The Greens in England and Wales have launched their election manifesto, titled Real Hope, Real Change. Here are some of its main points.
More tax, more spend
Unlike the Conservatives and Labour, the Greens are unapologetic in opting out of what they call a “race to the bottom” on tax. Taxes would go up under their policies – though mainly for wealthier people. To finance a range of public policies including insulating buildings, higher benefits and more money for the NHS and public spending, the party would levy a wealth tax on people worth £10m or more, increase national insurance, and put capital gains tax at the same rate as income tax. Do all the sums add up? The party has produced a costing document to go with the manifesto, and insist they have been cautious in some areas, for example assuming a proportion of rich people will relocate or try to otherwise avoid the wealth taxes.
Build, build, build
The launch event was opened by the party’s Brighton Pavilion candidate, Siân Berry, who noted that she was and had always been a renter, “at the mercy of a system that can turn on me at any moment”. The Greens’ answers include building more social rent homes, acquiring more from the private sector, insulating homes so they are warmer, introducing rent controls, and letting councils requisition empty properties or those without proper insulation. There is also a section in the manifesto about ensuring any new homes have access to sufficient local infrastructure and no overly adverse environmental impacts. This could be seen as a nimby’s charter for a party that runs or co-runs a series of councils – something denied by Ramsay and his co-leader Carla Denyer.
Tackling the cost of living
Denyer said the manifesto aimed to address “an economy where most people are working harder and yet getting poorer”. As well as investment in areas such as skills training, policies include a £15-an-hour minimum wage, improved employment rights and a four-day working week. On social security, plans include a £40 weekly upgrade to universal credit and parallel legacy benefits, abolishing the two-child benefit cap and the bedroom tax, and in the longer term, introducing a universal basic income.
A green society
The party has long moved on from almost entirely campaigning on nature and the environment, but this remains a priority. Policies in the manifesto include phasing out fossil fuels and nuclear energy, and aiming for wind to provide 70% of the UK’s electricity by 2030. Farmers would be heavily incentivised to promote biodiversity and use fewer pesticides. On transport, there is little of the “plan for drivers”, with instead mass spending on public transport and a promised £2.5bn a year for building walking and cycling infrastructure.
We’re sober and sensible, really
While the Greens’ policies are certainly more radical than those of the bigger parties, the manifesto launch was notably short on controversy or contentious ideas, as exemplified by the sensible figures of Denyer and Ramsay. A question about abandoning nuclear weapons was answered less in terms of a moral choice than one of cost and practicality; asked if the Greens believed jailed climate protesters should be freed, Denyer said it was not up to politicians to get involved in individual court cases.