More action is needed say Greens as scientists raise the alarm on climate crisis

Responding to the news that 408 leading climate scientists have demanded more action on the climate emergency in an open letter, Green Co-Leader, Adrian Ramsay, said,

“It is time for politicians to sit up and take note. Here we have 408 scholars who have dedicated their careers to understanding the climate crisis demanding not more words, but real action. Their call for an ambitious climate programme aligns closely with how The Green Party sees the role of political and government leadership in transitioning us to a more sustainable and secure future.

For Greens, it’s in our DNA that we will commit to cutting greenhouse gas emissions with urgency, bolster our resilience to unavoidable climate impacts, and lead the global effort in transitioning away from fossil fuels. Equally, we stand ready to implement a credible, legally binding strategy to meet our carbon budgets and achieve net zero. We will accelerate adaptation measures and adhere to the expert advice of the Climate Change Committee.

More than that though we stand in solidarity with those demanding a just and fair transition and see the need for finance to come from the industrial north to those in need to most urgently mitigate and adapt from the impacts of climate change. The time for half measures is over. We need real change and real hope from our politicians that now, more than ever, the climate crisis will be given the focus and funding it deserves.

This, fundamentally, shows why we desperately need more Green MPs elected. To ensure that these demands are being made inside Westminster as well as by colleagues outside.”

/ by Green Party

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Ed Davey launches the Liberal Democrat manifesto

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Fairly reforming Capital Gains Tax to save our NHS

We have a fair plan to fund a rescue package for our health services.

Our NHS is in crisis. The Conservatives have failed to deliver the new hospitals they promised and left people waiting hours for an ambulance, weeks to see a GP or months for urgent cancer treatment.

That’s why, at this election, the Liberal Democrats are putting forward a bold £5 billion-a-year rescue package for our NHS. That includes funding to:

  • Increase the number of GPs by 8,000, so that everyone can get an appointment when they need one.
  • Boost cancer survival rates to among the highest in the world, by investing in cancer research and treatment.
  • Improve mental health services, including talking therapies and walk-in hubs for young people.
  • Bring dentists back to the NHS from the private sector by fixing the broken NHS dental contract.

Our plan is fully funded. After all, the Conservative Government has shown all too clearly the damage and pain caused by fiscal irresponsibility. So throughout our manifesto, all day-to-day spending commitments are funded by tax revenue, not borrowing.

But after years of damaging Conservative tax rises, and in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, it would be wrong to ask ordinary families and pensioners to pay more to clear up the Conservatives’ mess.

That is why our NHS rescue package is funded by fairly reforming Capital Gains Tax, to close loopholes exploited by approximately the top 0.1% wealthiest individuals in the country.

 

How would it work?

Right now the capital gains system is broken for everyone.

Most people are paying far too much when they sell a property or a few shares, because the system doesn’t account for inflation over the time they’ve owned them. At the same time, a tiny number of super wealthy people – roughly the top 0.1% – exploit it as effectively one giant loophole, to avoid paying the rates of income tax everyone else does.

According to the latest HMRC statistics, 14,000 multi-millionaires used the loophole to pay less than half the top rate of income tax on their combined £60 billion income.

We want to reform the whole system to make it much fairer – cutting taxes or keeping them the same for the vast majority of people, while making sure the super wealthy can’t avoid paying their fair share.

Margaret Thatcher’s Chancellor Nigel Lawson reformed Capital Gains Tax along very similar lines in 1988, arguing that having lower rates than income tax was “hard to justify” and “inevitably creates a major tax avoidance industry”.

 

What are the details?

Under our plan, there would be three rates of Capital Gains Tax, like there are for income tax: 20% (for gains up to £50,000), 40% (between £50,000 and £100,000) and 45% (over £100,000). Unlike now, where your Capital Gains Tax rate is determined by adding together your income and capital gains, the rate would be based solely on your gains.

The capital gains tax-free allowance would go up from £3,000 to £5,000, and crucially, we would also introduce a new “inflation allowance”, so that any gains that are purely the result of inflation are not taxed at all. There would also be a targeted relief for small businesses.

 

How much would it raise?

We estimate that these reforms would raise £5.2 billion a year in 2028-29, to invest in our NHS and improve local health services for everyone.

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Greens to stand in 574 seats in England and Wales 

7 June 2024

Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green Party, said: 

“The Green Party is proud to announce that in this election we will have candidates standing in 574 seats in England and Wales. 

“All over the country voters will have the opportunity to vote Green and vote for real hope and real change instead of the half measures and broken pledges on offer from The Conservative and Labour. 

“We will be putting our manifesto to voters next week with practical solutions to the cost-of-living crisis, building new affordable homes, protecting our NHS from creeping privatisation and cleaning up our toxic rivers and seas. 

“If elected, Green MPs will push the next government for bold action to achieve the real changes that are needed to confront the big challenges our country faces. 

“This is a historic moment and the first time we’ve had this many candidates. It reflects the incredible journey we’ve been on over the past five local elections in which we’ve increased our number of councillors nearly five-fold.” 

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Greens to stand in 574 seats in England and Wales 

Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green Party, said: 

“The Green Party is proud to announce that in this election we will have candidates standing in 574 seats in England and Wales. 

“All over the country voters will have the opportunity to vote Green and vote for real hope and real change instead of the half measures and broken pledges on offer from The Conservative and Labour. 

“We will be putting our manifesto to voters next week with practical solutions to the cost-of-living crisis, building new affordable homes, protecting our NHS from creeping privatisation and cleaning up our toxic rivers and seas. 

“If elected, Green MPs will push the next government for bold action to achieve the real changes that are needed to confront the big challenges our country faces. 

“This is a historic moment and the first time we’ve had this many candidates. It reflects the incredible journey we’ve been on over the past five local elections in which we’ve increased our number of councillors nearly five-fold.” 

/ by Green Party

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