Green Party calls for suspension of Israel’s UK ambassador


/ by Green Party

The Green Party is demanding the government suspends the Israeli ambassador after Israel’s parliament approved the death penalty for Palestinians convicted for attacks deemed to be “acts of terrorism”.

Deputy Leader of the Green Party, Mothin Ali, said:

“These military courts are conducted without proper legal representation or juries. This is unconscionable – the government must immediately suspend Israel’s UK ambassador.

“Introducing the death penalty into Israel’s civil legal system, in a way that rights groups say will de facto only apply to Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, will result in Palestinians being killed without a fair trial.

“Palestinian citizens of Israel already lack certain rights granted to Israeli citizens, and their second-class status was made explicit with the passing of the 2018 Jewish Nation-State Law.

“It’s time for the Labour government to stand for truth: Israel is an apartheid state which is conducting a genocide in Gaza. Just like apartheid South Africa, it must be treated as a pariah state until the genocide is stopped, apartheid is ended, and Palestinians are granted the same rights as Israelis.

Ali repeated a call for the government to ban the sale of all weapons and weapon components to Israel:

“The government must make clear that it will not continue to sell any military weapons or weapons components to Israel. The Green Party calls for Britain to impose sanctions on Israel, as most of the world community did to South Africa, when it was also operating an apartheid state.”

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Wales Green Party ready to be ‘kingmakers’ in Senedd elections 

At their campaign launch today in Cardiff, which was also attended by Green Party England and Wales leader Zack Polanski, Wales Green Party leader Anthony Slaughter said the party is ready to be ‘kingmakers’ at the Senedd election.  

With Greens running a full slate of candidates in Wales, Greens are the main challengers to Reform in six marginal seats, leading to a prediction of a green wave in Senedd members and a reduction in Reform’s Senedd seats, new polling analysis reveals. 

Polling also suggests that, under the new proportional representation system, Wales Green Party could be the decisive group in the Senedd after the elections on 7 May, putting the party in a strong position to deliver on its priorities for Wales: freezing rents, replacing council tax, lowering bus fares, and taking back control of water. 

Ahead of the launch, Anthony Slaughter said:  

“The polls are saying that we will hold the balance of power in the Senedd after the election. A strong Green vote will help keep Reform’s presence in government to a minimum, and make sure the next Welsh government is focused on cutting living costs, fixing the housing crisis, and repairing our NHS.“ 

Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales Zack Polanski said:  

“Wales Greens look set to achieve incredible things in this election. Our decisive result in the Gorton and Denton by-election shows that Greens can win anywhere, and when we mobilise, we can achieve amazing results.” 

Tessa Marshall, the Green Party’s Welsh speaking second candidate for Caerdydd Penarth said:   

“This election is crucial. From bringing costs down, saving our rivers and natural world, to delivering a new future for Wales, Greens know we need to deliver. I’ll be fighting to make a difference, stop Reform in their tracks, and hold power to account, so in four years we’re not in the same position we’re in today.” 

The Green Party has today announced the names of its full slate of candidates. 

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Stop new oil and gas, close the loopholes, invest properly in transition to renewable energy, say Greens in response to Badenoch


/ by Green Party

Responding to Kemi Badenoch’s plans to remove VAT from household energy bills for the next three years funded by scrapping renewable energy schemes and green levies, Green MP Hannah Spencer said:

“Kemi Badenoch is not living in the same world as the rest of us – where we can see first-hand that decades of failure to properly insulate our homes and invest in renewables has left us all vulnerable to ridiculous price shocks.

“The Tories, Reform and right-wing media are deliberately failing to explain that UK oil and gas are priced on global markets, and new fields take years to deliver while adding only limited supply. Hundreds of licences issued between 2010 and 2024 have delivered the equivalent of just 36 days’ extra gas.

“Labour’s position isn’t good enough either. A “ban” on new licences doesn’t mean much if loopholes like tiebacks still allow new drilling to go ahead.

“Successive governments keep failing to listen to ordinary people who’re sick of seeing bills go up, and workers like me who have experience in this industry. We’ve been saying for years that we have the leakiest homes in Europe. It would be much cheaper to invest in a proper, well-regulated national insulation scheme than to have to keep subsidising people’s bills and pouring public money into energy company profits.

“The Green Party is clear: stop new oil and gas, close the loopholes, and invest properly in the transition to renewable energy.

“Our hard-earned wages are currently going on tax cuts for fossil fuel companies. That money should be redirected into proper support for oil and gas workers to transition into secure, skilled jobs in green industries. That’s how you cut bills, protect workers and deliver real energy security – not by propping up a declining industry.”

