Greens react to plans for new nuclear plant at Sizewell


/ by Green Party

Responding to news that EDF will build a new nuclear power plant at Sizewell at an estimated cost of over £14bn, co-leader of the Green Party, Adrian Ramsay MP, said: 

 “Nuclear power is hugely expensive and far too slow to come on line. The only thing delivered by EDF so far at Hinkley Point in Somerset is overspend and delay. Electricity was promised by 2017 with a price tag of £22bn but this has mushroomed to 40bn and Hinkley is still producing no power.  

“The money being spent on this nuclear gamble would be far better spent on insulating and retrofitting millions of homes, bringing down energy bills and keeping people warmer and more comfortable. We should also be investing in genuinely green power such as fitting millions of solar panels to roofs and in innovative technologies like tidal power. All this would create many more jobs than nuclear ever will.”   

Adblock test (Why?)



Greens denounce Labour’s Spending Review as ‘spreadsheet Britain’ and call for a ‘hopeful vision for a better future’  

Ahead of Wednesday’s Spending Review, Adrian Ramsay MP, co-leader of the Green Party, accused the government of lacking a vision for a better future. He said: “This Spending Review shows that the government knows the cost of everything but the value of nothing.” 

He went on to say: 

“This looks like a spreadsheet Britain approach, leading the country into deliberate decline, when we need a hopeful vision for a better future.  

“Austerity has meant our hospitals, schools and transport services have sustained real terms budget cuts, and long-term capital investment will not deliver fast enough to impact people’s lives. Millions of people are facing financial, health and housing insecurity right now. The Spending Review will fail those children stuck in poverty today – children who need warm homes and enough to eat.” 

“We need to invest in a more secure future for everyone. Real security comes from people feeling warm and comfortable in their homes, valued in their communities and secure in the knowledge that climate action will safeguard the future for their children and grandchildren.” 

Ramsay said there should be a much stronger focus on building, providing and retrofitting social homes. He said: 

“Rather than turning the screw further on councils which are already on their knees, the Chancellor must commit the billions that councils need to buy, build and design social housing instead of offering a blank cheque to developers to build executive homes that few can afford.  

“We know this is what people want. A new YouGov survey commissioned by the Greens has found that people are three times more likely to want the Government to build more social housing than encouraging developers to build more private homes.” 

Ramsay also repeated calls for a fairer tax system to raise money and reverse chronic underspending in public services.    

“A wealth tax of 1% on assets over £10 million and 2% on assets above £1 billion could raise £24 billion a year. Cutting support to disabled people while billionaires are gaining £35 million a day in wealth is indefensible. We are one of the wealthiest countries in the world – it’s time the super-rich paid up and for Labour to start taxing wealth fairly. 

Adrian Ramsay MP concluded: 

“From child poverty to climate breakdown, the challenges we face are not small – and neither should be our response. People want a government that invests in them, in their homes, in their services, in building a resilient future. Cuts don’t create hope. Investment does. We need public services that are fit for purpose, homes that are warm and affordable, and a tax system that serves the many, not the wealthy few.”

Adblock test (Why?)



Green Party says Planning and Infrastructure Bill can and must create affordable homes and boost nature  

The Green Party has said that the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, currently going through parliament, must protect nature and build much-needed new social housing. 

The call comes as analysis suggests 5,000 of England’s key natural habitats are at high risk of being destroyed by development under the Bill as it threatens to make it easier for developers to build on areas that have historically been protected under UK and international law. 

Reacting to the analysis, Adrian Ramsay MP, co-leader of the Green Party, said: 

“This new analysis, suggesting thousands of important wildlife sites are at risk from the Planning and Infrastructure Bill, should serve as a wake-up call. Nature in the UK is already in serious decline, with one in six species at risk of extinction, and species declining by 19% since 1970.  

“This Bill is dangerous, giving the green light for developers to pursue profit rather than meet the needs of people for homes and nature for protection. But we can have safe, warm homes in the communities we love at a price we can afford, and look after nature.” 

Ramsay added: 

“We can and we must tackle both the housing crisis and the nature crisis but as it stands, the legislation fails on both counts. It clearly weakens nature protection while doing precisely nothing to ensure that new housing is genuinely affordable. The government has refused to specify social housing targets, and has given developers a license to bulldoze nature.  

“The government needs to be tougher, requiring developers to build a higher proportion of genuinely affordable homes to rent and to buy. We need the right homes, in the right place, at the right price. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill must ensure this.  

“We need to strengthen the role of neighbourhood plans, giving local people opportunities to demand more social homes – affordable homes that people actually need – and listening to them when they raise concerns about threats to nature and green spaces. We all need nature in our backyards.” 

Adblock test (Why?)



As Israeli defence forces “wreak carnage” it’s time for UK government to act, say Greens 


/ by Green Party

Reacting to the third consecutive day in which Palestinians in Gaza have been gunned down by Israeli defence forces as they tried to access food aid, Ellie Chowns MP, Green Party Foreign Affairs spokesperson, said: 

“Having bombed people in their homes or tents as they sleep; shelled hospitals where people are being treated or schools where they seek shelter, the Israeli defence forces are now wreaking untold carnage, gunning hungry Palestinians down as they try to collect food aid they’ve been denied for weeks.  

“Two weeks ago, we heard lots of bluster from the Labour government about how awful and unacceptable the situation in Gaza was, but the concrete action pledged by Keir Starmer hasn’t materialised. It’s time for action, not more words – Israel has crossed too many red lines.  

“The government must call for an immediate ceasefire and denounce Israel’s atrocities for what they are – genocide. They must now end all arms sales to the country, impose a wide range of sanctions and call for the arrest and trial of all those guilty of war crimes – including prime minister Netanyahu.”  

 

Adblock test (Why?)



Greens react to Starmer’s defence plans following Strategic Defence Review


/ by Green Party

Reacting to the Strategic Defence Review and Keir Starmer’s speech earlier today outlining the government’s defense spending plans, Ellie Chowns MP, who holds the defence brief for the Parliamentary Green Party, said: 

“Keir Starmer is sounding like he is on a war path with his “battle-ready, armour-clad nation” rhetoric. Security is not just based on arms expenditure and threats, but on real leadership that uses diplomacy and development too. There must be a real commitment to an international order based on human rights, equality and genuine cooperation.

“To avoid the horrors of war and armed conflict, we need to look at the deeper causes of insecurity, including poverty and climate breakdown. This is why the Green Party strongly supports the restoration of the international aid budget to at least 0.7% of GNI. And we will continue to argue that real patriotism means ending UK-made weapons or components being sold to dictators, human rights abusers or for use against civilians anywhere in the world.

“The prime minister has talked up the boost to jobs and the economy through increased defence expenditure, but there are many more jobs of the future to be created right now in the clean, green – and peaceful – economy, a sector growing four times faster than the rest of the economy. This is where the government’s focus for investment should be if they are serious about a secure and resilient future.”

Adblock test (Why?)