Green Party

24 January 2017

Caroline Lucas, the co-leader of the Green Party, has responded to today’s Supreme Court judgement. 

She said: 

“This case is a win for parliamentary democracy, and a blow for those minister who planned to railroad Brexit through without any proper scrutiny.

“The spotlight now falls on MPs – and in particular the Labour Party – to properly scrutinise the Government’s plans and act accordingly. That must mean that Labour rethink the support they’ve given to triggering article 50 prematurely, and instead join those of us who refuse to be pushed into Theresa May’s artificial Brexit timetable.

“It’s astonishing that Ministers ever thought it was right to trigger Article 50 without a vote in Parliament – and their battle in the courts really does expose a contempt for the democratic process within the Conservative party.

“I will not be capitulating to the Tories over Brexit – and will vote against prematurely triggering Article 50 in the Spring. As the co-leader of a Party which stands for environmental, social and economic justice I will not support a Government offering no assurances to EU nationals living in Britain, threatening to turn this country into a tax haven and planning to throw us off the Brexit cliff edge by ending our membership of the Single Market and Customs Union.”

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23 January 2017

The Green MEP for the South West, Molly Scott Cato, has warned that family farms could disappear from our countryside if the UK leaves the Single Market. Dr Scott Cato, who sits on the Agricultural Committee in the European Parliament, believes that in the absence of a new trade deal with Europe outside the Single Market, the UK would revert to WTO trade rules which could prove disastrous for farmers.

Under WTO trading rules, tariffs would be imposed on around 90% by value of the UK’s exports to the EU [1]; the EU accounts for around 65% of total agricultural exports from the UK, while around 70% of the UK’s imports originate from other EU countries [2]. Tariffs on both exports and imports would make UK farmers less competitive and increase both food prices for consumers and supply chain costs for food producers. Molly Scott Cato said:

“The decision by Theresa May to opt for a hard Brexit will strike our family farmers and small scale food producers particularly hard. They are the cornerstone of agriculture across many parts of the UK, so any tariff or non-tariff barriers could seriously weaken regional economies and devastate rural communities.

“The government has no plan on replacing the agricultural support and direct payments farmers receive through the Common Agriculture Policy; it wants to end free movement making it impossible to take on seasonal migrant labour from EU countries and exit the single market risking tariffs on exports and imports. This is a triple whammy few family farms could withstand.”

Dr Scott Cato argues that Brexit does throw up opportunities for a new approach to farming, but doesn’t believe the government have shown any willingness to support such an approach:

“Brexit could be used as an opportunity to move towards a diverse and ecologically sustainable farming system; one which focuses on relocalising food production and boosting rural economies [3]. But so far all we have heard from the Defra secretary, Andrea Leadsom, are plans to shred EU legislation, dismissing it as red tape [4]. But many of these measures are aimed at safeguarding our soils, protecting habitats, guaranteeing animal welfare and utilizing farmland for capturing and storing carbon to help in the fight against climate change.

“This government seems hell-bent on pushing large scale industrialised farming post-Brexit, and letting our family farms and small scale producers flounder. Such an approach will leave the 71% of our land currently used as farmland less protected and further damaged; less beneficial to protecting soils, biodiversity and animal welfare and less able to tackle climate change.”

Molly Scott Cato will launch a new report in the Spring on farming policy after Brexit which will identify opportunities on how farming can create environmental, social and economic benefits.

Notes

[1] http://www.cbi.org.uk/global-future/case_study06_wto.html

[2] http://www.nfuonline.com/assets/61142  

[3] http://mollymep.org.uk/2016/09/14/green-meps-agricultural-support-post-brexit/

[4] http://mollymep.org.uk/2017/01/04/defra-secretary-is-environmentally-irresponsible/

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23 January 2017

Jenny Jones, Green member of the House of Lords, has responded to the latest air pollution episode which saw some areas of the country hit Defra’s highest warning level [1].

The London Mayor issued a health warning to millions of Londoners – but the government continues to do nothing to alert people except tweet from its specialist @DefraUKAir account. 

The official Defra alert page says that there are no alerts at this time, despite pollution being high or very high in the south and east of the country.

Jenny Jones said:

“The Mayor of London clearly cares about the health impacts of bad air on people living and working in the capital, but this government is letting everyone else suffer without any warning whats so ever. When air pollution episodes are capable of triggering an extra 300 deaths as well as hundreds of emergency admissions to hospitals around the country, I think that we have to consider emergency measures to discourage driving, encourage a switch away from diesel and promote less polluting alternatives.

“The government’s sole aim is to downplay the whole thing. No press release. It doesn’t even make the main DEFRA twitter feed, or use the NHS to reach out to vulnerable people. They want to tick the smallest of boxes by putting out the minimum of information. It is then up to those who are vulnerable to respiratory diseases and heart conditions to find that information. It is criminal neglect by a government that has lost two court cases over its inadequate plans.”

Notes:

1. https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/latest/

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23 January 2017

The Green Party has responded to the revelation the Government tried to bury its own climate change report [1]. The UK Climate Change Risk Assessment Report warns of significant risk to food supplies, deaths during heatwaves doubling and infrastructure damage due to flooding.

Jonathan Bartley, Green Party co-leader, said:

“It’s astounding the Government appears to have tried to bury its own climate change report. Climate change is the single biggest threat we face. The effects predicted by the report aren’t minor inconveniences – people’s lives are in danger. It’s hugely alarming the Government is sweeping its own warnings under the rug and failing to provide leadership.

“The report was quietly published on January 18, the exact same day experts confirmed 2016 was the hottest year on record [2]. The evidence is overwhelming and the Government should be responding to this report and tackling climate change head on by backing a renewable energy revolution.  There is simply no excuse for inaction.”

Notes:

1.       http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change-risk-assessment-global-warming-government-accused-burying-report-a7540726.html

2.       https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2017/01/18/green-party-time-to-stop-breaking-records-and-start-making-change/

 

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23 January 2017

* Lucas demands that the Prime Minister comes to the House of Commons to give details on missile test

Caroline Lucas, the Green Party co-leader and Chair of Parliamentary CND, is calling for ‘full disclosure’ of the details of testing ‘failure’ of a Trident missile.

Lucas – whose party opposes the renewal of the Trident – is demanding that the Prime Minister herself comes to the House of Commons today to give MPs further details of what happened in the missile test.

She said:

“These hugely expensive missile test rarely happen, so any single failure must be taken extremely seriously. Being in charge of our nuclear arsenal is one of the most crucial jobs of the Prime Minister, which is why Theresa May herself should come to the House of Commons today to give MPs details of what happened last June. Nothing short of full disclosure on this matter is acceptable.

“A missile veering off course is deeply concerning. Imagine such a failure occurring in a ‘real world’ situation – it could lead to the slaughter of millions of people in an ally’s country. How can the Government possibly make an argument for a deterrent when the only recent test shows that the weapon cannot be relied upon?

“Replacing Trident is neither necessary nor sensible. Missile test failures only add to the overwhelming amount of evidence against Trident renewal. Rather than pouring billions into this cold war relic we should be providing our troops with the equipment they need to keep safe – and investing in real security measures for a country under strain like a fully-functioning NHS and a world-class social care system.”

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