25 August 2022

Responding to GCSE results released today [Thursday 25 August], Green Party education spokesperson Vix Lowthion said:

“Congratulations to the Class of 2022 GCSE students for gaining their grades today after years of disruption due to the impact of the pandemic. They have achieved despite the challenges and obstacles and should be commended for their determination.

“Of course, the pandemic has had a long-term impact on the educational attainment of our young people, but the ‘disadvantage gap’ that researchers have identified is not only the result of Covid. It is also the result of years of school cuts, increasing levels of poverty and hardship experienced by families under this Conservative government.”

Lowthion, a teacher on the Isle of Wight, added:

“We rightly congratulate many thousands of students and teachers for getting fantastic grades, but the GCSE exam system also leaves too many young people behind who have struggled to attain the results to help them take their next steps.

“We need an education and assessment system that supports all students to have the opportunity to achieve, have second chances for those who need extra support and doesn’t leave anyone behind.

“There are many accounts of well-deserved achievements by our young people today after many months of hard work by staff and students, but the widening ‘attainment gap’ in the last 20 years (1) identified by the Institute for Fiscal Studies means that every GCSE results day there are disadvantaged young people who are less likely to succeed.”

Young Greens co-chair Kelsey Trevett said:

“Congratulations to all those collecting results this morning. GCSE students have experienced government negligence throughout this pandemic, consistently putting their well-being, health, and education secondary to economic growth.

“The resilience shown by school pupils is admirable, and students should be incredibly proud. 

“We reiterate our frustration at the missed opportunity to reform school assessment away from an unfair and unrepresentative exam model. And we will continue to fight alongside students for the radical educational overhaul which is necessary to prepare them for the future they are inheriting, and which values learning and education independently of its capacity for profit making.”

ENDS

Notes

1

https://ifs.org.uk/inequality/chapter/education-inequalities/

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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18 August 2022

The Green Party has praised A-level, BTec and T-level students for achieving their results today in some of the most challenging circumstances in recent memory.

Students picking up their grades have succeeded despite the impact of covid on their studies, the lack of comprehensive catchup funding and disjointed changes to exam requirements in the last couple of years. 

Vix Lowthion, Green Party Education spokesperson and an A Level teacher on the Isle of Wight, said:

“If education could be measured in terms of courage, resilience and determination then the class of 2022 and their teachers should sweep the board with honours. 

“They have had to adapt to many different forms of learning and assessment, and this deserves acknowledgement and recognition as they hopefully are able to take the next exciting steps in their future.

“I call for the new Prime Minister to look to the example of our students adjusting to these changing circumstances in education, and pledge to prioritise a commission to reform our fragile and outdated assessment and exams system so that it is relevant, robust, fair and fit for the 21st century.

“Imagine how well our young people would do in the future if the assessment system was as strong and resilient as they have been.”

Jane Baston, co–chair of the Young Greens, said: 

“Congratulations to all students receiving their results today.  It’s an incredible achievement, especially in light of having had to adapt to difficult circumstances created by the government’s chaotic, dangerous mismanagement of education during Covid.

“However you plan to proceed, the value of learning is inherent: we share your fury at a government which time and time again puts the economy over your education, and celebrate the resilience you’ve shown. The fight for a fair education system continues, one which isn’t solely focused on capitalist profit making.”

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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17 August 2022

• Green Party set out plan to restore the energy price cap to rate of October 2021
• Intervention would reduce the cost to the average household by more than £2,000
• Carla Denyer: “This experiment with the energy market has failed. Only the government can intervene at the scale required to avoid a catastrophe this winter”

The Green Party has called for the big five energy suppliers to be brought into public ownership and for the price of energy to be returned to where it was in October last year to protect households from accelerating energy costs.

As Ofgem continues to raise the energy price cap beyond affordability [1], the Greens have called for a powerful intervention in a market that is clearly failing.

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said:

“We are seeing nationwide anxiety about the prospect of unpayable energy bills this winter. 

“Other parties have only offered to fix energy prices at current levels, but we know these are already unaffordable. We would return energy prices to an affordable level.

“This experiment with an energy supply market has failed. Only the government can intervene at the scale required to avoid a catastrophe this winter.”

The party has called for the Big Five energy supply companies to be taken into public ownership, as proposed by the TUC [2], and restore the energy price cap to the level of last October.

The Greens say this would reduce the cost to the average household by more than £2,000 [3].

Denyer said:

“Everyone needs to use energy to survive, for basic needs like cooking and keeping warm. However, tackling the climate crisis requires that we improve our energy efficiency in this country. 

“That’s why our differential tariff will cover basic energy needs but will include progressively rising prices for those who use more energy, with exceptions for those with disabilities and chronic health conditions, alongside support for those companies offering 100% renewable electricity, which is the cheapest form of electricity.

“Alongside an ambitious national home insulation scheme, this will help bring down energy use across the country.”

