14 August 2019

Responding to a letter received this evening from Jeremy Corbyn about co-operation in the coming month in parliament, Green MP Caroline Lucas said:

 “We absolutely support and welcome Jeremy Corbyn’s call for a vote of no-confidence in order to avoid the catastrophe of the so-called ‘No Deal’.  Preventing a crash-out Brexit on the 31st October was what lay behind my proposal earlier this week.

“But the proposal from the Labour leader does not guarantee that the people are given the final say on Brexit.

“Holding a general election before a People’s Vote is the wrong way around.

“Votes are cast in general elections on multiple issues, and the first-past-the-post system can and does create parliaments unrepresentative of the views of the people. The People’s Vote would ensure everyone’s voice was heard clearly on the single, crucial, issue of Brexit.”

Caroline added:

“I would back a vote of no-confidence if Jeremy Corbyn calls it, but what I ask him to do is to guarantee that if he fails to win the confidence of the House, even for a time-limited temporary Government, that he would commit to supporting an MP who can do that, then deliver the crucial letter to the EU asking for an extension of Article 50, then a People’s Vote.

“After that is the time to hold an election, when voters can make the choice about their representatives to take the UK forward, dealing with the pressing issues within our country.” 

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13 August 2019

Responding to reports that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is planning to pull UK officials from meetings in Brussels (1),

Green Party Deputy Leader Amelia Womack said:

“The plans would constitute a complete dereliction of duty by the Government that will consciously fail to perform its basic functions.”

“Once again it is clear that for propagandistic reasons the Prime Minister would risk the security of our country and our standing in relation to our natural allies.

“Brexit was never presented as a diminishment of our status in the world. Every day we are safer as a country as a result of the exchange of information with our EU allies.”

“The EU has always been at the forefront of consumer protection, it would be a mistake to abandon those standards.”

Green Party Eastern Region MEP Catherine Rowett said:

“This is a dark day for British diplomacy as Boris Johnson sacrifices our national interest and self-respect on the altar of a regressive nationalism. We cannot solve problems, in Europe or at home, by cutting ourselves off from our neighbours and refusing to talk to anyone.

“The hard-line Brexiteers make grand claims about trade deals with a world beyond Europe but they know that is a lie. Other countries will not want to trade with a UK that is isolated and in chaos after a crash-out Brexit.

“Nobody voted for lessening British influence in the world or for greater hardship at home, and Boris Johnson’s government has no right to impose that on us.”

Notes

(1)    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/aug/12/british-diplomats-to-pull-out-from-eu-decision-making-meetings-within-days

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7 August 2019

Reacting to the decision by train companies in the UK to stop accepting Interrail passes from January (1), Green Party Deputy Leader Amelia Womack said:

“This is entirely the wrong direction of travel, in both environmental and international relations terms.

“We need to be encouraging people to travel by train rather than taking the plane. It needs to be the easiest, simplest and cheapest option, as well as being as it already is by far the most pleasant.

“And we want to encourage people from across our continent and beyond to meet, to make friendships, learn about other societies, and build links with our fellow Europeans in particular.

“This is one more reminder that our current rail model is broken: we should be running this public service for the public good, which would certainly include taking Interrail passes, rather than private profit.”

Notes:

(1)    https://www.politico.eu/article/british-train-companies-quit-interrail/

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7 August 2019

Reacting to the decision by train companies in the UK to stop accepting Interrail passes from January (1), Green Party Deputy Leader Amelia Womack said:

“This is entirely the wrong direction of travel, in both environmental and international relations terms.

“We need to be encouraging people to travel by train rather than taking the plane. It needs to be the easiest, simplest and cheapest option, as well as being as it already is by far the most pleasant.

“And we want to encourage people from across our continent and beyond to meet, to make friendships, learn about other societies, and build links with our fellow Europeans in particular.

“This is one more reminder that our current rail model is broken: we should be running this public service for the public good, which would certainly include taking Interrail passes, rather than private profit.”

Notes:

(1)    https://www.politico.eu/article/british-train-companies-quit-interrail/

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30 July 2019

In response to comments made by NFU boss Minette Batters about threats to sheep farmers from a No Deal Brexit (1), Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns suggested they should switch from their dominant European markets and seek customers in Japan instead (2). 

Molly Scott Cato, who represents many sheep farmers in her constituency of South West England, said:

“The minister is either misrepresenting or misunderstanding the situation and thereby risking the livelihoods of sheep farmers in Wales and the South West.

“He admits that the 40% tariffs that will follow a No Deal exit from the EU will decimate lamb exports to the EU but suggests that a new market has just opened up in Japan.

“This market is only tariff-free because of an EU trade deal between the EU and Japan (JEFTA), a deal that we will no longer be part of outside the EU.

“This indication of a fundamental failure to understand the trade situation facing our farmers – or a deliberate attempt to mislead – indicates the contempt for our farming industry shown by this government.”

Dr Scott Cato, who is a member of the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee, added:

“The idea of global Britain is a threat to our climate. Local supply chains are less energy-intensive and attempting to encourage people in the Far East to consume more meat when the climate emergency requires us all to move towards the sort of plant-based diets they currently enjoy is irresponsible.”

Notes

(1)    https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/opinion/columnists/how-no-deal-brexit-will-devastate-farming-in-uk-nfu-president-minette-batters-1-9869309

(2)    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jul/30/stop-playing-russian-roulette-sheep-industry-johnson-told

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