Chancellor “knows know the price of everything and the value of nothing.” say Greens in response to Spending Review


/ by Green Party

Responding to the Spending Review, Green Party Co-Leader, Adrian Ramsay MP, said,

“Today’s Spending Review shows we have a chancellor who seems to know the price of everything and the value of nothing. While today Reeves may have balanced her spreadsheet, it is done on the backs of some of the worst off in our society. The proof is in how many will still be feeling worse off as the cost-of-living crisis bites hard.

People want to feel pride in Britain again, and for this, they need real hope. Hope only comes from seeing how things will improve through real investment in the everyday services we all rely on.

Despite the rhetoric in the chamber, it is clear that this Spending Review represents a squeeze in many frontline budgets. With education, for example, where many schools are already being forced to make difficult budget cuts, core school budgets are set to rise by just 0.6%. It is hard to see this money ever reaching our teachers and children in the classroom. Equally, I am horrified to see real-term cuts to Defra funding, just as the impact of climate change is starting to affect our communities. Now is the time to invest in climate resilience and preparedness.”

He continued, “These ‘tough decisions’ are actually ‘Labour’s political choices’. They are choosing to leave the economy tilted towards those with considerable wealth. Our front-line services continue to deteriorate through a political choice of decline by design. By introducing a wealth tax on the super-rich, we could instead properly invest in our children’s future. We could give them the education they deserve and start now to invest in the climate resilience and preparedness they will need throughout their lives as the climate crisis unfolds.”

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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.”   

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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.”

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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.” 

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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.”  

 

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