“Real hope. Real change.”
JVL Introduction
Perspectives on the General Election (22)
24th June: For the avoidance of doubt, may we repeat our website disclaimer:
“We repost a wide range of materials on this site, to provide information and to encourage discussion and debate. We do not necessarily endorse the opinions expressed in these materials.”
See JVL’s offical statement Election 2024 – For The Many.
Every one of us will rejoice when the Tories get their long deserved comeuppance on 4th July. But enthusiasm for the inevitable Starmer-led government to replace them is hard to find anywhere on the broadest of lefts. In these circumstances it is interesting to look at what other Parties and candidates offer.
We have already looked at the Lib Dems, putting tax-and-spend politics back on the agenda. Here it is the turn of the Greens.
To say it at the outset: many on the left are sniffy about the Greens and offer good reasons for their caution or even active dislike. They’re not a real party, they’re middle class, what you get from them depends very much on where you are in the country, they lack “class politics” and much more.
Of course there are truths there, though you might make parallel criticisms of other parties – particularly of Labour whose class-orientation in its manifesto seems overwhelmingly inclined towards business not labour.
In this election the Greens are worth highlighting for a singular contribution: they offer hope and aspire to radical change. You’re unlikely to say that of Labour…
Here is the Greens’ summary of their Manifesto as announced in a mailing on 14th June:
- [It] is about the sort of country we want to live in, where we move beyond the politics of fear and distrust.
- Our offer to voters is Real Hope and Real Change and our manifesto lays out exactly what this looks like.
- The Green manifesto sets out how we will invest in the next generation through a focus on quality housing, education, and transport.
- It outlines how we will transform our economy and overhaul the tax system to make it fairer, and bring water companies, railways and the five big energy companies into public ownership.
- The Green Party will also invest to protect the climate for future generations and bring nature back to life.
- This manifesto isn’t more of the same. It’s a look at what things could be like, soon, if we are willing to be bold and ambitious.
Given the realities of the electoral system they know why can aspire to perhaps 4 seats at best and see their role as pushing a future (Labour) government that looks bereft of ideas for just about anything.
Below we post their manifesto highlights. It is hard to believe that anyone on the left, would not wish Labour to have been as bold and forthright in its stance.
Here is the 2024 General Election Manifesto in full.
RK
Green Manifesto highlights:
– Introduce a wealth tax of 1% annually on people with assets over £10 million and of 2% on assets over £1 billion.
– Align tax rates on investment income with employment income tax and NIC and remove NIC upper earnings limit so high earners pay more.
– Increase the minimum wage to £15 an hour with the cost of small businesses offset by reducing their national insurance payments.
– Increase Universal credit by £40 a week and abolish the two-child benefit cap lifting 250,000 children out of poverty.
– Invest £40 billion per year over the course of the next parliament in the shift to a green economy and £12.4 billion in skills and training to equip workers.
– Introduce a carbon tax to drive fossil fuels out of our economy and raise money for the green transition.
– Bring the railways, water companies and big 5 energy companies into public ownership.
– Set up regional mutual banks to support small and medium sized businesses and drive investment in local economic sustainability.
– Invest £28 billion in the NHS to reduce waiting lists, increase staff pay and guarantee access to an NHS dentist.
– Invest an additional £20 billion on hospitals buildings and repair.
– Introduce free personal care to ensure dignity in old age and for people with disabilities, at a cost of £20 billion.
– Introduce A Right Homes, Right Place, Right Price charter so local authorities have to build new housing to Passivhaus standards and protect green space.
– Provide 150,000 new social homes every year and end the ‘right to buy’ to keep social homes for communities for perpetuity.
– Implement rent controls so local authorities can keep rents affordable and an end to no fault evictions so tenants are secure in their homes.
– Invest £29 billion investment over the next five years to insulate homes to energy efficiency EPC B standard and £9 billion in low carbon heating.
– Transition to a zero carbon economy as soon as possible and ten years ahead of 2050 by investing in wind and solar energy, and phase out nuclear.
– Cancel recent fossil fuel licences such as Rosebank, stop all new fossil fuel extraction projects in the UK and remove oil and gas subsidies.
– Introduce a new Rights of Nature Act to protect and restore nature and stop the scandal of water companies pumping sewage into rivers and seas.
– Introduce a Right to Roam Act to extend people’s access to green space and waterways and a Clean Air Act so everyone can breathe clean air.
– Create a Commission on Animal Protection, ban blood sports and badger culling.
– Triple financial support for farmers to adopt nature friendly farming and link payments to reduced use of pesticides and other agro-chemicals.
– Invest an additional £19 billion over five years to improve public transport, support railway electrification, and create new cycleways and footpaths.
– Introduce a frequent flyer levy, ban domestic flights for journeys that take less than three hours by train, and halt the expansion of airports.
– Introduce equal employment rights from day 1, a legal obligation on employers to recognise trade unions, and move to a four day working week.
– Increase school funding by £8 billion including £2 billion for a pay uplift for teachers, end tuition fees for higher education students and abolish Ofsted.
– Introduce free schools meals for all children and free breakfast clubs for primary school children.
– Replace first past the post with a fair and proportional voting system and the House of Lords with an elected chamber. Extend the vote to 16-year-olds.
– Change the law so no individual or company can own more than 20% of any media market.
