The forced movement of a people from their homeland is ethnic cleansing say Greens

Responding to President Trump’s remarks overnight, Green Party MP, Ellie Chowns, said,

“The forced movement of a people from their homeland is ethnic cleansing. These comments advocating for ethnic cleansing have to be understood in the context of the mounting evidence of genocide in Gaza occurring over the last year. The people of Gaza are not obstacles to be removed; they are human beings with the right to live with dignity, security, and self-determination. Britain, and our international allies must today respond in the strongest terms condemning Trump’s reckless remarks.”

She continued, “Britain must take the opportunity today to reiterate the Palestinian right to self-determination. And if we are serious about this, we should clearly state our support for Palestinian statehood. This is the bare minimum that is required at this stage.”

“Strategically now it is essential that none of these words fan the flames of conflict and jeopardise the precious ceasefire that is currently in place. The United States has an absolute legal obligation to follow international law, but it also has a moral obligation to ensure it works towards supporting the ongoing respect of the ceasefire.”

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Strong bonds with European neighbours is the only tonic to toxic Trump

In response to Starmer joining the EU 27 this evening, Greens are urging him to put European unity at the top of his agenda to provide a united front against the toxic impact of Trump’s trade wars.

Commenting, Green Party Co-Leader, Adrian Ramsay MP, said: 

“Tonight represents a historic opportunity for the UK. Starmer will be the first PM to attend an EU summit since we left the European Union.

“In the face of increasing international hostility from President Trump, the UK needs to be clear that we stand united in the face of his aggression.

“Starmer cannot do that by parroting Trump’s talking points on defence spending.

“Strong bonds with our European neighbours are the only antidote available to this toxic Trump Presidency.

“In the short-term, Starmer should embrace the idea of young people being able to move freely across their continent to work travel and study and respond positively to the EU’s offer of a youth mobility scheme”

He continued: 

“Brexit has resulted in tens of billions of pounds draining from our economy.

“The Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that Brexit will deliver a 15% long-term hit to UK trade.

“We should, as a matter of urgency, be looking to rejoin the Customs Union as a first step to plugging this hole.

“And the PEM deal the EU has offered is a no brainer.

“If Starmer is serious about taking tough decisions for economic stability then this would be a good starting point, not pumping money into climate-rocketing projects like Heathrow expansion.”

END 

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We must scrap Ofsted say Greens

Responding to the news that Ofsted is considering a new approach to inspecting education providers and introducing ‘report cards’ for schools, Green Party Education Spokesperson, Vix Lowthion, said:

“Ofsted isn’t working. For teachers or parents. We’ve seen the toxic impact it can have on teachers and we know it doesn’t serve children. These reforms are too close to the previous failed model. We must instead scrap Ofsted and end the era of forcing teachers into narrowly defined boxes. To replace it we need a collaborative model connecting teachers on the frontline with local experts. By connecting them with specialists in pedagogy, child development and social care we can encourage teacher retention, tailor support to local circumstances and drive much better local and national outcomes.”

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Land Use Strategy must deliver nature restoration and secure our food 

Adrian Ramsay, Co-Leader of The Green Party of England and Wales, MP for Waveney Valley, welcomes the start of the consultation process for the Land Use Framework.

“Food security and nature restoration are essential for our very survival. They must not be seen as in competition – the government must step up its efforts on both. 

“We have one of the most nature depleted countries on Earth, yet we need our soils, pollinators and wider environment to be in a healthy state in order to secure our food supply – and farmers are crying out for adequate funding for nature friendly farming and natural flood management.

“Climate breakdown is already threatening our ability to produce food, with droughts and flooding at different times of the year making life very hard for farmers.

“This Land Use Framework represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to address these critical issues and ensure our communities are more self-sufficient and resilient in our food supply. For this plan to work and deliver for communities, the Government must work to diversify what food we produce, which will strengthen our food security.” 

“A new framework could – and should – support  farmers to produce seasonal foods for local markets and tackle the power of the supermarkets who don’t give farmers a fair deal.”

“This happens throughout this country, with businesses like Hodmedods in Suffolk growing beans and pulses or Glebe Farm in Cambridgeshire producing homegrown oats. These examples show that we can diversify food production reducing our reliance on imports, ensuring food security for future generations.”

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Brexit anniversary sparks call for much closer relationship with EU

On the fifth anniversary of the UK’s exit from the European Union, Green MP Ellie Chowns said:  

“These five years have seen the economic, social and political costs of leaving the European Union become ever clearer. 

“Far from ‘taking back control’, we have all lost out. 

“Young people have been deprived of the chance to easily study and work in the European Union, while small businesses have found it increasingly difficult to export, and the UK is increasingly isolated on the international stage. 

“No wonder, the proportion of the public believing Brexit to have been the right decision is at its lowest since 2020. (1) 

“The Green Party is very clear that people and planet would benefit from much closer relationships between our country and the European Union.  

“We will continue to press the Labour government to be braver and bolder in overcoming the negative impacts of Brexit.  

“Full membership of the EU remains the best option for the UK, and we are in favour of pursuing a policy to re-join as soon as the political will is present.    

“Of course, that means building the widespread public support we need before a decision to rejoin is made.  

“There are win-win first steps that the government should be taking today. For instance, working with the EU on a youth mobility scheme that opens up the European Union to our youngsters. 

“We should be working with the EU to tackle the twin crises of climate breakdown and biodiversity loss in the face of US President Donald Trump’s disastrous decision to pull the US out of the Paris climate agreement. 

“We should also rejoin the Customs Union to begin to overcome the obstacles that small businesses have faced in trading with our closest partners since Brexit.  

“While joining the Single Market would provide benefits in terms of free movement of people, goods, services and capital, membership of the Single Market without membership of the EU would not be an ideal long-term solution because the UK would not be a full partner in decision making processes.  

“We’ve learned from the divisiveness of Brexit that binary choices push people apart rather than bring people together.   

“So, we are proposing the use of citizens’ assemblies to support the wider public to make well-informed decisions about complicated political issues such as our future membership of the EU.” 

Mark Ormiston, a sixth generation managing director of Ormiston Wire that manufactures a high quality products used in suspending lights, art installations, yacht rigging and surgical procedures, said Brexit is making it ever harder to get its components into final products manufactured abroad. 

Mark Ormiston “We supply components not a final product so if the end product moves offshore, we have to try and supply that export market. With Brexit small exporters are being devastated and we must work very hard to persuade companies to use our quality and expertise.” 

NOTES TO EDITORS 

(1) https://yougov.co.uk/politics/articles/51484-how-do-britons-feel-about-brexit-five-years-on 

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