15 September 2023

The Green Party has called for an urgent green transition to create new jobs in Wales following the announcement of a deal with the UK government to keep Port Talbot’s steelworks open but with potentially 3,000 job losses. [1]

Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said:

“The steel industry is a crucial part of the UK’s economy and has been the backbone of communities up and down the country for generations.

“However, the deal done today highlights the serious lack of investment by both Conservative and Labour governments in future-proofing our economy and ensuring we are able to transition to a greener, more sustainable future while protecting people and the places they live.

“It is simply inexcusable that the government is willing to inflict real damage on to this south Wales community, with a deal that will see thousands of jobs lost. This is not the fair transition to a greener future that people across the UK need or deserve.

“Instead of looking to penny-pinch, the government should be investing now in a green transition, creating millions of jobs through expanding renewables, insulating homes and investing in other more sustainable opportunities.

“We know transitioning to a green economy could create up to a million jobs. If the government had invested in the transition over the last few decades we could have avoided the potentially devastating consequences we are seeing in Port Talbot today.

“That is why we are calling on the government to urgently invest now in decarbonising our economy and building the green jobs we so desperately need.”

ENDS

Notes

            1

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-66819458

For further information or to arrange an interview please contact the Press Office press@greenparty.org.uk / 0203 691 9401

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14 September 2023

The House of Lords voted down several government amendments that would have axed pollution controls on housebuilders. The Nutrient Neutrality rules safeguard sensitive areas such as the Norfolk Broads, but the government was going to require local authorities to ignore any evidence of pollution and to have mitigation measures, costing hundreds of millions, funded by the taxpayer.   

Green Party peer, Baroness Jenny Jones, who helped to lead the rebellion in the Lords, said:  

“If the government are so desperate to add to the unacceptable levels of pollution in the water, they can bring the measures back in a separate bill, as part of the Kings Speech. They can then consult properly and justify it to a public who are already fed up with polluted local rivers and beaches. And If I was Prime Minister, I wouldn’t relish having a conversation with King Charles about the horrendous state of the country’s waterways.”  

“Rejecting amendments outright is a power that the Lords can exercise when the government introduces late amendments that have not gone through the proper parliamentary process of scrutiny.   

“Around a fifth of Conservative Party donations have come from property developers in the last decade [1], but that money was drying up and these government amendments were an attempt to get the dirty money flowing again. Fortunately, we have stopped them this time. With a general election due next year, I doubt the government will devote parliamentary time to this polluters’ charter, especially with the water industry already making such a mess of our rivers.” 

Notes 

1. https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/dark-money-investigations/20-tory-donations-come-property-tycoons/   

For further details or to arrange an interview please contact the Press Office on 0203 691 9401 / press@greenparty.org.uk   

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12 September 2023

Reacting to news that the Office for Environmental Protection has found that the government and regulators, Ofwat and the Environment Agency, may have failed in their legal duties to enforce clean water standards on privatised firms [1], Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said: 

“The government must stop defending the indefensible and act to enforce the very basic expectations the public have for clean rivers and beaches, and clean water to drink. 

“The public are fed up with Ministers claiming that private companies constantly discharging sewage into rivers and onto beaches is unacceptable, but then doing nothing to enforce existing laws. 

“We don’t need months more of legal squabbling between the regulators, government and privatised water companies. 

“We need action now. That means the government forcing companies to invest rather than pay out shareholder dividends, capping excessive pay to failing water company bosses and bringing our water back into public ownership as soon as possible.” 

NOTES 

1. https://www.theoep.org.uk/news/oep-identifies-possible-failures-comply-environmental-law-relation-regulatory-oversight  

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The labour market statistics were published today by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.

Land & Property Services (LPS) is reminding landlords that their rate bill must be paid in full by Friday 29 September 2023 to secure an allowance on this year’s rates.