2 May 2024

As polls closed across England in the local elections, Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said: 

“It has been a wonderful experience to be out on the doorstep listening to voters and understanding why their concerns over the cost of living, cuts to local services and the climate crisis are turning into votes for the Green Party. 

“I want to thank every single voter who has gone to the polls today to vote for a fairer, greener country. 

“Our fantastic volunteers and candidates have been out knocking on doors, listening to voters and responding with a positive vision of what their Green vote would mean. 

“As counting begins, I look forward to another record night for the Green Party. We have increased our councillor numbers at each of the last four elections – and I believe we can do so again. 

“That will lay the firmest of foundations for our General Election campaign when we are going to do everything we can to get at least four Green MPs elected to Parliament. 

“We know that having a Green in the council chamber or in Parliament delivers for people, the community and the planet.” 

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23 April 2024

Responding to the Rwanda Bill completing its parliamentary stages, Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said: 

“I don’t want people risking their lives crossing the channel in small boats. But the way to stop that isn’t this punitive, inhumane approach. It’s providing safe and legal routes for people to apply for asylum from overseas, and working to fix the reasons that people are having to claim asylum – including wars and the climate crisis.  

“This new Act is simply a very expensive way to be cruel. We need to get the humanity back into our refugee policy and Green MPs will certainly seek this Act’s repeal after the General Election.” 

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19 April 2024

Responding to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s plans to stop GPs issuing sick notes to people too ill to work, Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said: 

“How cold hearted do you have to be, and how lacking in empathy, to see this crisis of ill health as anything other than caused by decades of austerity and lack of investment in the NHS?

“The PM should be fixing the NHS so that people can get well, not blaming people who are ill.

“We would invest in mending the health and social care system, not denying people the right to see a GP when they need it.”

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15 April 2024

Green Party co-leader, Adrian Ramsay, has announced the Party’s plans for an Independent Commission for Nature that would protect nature and ensure the restoration of wildlife habitats. The new watchdog would be created as part of a new “Rights of Nature” Act that would enshrine in law the intrinsic value of nature while also recognising how a healthy natural environment is fundamental to clear air, water and food.  

Ramsay made the announcement as he joined leaders of national conservation charities at Black Bourn Valley Reserve in Suffolk [1] where they delivered their ‘Nature 2030 Open Letter’ signed by 100,000 people across the country [2].  

Adrian Ramsay said: 

“I am delighted to be the first party leader to back the calls of conservation groups to restore nature. The natural environment is deeply important to the British people, yet the lack of adequate legal protection has left the UK as one of the most nature depleted countries in the world. Last year’s State of Nature report [3] highlighted the scale of the threats facing nature, with 1 in 6 species at risk of extinction. Given this alarming situation, the work of the country’s many conservation and wildlife organisations is critical in helping to protect and restore nature. Like them, the Green Party understands we need a change in government policies to ensure the UK meets legally binding targets for nature by 2030.  

“Greens believe that nature has an intrinsic value. It is also vital to human health and survival – for the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat. Evidence also shows that people’s physical and mental wellbeing is enhanced by easy access to green spaces and nature. 

“The Green Party wants to see much greater protection of nature in law. We would set up an Independent Commission for Nature that would set targets for nature protection and restoration, enforced through the courts. This would be groundbreaking, allowing for the first time the possibility of individuals, communities and conservation groups taking legal action on behalf of nature. Currently, every time our rivers, seas or land is polluted, prosecution is left to hopelessly underfunded quangos. 

“The Nature 2030 open letter, signed by over 100,000 people, demonstrates that people want to see firm action to halt and reverse the decline of nature by 2030. The Green Party fully backs the outcomes the Nature 2030 coalition of conservation organisations want to see [4]. Nature restoration will be a key priority in our general election manifesto, and for me personally if I’m elected as an MP. 

“Only the Green Party will take the necessary action to double the budget for nature friendly farming, protect 30% of the land and sea for nature, invest in the skills needed for regenerative farming and wildlife habitat restoration, and protect people’s right to clean air and water and access to nature.” 

Notes 

1. Black Bourn Valley Nature Reserve managed by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust is a 290 acre former arable farm where natural regeneration methods and conservation grazing are being used to demonstrate how land management can balance competing demands on land use and natural resources whilst bringing back nature. 

2. Open_Letter_Nature_2030_Campaign.pdf 

3. State of Nature 2023 – report on the UK’s current biodiversity 

4. Nature_2030_Report_18.07.2023.pdf (wcl.org.uk) 

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14 April 2024

Following news of the Iranian attack on Israel and the involvement of UK aircraft in Israel’s defence, Green Party co-leader, Carla Denyer, has urged the UK not to be dragged into a Middle East war. She said: 

“The Green Party condemns Iran’s attacks against Israel, which were targeted on civilian as well as military targets.  This represents a concerning escalation of the current conflict in the Middle East. We call on all parties now to find ways to de-escalate this conflict, which risks spreading across the region. 

“We are concerned by the use of British aircraft in the night’s events.  We question why Britain should be involved in this confrontation, where there is a risk that we could become embroiled in a regional war.  The record of Afghanistan and Iraq suggests that involvement in such conflict brings great risks, especially when the military and strategic objectives are unclear.” 

Denyer also questioned at what level the decision to engage UK defence forces was made: 

“I am deeply concerned about how this decision to deepen our involvement was made and in what further action the government proposes to involve UK armed forces. Britain’s military involvement must be scrutinised and debated by parliament. We should not allow ourselves to be dragged into a Middle East war. 

“Last night’s violence demonstrates again that there must be resolution to the interconnected conflicts of the Middle East, including in Gaza where a ceasefire remains urgent. We are at a moment of grave peril and it is incumbent on all countries, including the UK, to find ways to reduce rather than contribute to conflict.” 

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