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Greens vote to give public a stake in National Wealth Fund 

The Green Party has today passed a motion [1] calling on the government to allow the National Wealth Fund [2] to issue bonds to individuals, communities, and institutions so that the public can share directly in, and support, the creation of publicly-owned assets.  

Responding to the successful motion which she proposed, Carla Denyer, Green MP for Bristol Central, said: 

“The Green Party has backed giving the public a real stake in the green transition. Right now the National Wealth Fund risks putting vital assets into private hands and widening inequality.  

“The investment needed in infrastructure for decarbonisation and housing is huge. We believe the National Wealth Fund should prioritise investment in public, community and cooperative ownership. Green MPs will be pushing for this change of emphasis in Parliament.” 

[1] Full text of motion passed:  

Synopsis  

The Government has created a National Wealth Fund to invest alongside the private sector in projects in the UK. If it was able to issue bonds in its own right, the Fund could invest in assets owned by the public in our communities and facilitate taking utilities into public ownership. 

Motion text  

To be inserted into the Record of Policy Statements: The Green Party calls upon the Government to ensure the National Wealth Fund has the resources it needs to invest at the scale required in infrastructure, including housing for social rent, renewable energy generation, and public utilities, with core funding provided directly from the Treasury.  

In addition, the Party calls on Government to allow the National Wealth Fund to issue bonds to provide opportunities for individuals, communities, and institutions — in the spirit of historic community bond initiatives — allowing the public to share directly in, and support, the creation of publicly-owned assets.  

Currently there is no provision for investment by the National Wealth Fund in cooperatives, mutuals or community owned enterprises. This risks any assets being created by a National Wealth Fund largely being in private sector hands.  

The investment needed in infrastructure is huge, including that needed for both decarbonisation and housing. The Fund risks becoming a driver for private wealth and greater inequality.  

The National Wealth Fund currently can only receive funding from the Treasury and currently the relatively small sum of money is there predominantly to facilitate private ownership. 

[2] The National Wealth Fund is a government-backed investment bank aimed at mobilising private capital for clean energy, industrial transformation and long‑term regional economic growth. See the website. 

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Mothin Ali takes the fight to Reform in his hometown of Leeds in a personal address

Green Party’s Mothin Ali takes the fight to Reform in his hometown of Leeds in a personal address at the ‘heartbreak’ of what the establishment has done to his local community. It’s time to end rip-off Britain, and ‘scam artist’ Farage is not the solution, says Greens deputy leader.

Deputy leader of the Green Party Mothin Ali, delivered a speech in Leeds today to set out his vision for dealing with the unaffordability crisis and the legacy of deindustrialisation in the North of England.

Mothin Ali will also launch a hard-hitting and personal video of the challenges faced by working-class people, whose communities have been torn apart by decades of de-industrialisation.

Never-ending higher bills are breaking people in a system that’s not broken, Ali said,  but doing exactly what it is designed to do.

In his speech in Leeds this morning he said:

“I have real heartache for the thriving high streets we no longer have, for the local wealth and opportunity that has been taken from us through decades of austerity politics. My heartache at the community spirit that we have lost, and heartbreak at the division, racism, and misplaced anger that have replaced it.”

“It tells me that something has gone wrong – deeply, fundamentally wrong – in how our country has been governed by the establishment.”

Mothin Ali spoke out against politicians who, instead of looking at ways to fix the problems, have blamed those at the bottom, stirring up hatred which has led to anti-semitic attacks on Jews and attacks on Muslims
 
He said, “It’s the same old story. Instead of looking for ways to fix the problem, to boost the economy, to create local jobs, to encourage local business, we have politicians pointing the finger and blaming those at the very bottom of society.”

Mothin Ali called out Nigel Farage, who visited Leeds on Tuesday, as ‘spreading a toxic brand of hatred’.

“He’s a grifter and a scam artist who is using his political profile to get rich. So, when Nigel Farage pretends to be a man of the people. Remember that his people are not the plumbers or the plasterers; they’re the wealthy elites who have bled our communities dry through their system of what they like to call trickle-down economics.”

Mothin Ali said he understands the anger of Reform voters, but set out real solutions that will improve the quality of life and rebuild communities.

Mothin Ali said ‘enough is enough’, it’s time to end rip of Britain, “The Green Party is offering you something different and better – hope and a plan. First, we will invest in our communities. Not with trickle-down promises. But with real tangible investment. We’ll put the power and the resources back where they belong: in the hands of local people who know what their communities need.”

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