Responding to the Leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch’s keynote conference speech, Green Party Leader Zack Polanski said,

“Kemi, whilst struggling for any last semblance of relevance, feels like she’s talking in a completely different time and place. She was speaking to the room, not listening to the nation. While she got rounds of applause from men in suits sitting in front of her, she still sounds painfully out of touch with those dressed and ready to work for this country. 

“You can’t preach about a ‘strong economy’ while protecting the wealth of billionaires and underfunding the nurses, teachers and carers who keep this country going. When she says “work is the best way out of poverty”, she shows her ignorance of the millions of Brits who are earning poverty wages, not enough to live on, let alone thrive. She has shown herself to be completely ignorant of the crumbling frontline services that millions rely on. It’s as if she hasn’t spoken to the millions of people who are working full-time but are unable to pay their bills. 

The Conservatives would instead have you believe it’s the borders that are causing people to be unable to pay their bills. This is a lie. And the truth is simple. Our borders are being used as a distraction. If the government taxed the super-rich and the extreme wealth properly, we could rebuild our NHS, invest in green jobs and give everyone the security they deserve. Britain doesn’t need another lecture from the out-of-touch rich. It needs leadership with courage and compassion. That’s how we can give Britain hope again.”

The Green Party has welcomed the news that renewable energy overtook coal as the world’s leading source of electricity last year but slammed the Conservatives for ‘plotting’ to ‘drag the country back into the dark and dirty fossil fuel era.’

Green MP, Carla Denyer, said:

“The news that renewable energy overtook coal as the world’s leading source of electricity last year shows our world is moving in a cleaner, greener, healthier direction.  Ultimately, this move towards renewables will lower energy bills too, as wind and solar are now the cheapest way to generate electricity.

“As the world moves forwards and embraces the positive benefits of renewable energy, the Tories are plotting how they can block both people and the planet benefitting from this transition. A series of policy announcements on abolishing the Climate Change Act, scraping subsidies to help boost clean energy and a drive to “maximise extraction” of North Sea oil and gas aim to drag us back into the dark and dirty fossil fuel era, where the only beneficiaries will be the fossil fuel industry itself.”