that they invest in the infrastructure needed to end the scandal of sewage being poured into the rivers and seas

Money raised from the wealth tax and the dirty profits tax would help fund:

• a new green skilled workforce
• a dash for renewables to bring down bills
• a national home insulation programme to keep people warm
• free childcare to ease the cost-of-living burden [2]
• reducing the cost of travelling by train and bus to make public transport cheaper than travelling by car
• an end to the sewage scandal
• a National Minimum Wage of £15 an hour [3]
• decent pay increases that reflect rising inflation for public sector workers.

Ramsay said:

“The threats of more Tory austerity is creating fear in communities across this country. With hospitals and schools already facing extreme pressures we are clear that the country simply cannot stand another round of punishing austerity.

“Our tax-raising alternative would mean polluting companies, and the very richest households contribute more, while our investment in a rapid move to a net zero economy would fund the new skilled, sustainable, well-paid jobs that will be needed to replace those reliant on fossil fuels.

“Local councils are best placed to invest in the skills training, small business support and innovation to make the switch to a net zero economy happen. National government needs to provide them with adequate funds to do this rather than indulging in ‘levelling up’ gimmicks.

“Our plans ensure those most able and those most responsible pay, while the vast majority reap the rewards of a rapid move to a green economy.”

ENDS

Notes

1

https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2022/09/30/tax-the-richest-1-to-pay-for-better,-warmer-homes,-say-greens/

2

The Green Party would provide 35 hours a week of free childcare for all, from the age of nine months. This free childcare will include in-work facilities, such as on-site crèches and flexible working opportunities (e.g. jobshares) to help parents who choose to return to work

3

https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2022/10/02/greens-back-%C2%A315-an-hour-minimum-wage-and-declare-support-for-trade-union-campaigns-on-pay/

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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11 November 2022

Reacting to news that the UK economy shrunk in the last three months [1],  the Green Party of England and Wales called for protections for people and the planet.

Adrian Ramsay, co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, said:

“GDP is a poor and limited measure of sustainable economic activity, but news that the UK economy on this measure has shrunk must not be used by the government as an excuse to cut public services or delay investing to tackle climate change.

“Wages are falling, prices are rising and at COP27 analysis by the Global Carbon Project shows that despite the need to cut emissions by half by 2030 to restrict global heating to 1.5C and avoid the most devastating impacts of the climate crisis, emissions are rising [2].

“We need a radical shift in economic priorities to protect people from poverty, properly fund schools and the NHS, and ensure the urgent shift to a net zero economy takes place now. This would create more sustainable economic activity while also reducing carbon emissions.”

Notes:

[1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/bulletins/gdpfirstquarterlyestimateuk/latest

[2] https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/

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7 November 2022

The Green Party has called on Rishi Sunak to come clean and reveal the shortfall in UK climate finance. At COP26, Boris Johnson pledged to boost spending on supporting the nations most at risk from the impacts of the climate emergency. However, figures suggest the UK has only paid £1.3bn of the £2.3bn a year pledged and the government has refused to reveal exactly how much it has short-changed the countries in greatest need [1]. 

Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said:

“Ahead of Rishi Sunak’s speech to COP27 this afternoon, we call on the government to come clean and reveal exactly how far short the UK has fallen in its contributions towards climate finance – a crucial fund to support those poorer countries on the front line of the climate crisis but which have done little to contribute to the problem. 

“It is suggested that the UK may have short-changed the fund by a whopping billion pounds. But let’s see the figures. 

“What we do know is that collectively the rich nations have consistently failed to meet a $100bn annual target on climate finance, and that the UK government is party to this failure. We also know the government has raided the overseas aid budget to pay for climate finance when it pledged that it would be additional money. And the aid budget itself has already been cut from 0.7% to 0.5% of GDP.

“The Prime Minister must use his speech today to pledge he will deliver the UK’s overdue climate finance. The whole COP process risks failure unless richer countries deliver climate justice by paying their fair share. Any claims of global leadership by Rishi Sunak will sound hollow when we are failing to meet our own promises to the countries most affected by the climate crisis.”

Notes

[1] https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/cop27-climate-finance-sunak-johnson-b2218057.html 

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