Greens will make new Welsh government bolder, says leader

Anthony Slaughter will use his Wales Green Party conference leader’s speech on Saturday to lay out how Greens in the Senedd will ‘improve people’s lives’, and warn that the country must make the most of a ‘once in a generation’ chance to elect a new government.

Anthony Slaughter will say:

“We’ve been waiting for this opportunity for many years. We can finally replace this tired, clapped-out, complacent Welsh government with one that’s buzzing with excitement about making Wales better.

“But we also need to be bold – to make sure we don’t replace one cautious, timid government with one that still won’t stand up to vested interests. We need a government that won’t bow down to landowners, landlords and corporations.

“Caution is the last thing we need right now.”

He will also point to Scotland as an example of how Greens have “changed people’s lives for the better.” He will say:

“A few weeks ago, I was in Scotland listening to how our colleagues there won rent controls. How they cut child poverty. How they scrapped peak rail fares, and made buses free for young people. How they won record funding for climate and nature.

“Scotland shows it takes Greens, it takes bold politics to deliver the best deal possible for people.

“So imagine what we can do here with Greens putting pressure on a new government.

He will also announce a series of priorities for Green Senedd members:

“We will make your life better. We’ll bring wealth taxes to Wales – by replacing council tax with a system where wealthy property owners pay more. We can start putting money back into our councils to provide better local services.

“We can build tens of thousands of new council homes. We can nationalise water, so we can cut bills and clean up our rivers.

“We can create good jobs across Wales in clean energy and insulating our cold and damp homes.”

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Green MP calls on chancellor to end £2.7bn tax breaks for fossil fuel companies after BP posts $2.21 billion quarterly profit

Green MP Carla Denyer has called on Rachel Reeves to end tax breaks for fossil fuel companies amounting to £2.7 billion a year and instead fund a ‘jobs guarantee’ to support workers currently employed in oil and gas to move into jobs in renewable energy.

As figures showed that energy giant BP made a profit of $2.21 billion in the 3rd quarter of 2025, Denyer wrote to Reeves and launched a petition calling on the chancellor to make the change.

In her letter [1], Denyer wrote:

Tax breaks on fossil fuel production is currently estimated to amount to £2.7 billion per year. Meanwhile these same companies continue to provide billions of pounds worth of shareholder payouts, all whilst laying off large sections of the workforce.

Speaking about the issue, Carla said:

“Right now, the government is propping up the declining oil and gas industry by giving oil and gas producing companies massive tax breaks – to the tune of £2.7 billion every year. Meanwhile these same companies have paid billions of pounds to their shareholders, all whilst laying off large sections of the workforce.

“This scandal has to end. Instead of wasting money supporting an industry in decline, the government should invest in creating jobs and supporting workers instead. This should include a Jobs Guarantee for those currently working in high-carbon industries like oil and gas, that ensures they can find equivalent alternative employment or funded retraining.

“It’s time for the government to take real action – end tax breaks for fossil fuel companies, and back workers instead.”

Notes

The full text of the letter:

Dear Chancellor,

I am writing to you ahead of the Autumn Budget to request that you end tax breaks for fossil fuel production and direct part of the additional revenue this would generate to provide a targeted jobs guarantee for oil and gas workers.

Tax breaks on fossil fuel production is currently estimated to amount to £2.7 billion per year. Meanwhile these same companies continue to provide billions of pounds worth of shareholder payouts, all whilst laying off large sections of the workforce.

So, while I welcome the increase and extension of the Energy Profits Levy (EPL), including scrapping the oil and gas investment loophole, and the Government’s decision to join the ‘Coalition on Phasing Out Fossil Fuel Incentives Including Subsidies’ – more can and must be done.

Last month the joint intelligence committee warned that the climate crisis is a national security threat, and earlier this year, in one seven-day heatwave alone, an estimated 570 people died from heat-related deaths in England and Wales. It’s clear that there is no other option but to transition away from fossil fuels, and towards renewables, at speed.

Further, the North Sea basin’s reserves are in terminal decline and as a result the number of jobs supported by the oil and gas industry in the UK has halved in the last decade. This is despite the UK government continuing to provide tax breaks to the industry and issue new drilling licences.

It is clear that providing tax breaks for fossil fuel production is not protecting jobs. Nor is it compatible with the UK’s climate goals.

Whilst we all recognise that fossil fuels will have a temporary role to play in this transition, continuing to prop up the declining fossil fuel industry will only slow progress towards building the renewable energy system of the future, creating secure, unionised jobs here in the UK.