The Greens are renewing their call for home insulation to become the government’s top priority. Reducing energy demand by increasing energy efficiency is the most important step the government can take to ensure the UK’s long-term energy security.

Denyer said:

“Fixing the price of energy will put huge stress on energy supply companies, which is why we propose bringing the largest into public ownership and offering subsidies to smaller suppliers, especially the renewable energy specialists who have done so much to innovate in recent years.

“By bringing the big five energy retail companies into public ownership, setting the price of energy at an affordable rate and absorbing the global price rises, the government could make sure everybody can afford to get through this cost of living crisis.

“At the same time, it will mean this public service will be able to be run in the public interest, instead of in the interest of profit making.”

The TUC estimates it will cost £2.8bn to bring the big five energy retail companies into public ownership. This is less than the government has already spent to clean up the mess caused by the collapse of energy companies last autumn. 

The Green Party has calculated it will cost £37bn to fix the price cap at the rate of last October. It says that closing the loopholes in Sunak’s windfall tax [5] and the higher VAT revenues resulting from higher prices across the rest of the economy could go a long way towards funding this vital policy. The party is also prepared to increase taxes on the super-rich for a policy that benefits them as well as those on the lowest incomes who need the most help. 

Notes

1. Costings based on Cornwall Insight projections; note that they are projecting falls in energy prices by Q3 2023: https://www.cornwall-insight.com/price-cap-forecasts-for-january-rise-to-over-4200-as-wholesale-prices-surge-again-and-ofgem-revises-cap-methodology/

2. TUC plan for renationalisation of Big Five energy companies: https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/tuc-publishes-plan-cut-bills-through-public-ownership-energy-retail

3.  The energy price cap in October 2021 was £1,277, compared to the predicted price cap rise in October 2022 of £3,582. By keeping the price cap at the October 2021 rate, households will save more than £2,000

4. https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/utilities/what-is-the-energy-price-cap/

5. https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/oil-gas-windfall-tax-boost-b2088147.html 

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9 August 2022

The Green Party has called for a series of measures to help stop three billion litres of water being wasted each day as a heat health-alert comes into force and England faces its worst drought in decades, with many households facing hosepipe bans and water shortages. 

Greens are calling for an immediate enforcement order on water companies, along with a cut to executive pay, an end to dividends to shareholders and for the water supply to be brought back into public ownership as soon as is practicable to do so. They point to monopoly water companies losing between a quarter and a fifth of the water in their mains through unrepaired leaks while sewage regularly flows into rivers and coastlines [1]. 

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

“As the country faces a severe drought and people are asked to cut their water use, more than three billion litres of clean water is wasted every day due to a network of pipes riddled with leaks [2]. Shockingly, the most wasteful water companies waste more water than they provide to their customers. It’s time to hold the water companies and the water regulator to account and see some firm action against this scandal. 

“We need Ofwat to apply an enforcement order on companies to properly carry out their statutory functions [3] – which includes ensuring that water actually reaches people’s homes and sewage doesn’t go into watercourses or end up on our coastline. 

“But beyond that, the water industry cannot continue to be rewarded for failure. The £57bn paid out in dividends over the last 30 years [4] and hugely inflated salaries of water bosses [5] should have gone towards plugging the leaks. Instead of these companies being awash with profits and leaking funds towards shareholders, Greens say we should cut dividends and ensure water bosses earn no more than ten times the salary of the lowest paid in their companies.

“Ultimately, to end leaks, stop sewage discharges and cut bills we need to take the water supply back into public ownership, which is what the Green Party believes must be done at the earliest practicable opportunity.”  

Notes

[1] Ofwat’s patience with water firms is drying up | The Times

[2] Wasting Water | Billions of Litres UK | Maintain Drains

[3] Our duties – Ofwat

[4] England’s privatised water firms paid £57bn in dividends since 1991 | The Guardian

[5] Water bosses’ £58m pay over last five years a ‘national scandal’ | The Guardian

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4 August 2022

Responding to the news that the Bank of England has raised interest rates to 1.75%, the biggest rise in 27 years, Green Party peer Natalie Bennett said:

“Today’s report from the Bank of England is devastating and paints a picture of our economy caught between the twin evils of out-of-control inflation and recession. Our entire economic system is in crisis and this Conservative government clearly has no idea what to do about it.

“The Bank of England is swinging its interest rate sledgehammer with little regard for the impact on working families who are already struggling. Raising interest rates to tackle inflation is like a doctor reaching for cyanide in response to a strychnine poisoning.

“Meanwhile those who should be showing leadership are indulging in fairy tales about tax cuts and growth.

“A decade of austerity and dependence on fossil fuels has left us economically and socially vulnerable to oil price shocks. A complete retrofit of our economy is urgently needed to ensure resilience.

“We need to see a raft of measures to provide immediate financial support to those who need it most, including an uplift in Universal Credit by £40 a week and a much bigger windfall tax, without the Tory government’s loopholes, on oil companies who are currently making huge profits off the suffering of everyone else.”

ENDS

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