20 October 2020

• Jenny Jones: “The Internal Market Bill is part of the government’s executive power grab and the main losers will be the devolved nations and regions”

The House of Lords has today [Tuesday 20 October] passed an amendment to the Internal Market Bill regretting the provisions which, if enacted “would undermine the rule of law and damage the reputation of the United Kingdom.”

The regret motion was put forward by Lord Judge, an ex-Lord Chief Justice for England and Wales and passed by a majority of 226.

Baroness Jenny Jones, a Green Party peer, said:

“The scale of the government defeat does not surprise me, as the Lords is packed with judges and bishops who take a dim view of the government deliberately breaking international law. 

“I enjoyed hearing the tough speeches from Tory Lords like Michael Howard and Kenneth Clarke. This is not a question of being pro-Brexit, or a Remainer, as opposition to government law-breaking is coming from all sides.

“The government are not defending the Good Friday Agreement, as this Bill gives Ministers the power to by-pass Parliament in modifying or disapplying the Northern Ireland Protocol. Nor are government defending parliamentary sovereignty, as it was Parliament which recently voted for Boris Johnson’s deal that had been sold to people at the General Election and which this Bill tries to unpick.

“The Internal Market Bill is part of the government’s executive power grab and the main losers will be the devolved nations and regions. If the Lords are unsuccessful in amending this legislation, then our neighbours won’t trust us and Northern Ireland will start to dominate our headlines for all the wrong reasons. 

“If this Bill cannot be sufficiently amended, then the Lords must act as guardians of the constitution by rejecting the Bill in its entirety.”

ENDS

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16 October 2020

• Former MEP says government’s handling of crisis in Lancashire has been “nowhere near sufficient”

The new tier three restrictions in Lancashire must include a universal basic income to support people through the potentially devastating financial impact of the latest lockdown, the Green Party has warned.

Gina Dowding, Lancashire County Councillor and former Green Party MEP for the North West, said the government should also scrap its failing privatised test and trace system and fund local health teams to carry out contact tracing.

Dowding, who has twenty years of experience as a councillor in Lancaster and Lancashire and who formerly worked in public health in the NHS, said:

“The new tier three restrictions affecting people across Lancashire are unfortunately necessary due to the rising infection rates in the region. However, it is clear they will have a devastating impact on people’s finances and the government’s handling of this crisis in this region has been nowhere near sufficient.

“People are confused and no longer have any trust in what the government is advising them to do. We need our communities to trust and support measures in order to keep everybody safe, but for this to happen communities must also feel supported.

“A universal basic income would help people to do the right thing during lockdown and prevent anyone from falling through the gaps this winter. 

“The government should also abandon the disaster of the privatised test and trace system and instead properly fund our expert public health teams in local authorities across the north to perform the contact tracing. They are the experts and we must trust them to do their work.”

ENDS

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15 October 2020

• Party reaffirms position that young people should not lose freedom to become Europeans

With the Prime Minister set to abandon his self-imposed deadline for a trade deal today, the Green Party has said it continues to believe that the UK should retain membership of the single market and customs union.

The party has also reaffirmed its position that young people in particular should not lose their free movement rights.

Deputy leader Amelia Womack said:

“For young people the Brexit deal is not about fish or finance, but about our freedom to travel, work, live and fall in love across our beautiful shared continent. 

“I am determined to continue to champion that amazing freedom that EU membership meant for young people. 

“I will also campaign for us to stay in the Erasmus Plus scheme so that young people from poorer homes can also be free to travel and learn to become European citizens.

Former MEP and economist Molly Scott Cato added:

“Boris Johnson’s decision to abandon his self-imposed deadline and continue negotiating demonstrates that he is as fearful of No Deal as any of us. 

“But any deal we are likely to get by the end of the month will be so thin as to lead to expensive additional red tape for businesses and the risk of massive disruption in supply chains. 

“Surveys show that businesses are not prepared for either customs checks or the complex VAT arrangements that will come into force at the end of the year.” [1]

Womack said:

“The Brexit project has always sidelined the views and prospects of young people.

“I am convinced that my generation not only believe that another and better Europe is possible, but that our place is right at the heart of it.”

ENDS

NOTES

1

Thousands of British businesses not prepared for Brexit, MPs told

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13 October 2020

The Green Party has welcomed the news that permission has been granted for a judicial review into the government’s decision to reopen Manston Airport in Kent.[1]

Green Party transport spokesperson Caroline Russell said:

“We simply cannot be reopening airports in a climate emergency. 

“If this goes ahead it will only increase carbon emissions and set us even further back from achieving our climate commitments. At the same time, it will make life miserable for overflown communities living under new flight paths.

“Rather than seeking a few unsustainable jobs in a failing industry, the government should be creating millions of new, resilient Green jobs, which will put us on track to go net zero and provide workers in this sector a safer future.”

ENDS

Notes

1

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/thanet/news/manston-reopening-will-be-challenged-in-courts-235437/

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13 October 2020

• Baroness Jenny Jones cross-party working and national campaign to protect farm standards

The Green Party has expressed disappointment at the rejection of key Lords amendments to the Agriculture Bill during votes in the House of Commons last night. 

Jenny Jones, who worked on the Bill in the House of Lords, said:

“This is a once in a generation moment to think differently about our food and farming system. I am deeply disappointed that amendments passed in the Lords to protect animal welfare standards, limit pesticide use, and create a farming system fit for the climate emergency have been squandered.

“This is a missed opportunity to make protection of our climate and allowing space for nature to flourish to be central to how we manage our land.

“The voting down of the protection for British farming standards in future trade deals breaks the Tories’ election promise that ‘in all of our trade negotiations, we will not compromise on our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards’. It is a betrayal of the farming community that has been loyal to the Conservative Party for so long.”

Baroness Jones expressed her determination to continue work to protect both farmers and the environment when the Bill returns to the Lords:

“I’m glad we have managed to work with Labour and Liberal Democrat Peers to build strong support for the protection of environmental and animal welfare standards. We are determined to use the majority we enjoy in the Lords to protect British farming and our natural environment.”

ENDS

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