Green Party urges Rishi Sunak to focus on environment and climate in King’s Speech

2 November 2023

Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay has called for next week’s King’s Speech to tackle the climate and nature emergencies. 

Ramsay said: 

“Rishi Sunak has decided when in a climate hole keep digging. Pushing ahead with new oil and gas drilling licences is an act of environmental vandalism. Especially at a time when the country is reeling from hugely damaging storms and floods, which scientists warn will become more frequent, ferocious and destructive as our planet heats.  

“It seems fossil fools are driving government energy policy – pushing a false narrative that extracting more climate-wrecking oil and gas out of the North Sea will lead to energy security and lower bills. Nothing could be further from the truth. 

“Green lighting energy giants to exploit fossil fuel reserves they then sell on the global market at global prices cannot provide either security or cheaper energy bills. This can only come from ramping up cheaper and abundant renewable resources such as solar and onshore wind together with a mass home insulation programme.  

“That’s why Green MP Caroline Lucas has set out five Bills that the government ought to introduce to tackle the climate and nature emergencies and address the cost-of-living crisis, including a Just Fossil Fuel Phaseout Bill and a Green New Deal Bill.   

“The attack on road safety measures is a further deplorable and desperate attempt to pick up a few votes through creating a culture war. But the fact that the Conservatives need to go to such extremes to create a wedge issue with Labour shows that Labour simply aren’t offering the bold alternative or hopeful vision that our communities so desperately need.  

“It is clear, whoever forms the government after the next general election, we are going to need more Green MPs pushing legislation that will lead to a greener, fairer, healthier and safer country.” 

ENDS 

To arrange an interview with Adrian Ramsay on a reaction to the King’s Speech please contact the press office on press@greenparty.org.uk or call 0203 691 9401 or mobile 07971 598896  

 

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Islamophobia Awareness Month

Today marks the beginning of Islamophobia Awareness Month – where we acknowledge the anti-Muslim hatred that is too prevalent in our society, and reflect on how we can stamp it out in all its forms.

This year, Islamophobia Awareness Month coincides with an incredibly difficult time for Muslim communities here in the UK. The reverberations of the horrifying Israel-Gaza conflict have led to an unacceptable rise in both Antisemitism and Islamophobia across our country.

The figures are stark. Anti-Islamophobic organisation Tell Mama received 515 reports of anti-Muslim incidents between just 7th and 29th October – a sevenfold increase from the same period in 2022. Similarly, the Metropolitan police has recorded a 140% increase in Islamophobic offences this month compared to the same period last year.

And the stories accompanying these statistics are just as disturbing. From reports of Muslim communities being targeted at public transport hubs, to concerns raised with me by my local mosque.

We cannot let this type of hate fester.

There is simply no place for Islamophobia in our society, in any form. And it’s incumbent on all of us with a public platform to stand up against hatred of all kinds, including Islamophobia, Antisemitism, and racism.

I’m proud of the work that Liberal Democrats have done to combat religious hatred, and will continue to do. In light of recent events, many of our calls now feel even more timely.

Like giving law enforcement the resources and training they need to identify and prevent hate crimes, including threats and incitement to violence on social media. And providing funding for protective security measures to public spaces that are vulnerable to hate crime, like places of worship, schools and community centres.

Now more than ever, it is vital that we stand up against all forms of Islamophobia, and work together to end religious hatred everywhere. 

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“Silence is complicity”: Green Party urges UK government and opposition to call for ceasefire in Israel-Gaza conflict

1 November 2023

The co-leaders of the Green Party have written to the UK government and the official opposition urging them to “listen to the people” and join international calls for a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza conflict.

In a letter to both the Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly [1], and his Labour counterpart, Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy [2], Green co-leaders Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay, deputy leader Zack Polanski and Global Solidarity spokesperson Carne Ross set out how the only way to protect civilians is for the fighting to stop.

In addition, they call on both the Conservatives and Labour to throw their weight behind an “internationally arbitrated once-and-for-all settlement” so that “Israeli and Palestinian citizens can live in safety and security with their rights, at last, fully protected.”

Co-leader Carla Denyer said:

“The mass civilian suffering we have seen in Israel and Gaza has shocked the world. Over 700 civilians are being killed every day, one child every ten minutes. The dire humanitarian situation is clearly intolerable and must end.

“We cannot hear arguments about violence now somehow preventing further violence in future without shuddering. The lives of children cannot be bartered in this way.

“We are deeply concerned that neither the UK government nor the official opposition has joined international calls for a ceasefire. It is with deep regret that the Green Party feels the need to point out that at times like these, silence is complicity.

“We urge both the government and the Labour Party to listen to the British people, three-quarters of whom want an immediate ceasefire [3].”

In the letters, the Green Party sets out how war crimes have been committed by both sides since Hamas’s horrific attacks on 7 October.

Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said:

“The awful attacks committed by Hamas on 7 October were brutal violence, and the hostages must be released unconditionally, but the horrific attacks we saw on that day cannot justify military actions that break international law.

“There is no military route to long-term safety and security for the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, as they both deserve. Instead, there must be a political settlement, based on the requirements of international law and beginning with an end to the occupation.

“The UK government should push for an internationally arbitrated once-and-for-all settlement that fully ends the occupation of Palestinian territories including East Jerusalem, in accordance with the requirements of international law.

“It used to be the case that international law was the basis of UK government policy, and the positions of both Conservatives and Labour.  It is deeply troubling that this seems to have been forgotten by both government and opposition.  Such an abandonment will do long-term harm to Britain’s already-questionable reputation as a defender of the international rules-based order.”

ENDS

Notes

            1

https://greenparty.org.uk/assets/files/letters/letter-to-foreign-secretary.pdf

           2

https://greenparty.org.uk/assets/files/letters/letter-to-david-lammy.pdf

            3

https://yougov.co.uk/topics/travel/survey-results/daily/2023/10/19/e363e/1

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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Ticket office win ‘A huge victory for people power’

31 October 2023

Responding to news that the government has dropped plans to close rail ticket offices following overwhelming public opposition [1], Co-leader Carla Denyer said: 

“This is a huge victory for people power and a massive defeat for the government’s attempt to run down public services.  

“Up and down the country, people have protested, signed petitions, responded to the consultation, written to their MP, written to the local paper, organised in trades unions and more. The result has been so clear and overwhelming that even this government could not ignore it. 

“People can have renewed confidence that coming together on issues that really matter can produce positive change.” 

NOTES 

[1]  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67263931 

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DAERA statement on industrial action week

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has warned of the potential for significant disruption as a result of a planned five-day industrial action, week commencing 30 October by NIPSA and GMB members across Veterinary Service Animal Health Group (VSAHG).