Green Party

27 June 2017

Commenting on the fact that Google has been fined 2.42bn euros (£2.1bn) by the European Commission after it ruled the company had abused its power by promoting its own shopping comparison service at the top of search results, Molly Scott Cato MEP, Green Party economics spokesperson, said:

“Rightly, the European Commission has come down heavily on one of the world’s most powerful corporations, which has been using its size and influence to achieve unfair competition. Attempts by Google to use its domination of the Search arena to favour its shopping comparison service represents a damaging extension of its monopoly power that must be resisted. The action by Commissioner Vestager is a good example of how the EU member states can act collectively to clamp down on corporate power; action an individual country may not feel able or willing to do on its own.

“Given previous scandals involving Google avoiding taxes in the UK and the powerlessness of tax authorities to tackle this [2], we must also remain focused on the risk that post-Brexit Britain will become a tax haven for corporations like Google.”

Molly Scott Cato went on to say:

“We also need the EU to stand up for digital start-ups that challenge the might of US digital monopolies and remain vigilant to prevent them using their market power to create barriers to entry.”

Notes

[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-40406542

[2] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/google-deal-hmrc-concedes-internet-giants-uk-tax-arrangements-are-legal-a6837881.html

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26 June 2017

The Green Party [1] has responded to news the Conservatives have reached a deal with the DUP to prop up their minority Government [1].

Jonathan Bartley, co-leader of the Green Party, said:

“The coalition of cruelty deal has now been signed and the Tory Government stumbles on for another day. 

“Theresa May’s claim her party shares many of the DUP’s values is alarming – which is she referring to? Their opposition to equal marriage, abortion or climate action? The Green Party will always stand up against the regressive values of the DUP and work with others to stop a lurch to the right under a Tory-DUP alliance.

“The length of time it has taken Theresa May to reach a deal is a sign of the chaos currently engulfing her Government. The Tories are utterly hamstrung – unable to implement their manifesto plans, derided in the rest of the EU and incapable of properly-Governing this country in these testing times.”

Notes:

1.      The DUP has 10 MPs and received fewer than 300,000 votes in the General Election. The Green party returned just one MP – Caroline Lucas in Brighton Pavilion – despite getting more than 500,000 votes.

2.     https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/26/tories-and-the-dup-reach-deal-to-prop-up-minority-government 

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26 June 2017

The Green Party has responded to news the Government’s 25-Year Environment Plan is not guaranteed to be published this year. [1]

Jonathan Bartley, Green Party co-leader, said:

“This is another example of the recklessness that comes with Gove’s appointment as Environment Secretary. He is clearly intent on playing fast and loose with the environment at a time when we need a safe pair of hands.

“The 25-Year Environment Plan is already long overdue and yet another delay compounds concerns that Gove will slash environmental protections and make the environment subservient to his wider political agenda. The Plan must be published as a matter of urgency. The need for a new Environment Protection Act is also clearly greater than ever.”

Notes:

1. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/michael-gove-25-year-environment-plan-delay-government-climate-change-brexit-a7807781.html

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26 June 2017

*Co-leader Jonathan Bartley: “No other party appears to be engaging with the magnitude of the problem”

The Green Party has renewed its call for investment in the NHS and the end of privatisation following comments by the British Medical Association that the NHS is ‘running on fumes’ [1].

Jonathan Bartley, Green Party co-leader, said:

“Jeremy Hunt must listen to staff and patients on the frontline who are experiencing day in and day out the effects of a two pronged attack on our health service in the form of chronic underinvestment and privatisation. Attempts to further privatise our health service in an illusory quest for greater ‘efficiency savings’ are clearly counterproductive. There is also a clear alternative to starving the NHS of funding it so desperately needs. These are political choices, and there are other options.

“The NHS is indeed running on fumes, and no other party appears to be engaging with the magnitude of the problem. It is time not just to fill up the tank again, but replace the engine with one fit for the modern era.

“The Green Party is also the only party proposing to properly fill the funding gap and would invest more money year on year than any other party. This includes scrapping Trident renewal which alone would give the NHS the kiss of life it desperately needs, providing an extra £3.6bn every year which would pay for 85,000 nurses, midwives and other healthcare professionals. But as well as reversing privatisation and reinstating a publicly run NHS, we should give patients, staff and others at the frontline a greater voice and control in running of our health service.”                                                    

Notes:

1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-40401311

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23 June 2017

* Lucas: “Consumers and taxpayers are going to be ripped off by this absurd project”

Caroline Lucas, the co-leader of the Green Party, has responded to a report by the National Audit Office on Hinkley Power Station. The report says that the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s deal for Hinkley Point C has locked consumers into a ‘risky and expensive project’ with uncertain strategic and economic benefits.[1]

The multibillion pound project at Hinkley is currently supported by both Labour and the Coservatives, but opposition to the plans is expected to grow as the costs soar. 

Caroline Lucas, co-leader of the Green Party, said:

“The National Audit Office’s damning report confirms what many of us have been saying for a long time: the Hinkley deal is overpriced and risky. Not only are consumers and taxpayers going to be ripped off by this absurd project but it will also divert resources away from building the clean energy infrastructure we need, and threaten our climate change targets because of the snail’s pace at which it will be built.

“The fight against Hinkley isn’t over – and we will be joining campaigners in continuing to highlight the major shortcomings of this project. This is a crossroads for Britain – and the signing of this deal has seen us swerve down the wrong path. By reversing this decision we can put the resources needed into building a decentralized energy system where Britain puts to use its most abundant resources: the sun, sea and wind.”

[1] Report available from the National Audit Office

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