Part of the additional revenue created by ending these tax breaks could fund an emergency package of measures for oil and gas workers, such as those outlined in my Private Members Bill: the Energy and Employment Rights Bill. These include jobs and rights guarantees, public investment to create good quality jobs, and free training to enable workers to move into them.

With COP negotiations fast approaching, it is vital that you use the opportunity of the Autumn Budget to show global leadership: end financial support to fossil fuel production and fund a workers transition package.

Yours sincerely,

Carla Denyer

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Zack Polanski responds to Rachel Reeves pre-budget speech

4 November 2025 / 4 November 2025 by Green Party

Responding to Rachel Reeves speech this morning in which she said she will make the ‘necessary choices’ in the budget, Green Party leader Zack Polanski said:

“Rachel Reeves breakfast time speech will have left millions spitting out their cornflakes as this was clearly looking to prepare the nation for tax rises. She failed again to say how her government will tackle the cost of living or address the UK’s mushrooming inequality.

“Any measures that look to balance the books on the backs of some of the most vulnerable – and those struggling to pay their rent; their food and energy bills – instead of taxing the assets of multimillionaires and billionaires will be the mark of economic, social and environmental failure.

“This must be a cost-of-living budget. That’s a moral imperative.

“An estimated 14.5 million people in the UK (JRF, 2025) – over one in five – live in poverty and just under 3 million people can’t afford to heat their homes (Govt, 2025).

“Meanwhile, billionaire wealth grew by £35 million each day in 2024 and Britain’s 50 richest families now hold more wealth than half the population combined (Equality Trust, 2025).

“This cannot go on. We need to tax wealth fairly to address these indefensible levels of inequality, reduce the burden on the poorest and help fund our frontline services that we all rely on.”

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Greens call for polluters rather than poorest to pay for climate action

3 November 2025 by Green Party

Ahead of the COP30 climate summit in Brazil, Green MPs have written to Keir Starmer calling on him to ensure that polluters rather than the poorest in communities pay for climate action [1]. They also call on the UK government to reject a licence for the giant Rosebank oilfield and refuse development consent for oil and gas projects that have already been licensed.

Green MP, Ellie Chowns, leader of the parliamentary group of MPs in the House of Commons, said:

“Whilst we welcome the fact Keir Starmer will attend COP30 in Brazil, it will come to nothing unless he uses his voice and the UK’s political influence to ensure an ambitious outcome that will help the world avoid the most catastrophic climate impacts.

“COP30 is taking place against a backdrop of continued financial support from governments for the fossil fuel industry. This includes an estimated £17.5 billion every year here in the UK – £2.7 billion of which is tax breaks for fossil fuel production.

“Efforts to tackle the climate crisis will be undermined if the poorest in communities feel they are left to foot the bill for climate action. Those responsible for wrecking our planet must bear the costs of fixing it or cleaning it up. That’s why we urge the prime minister to push for a Climate Damages Tax at COP – a “polluters pay” tax on the extraction of fossil fuels.

“The government must also show true climate leadership back home by refusing permission for the giant Rosebank oilfield, which would create more emissions than the combined annual CO2 emissions of all 28 low-income countries in the world – the very countries that are bearing the brunt of climate breakdown.”

Chowns went on to say:

“The UN Secretary General has called the fossil fuel companies the “godfathers of climate chaos”. By fuelling the climate crisis, they are imperilling our security and stability – threatening food supplies and impacting our health and wellbeing. Fossil fuel companies are profiteering off climate breakdown, and it is time they are made to pay.”

ENDS

Notes

See Green MPs letter to prime minister Keir Starmer which includes a full list of references.

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Greens call for UK government action on Sudan

29 October 2025 by Green Party

Responding to the escalating humanitarian crisis in Sudan, Green Party co-leader Mothin Ali said:

“Sudan’s civilians are paying a horrific price for the proxy war being fought out by government forces and those of the so-called Rapid Support Forces.

“Thousands have been killed, millions displaced, and a human–made famine is threatening the lives of many more.

“The United Nations daily reports widespread ethnically and politically motivated killings, while those with the power to make a difference – including the UK government – stand back.

“This horror is driven by foreign government’s fuelling the fire with the supply of weapons and logistical support as they use the civil war to try to control Sudan’s gold mines and other natural resources.

“UK weapons have been used by the Rapid Support Forces, channelled through the United Arab Emirates, despite a supposed international arms embargo. (1)

“Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper (2) has rightly called for a ceasefire but has stopped short of promoting the actions needed to back it up.

“It is possible to make a difference. The UK government must support the humanitarian effort to get food and medicines into civilian areas by implementing UN resolutions (3) and impose the sanctions long threatened on those countries openly and covertly breaking the arms embargo.”

Notes to editors

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