Green Party manifesto released

• Apr. 16 by Katie Fox (0)

The Green Party yesterday released their manifesto to the public, promising a ‘fairer’ and ‘greener’ country if they are to be brought into power.

The Green Party’s leader, Caroline Lucas, launched the manifesto at an event in Brighton, where she is running for MP.

At the heart of the manifesto are three policies which the ‘Greens’ deem most important. These are the ‘three crises of economic collapse, inequality and climate change’.

This ‘Green New Deal’, coined in 2008 by the party, sets out to create over a million new jobs. This is so far, the largest (mentioned) new jobs figure from all of the political parties.

The creation of ‘green’ jobs are key to this; with the party stating that the highest number of these will arise from the increase in the green energy sectors such as insulation.

The party’s manifesto states:

‘Our energy policy is not just the best for climate change- it also produces the most jobs’.

The Green Party make it clear that they are about more than environmental issues; the manifesto also outlines their aim to reduce the deficit by over half come 2013. They foresee the achievement of this due to radical changes to the tax system.

They will strive to redistribute society’s wealth by upping taxes for those who earn more; this policy is reflected in their slogan ‘fair is worth fighting for’.

They also claim to:

‘Ensure that taxation and regulation discourage pollution and the wasteful use or over-use of finite resources, and encourage ecological sustainability.’

Local Elections

The local elections are due to take place on the same day as he general elections, 6^th May. These will decide who is to be involved with the country’s councils.

James Robertson is a Green Party member and is running in these elections on behalf of Birmingham’s Ladywood ward.

Mr Robertson’s thoughts reflect the positive aspects of the Green Party’s manifesto and put them into a local context:

‘I am standing for the ‘Greens’ because I think it is time to do something meaningful.

Birmingham is the biggest local authority in Europe and it would not take much to make us much greener: a council project to insulate all council housing would boost the local green sector and provide jobs in the city – as well as lowering our carbon footprint.

That’s what the Green’s are all about: policies that make sense for the environment AND for local people.’

Mr Robertson, a Birmingham resident, is passionate about making the country more environmentally-friendly.

He believes that Birmingham has the potential to spark widespread change and has done much for his community.

Mr Robertson established and runs local recycling website Freegle (formally Freecycle), where people in the area are given a space to advertise things they no longer need that others might- working to reduce the effects of our ‘throwaway’ culture.