Reacting to chancellor Rachel Reeves speech to Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Green Party leader Zack Polanski said:

“Rachel Reeves came to conference four years ago promising £28bn a year for green jobs. Today, all Labour can offer is platitudes. 

“This is not leadership, it’s managed decline. And while ordinary people are told there’s no money, Labour are rolling out the red carpet for the super-rich. Literally selling £50,000 lunches with ministers. That’s not a party of the people for the many, that’s a party auctioning itself off to the highest bidders while it continues to ask the most vulnerable to plug the gap.

“Rightly, people will be asking why they are being asked to pay more when the very rich continue to get wealthier and some of them get to wine and dine inside the Labour Party conference.

“Britain doesn’t need timid half-measures or cosy deals with the wealthy few. We need bold, unapologetic investment in climate action, green jobs, and public services. Increasingly, it’s obvious, only the Greens are willing to fight for that future.”

Responding to a Labour Party conference fringe event that concluded “Labour must ‘get over squeamishness’ about attacking Greens”, Green Party Co–Deputy Leader, Mothin Ali, said:

“My free advice to Labour is to stop attacking and start listening. Stop attacking communities that are made up of people living and working here, and who were born abroad. Stop obsessively trying to “attack” your political opponents.

“Instead, start listening. Listen to people who are struggling to survive on disability benefits before cutting them. Listen to parents struggling with the cost of living and the experts who say scrapping the two-child benefit cap is the most cost-effective way of addressing child poverty. And listen to all of us who have been calling out the unfolding genocide in Gaza for the last two years.

“Like many, Labour left me behind, and I found a new home in the Greens. I am now focusing all my energy on growing the Green movement. We have a record membership, a record number of Cllrs and MPs and are hitting record levels in the polls. This is what I’m focused on.”