– Push for an immediate bilateral ceasefire in Gaza, end arms sales to Israel and campaign to end the illegal occupation of Palestinian land.
– Increase international aid to 1% and climate finance for the Global South to 1.5% of gross national income by 2033, with an additional contribution to a new Loss and Damage Fund.
This is disappointing to say the least. Yes there is no class politics. The Greens are a petit-bourgeois party who believe in greening capitalism.
What is their record nationally & internationally? In Ireland they put into power 2 conservative parties to keep out Sinn Fein. Previously there they were part of the austerity govt. after the financial crash.
In Germany they are the most pro-NATO and pro-Zionist party.
In Brighton where they controlled the Council they twice engineered a dispute with the refuse workers (& twice they lost!). in 2018 they lined up with the Tories and Labour to support the IHRA in Council.
Nationally they have adopted the IHRA and also the JDA. They have been meeting regularl with John Mann who infamously hounded Ken Livingstone for his reference to Ha’avara, in addition to his long record of racism against Gypsy Roma and others.
On Palestine they are all over the place. They do not accept that Israel is an apartheid state and still support 2 states.
Despite this I will be voting Green in the election solely because they are the least worst alternative. But even here they refused to stand down for a fine British Palestinian socialist Tanushka in Hove.
They are Green Liberals not Green Socialists.
I would be interested to hear what Tony Greenstein has to say about this manifesto vis-a-vis Caroline Lucas and recent Green Party history.
I have already voted for the Green Party (postal vote) because it the only true socialist party in this general election. I love their manifesto. What is there to hate? I left the LP and joined the Greens.
Obviously my initial post was submitted before Tony G’s response was published. His comments are very interesting, but especially the admission that he will be voting Green nonetheless. I am really just looking for somewhere to put my mark next Thursday and all the other options here are risible ——- at best.
I like the Green manifesto and would vote Green if I didn’t have Andrew Feinstein to vote for. Unfortunately the Greens never even bother leafleting our area, and often no longer stand council candidates in our local wards . I have written angrily to Caroline Lucas about this obvious slant towards Highgate and away from Somers Town, as well as the leadership’s cowardly adoption of the IHRA (though they did hastily adopt the JDA as soon as it was available). But Tony, can you really dismiss public ownership, wealth taxes, rent controls and an end to the right to buy as mere green capitalism ?
PS Personally I am hoping for a united left slate including the Greens at any futureelections. This is being done in France.
Can you tell us more Harvey Taylor ?
Tony Greensteins on the money, although saying all that and then concluding with “Im voting Green anyway” is disappointing – surely if theres no one to vote for, which in places choc full of liberals like Brighton is probably the case, its better to abstain in protest. I thought they still had to count people who spoilt their ballot ?
IF there’s a sizeable pool of MPs who are independents and from the smaller left-leaning parties (SNP, Greens, Plaid and LibDems) and IF Jeremy Corbyn gets re-elected, Corbyn may have a role in building that minority grouping’s impact on decision-making within and outside Parliament.
I hope both “IFs” happen; and that Corbyn can help bring these very different politicians together to do the work the voters need done and the main parties will horribly bodge (or dodge doing).
I’m deeply saddened the triumvirate of Corbyn, McDonnell and Abbott never had the chance to undo in government AT LEAST SOME of the harms and mistakes from Thatcher’s premiership onwards. Corbyn if accepted as a one-term “facilitator” and consensus-builder for free-thinking, left-leaning MPs could help us all avoid the chaos likely to come.
Starmer’s limitations make me feel his government will disintegrate messily at a very early stage (as happened to Sunak). When that happens, there has to be a core of parliamentary MPs with a habit of working together harmoniously and effectively – and a basic set of policies which they all support and can sell to unaligned MPs.
Amanda & Hassan,
Basically, it is all rather depressing and a very long distance from anything resembling an ideal situation. Obviously, much depends on where you live. I would be happy if I had the Andrew Feinstein option. I lived in Highbury once upon a time, so that would have been a simple choice too.
I am incapable of voting for a government of Starmer and co. I disagree with a lot of Green politics, so my ballot is little more than a protest vote. Hassan – I was brought up with the notion that people fought and died to win universal suffrage.
Apologies if this is all rather unavoidably personal, but I am not claiming any sort of principled stance.
The likely winners where I live are offering – ‘A Fair Deal for ***** *******’. Wow! I can’t wait. This is indicative of the depth of UK politics.
Yes my stance may seem contradictory. I’m voting Green yet criticising them. That is because they are the least worst alternative.
I agree with Harvey Taylor. People died for universal suffrage hence I am loathe not to vote.
Amanda ask ‘Tony, can you really dismiss public ownership, wealth taxes, rent controls and an end to the right to buy as mere green capitalism ?’
Well yes. Public ownership, i.e. nationalisation is not socialism and wealth taxes presume that we will still have the wealthy and the poor. Likewise rent controls assumes we still have landlords. Likewise with the right to buy.
But I agree that these would be welcome reforms. But would the Greens implement them if they got in power? Their record is not good in that respect internationally where they prop up militarism and conservative parties.
The IHRA is indicative of their refusal to come down on the side of the Palestinians and adopt a clear anti-Zionist position. The IHRA was created in order to chill free speech in Kenneth Stern’s words. It is being used to silence and even criminalise Palestine/BDS supporters in the USA.
What is it that the Greens adopted it under Caroline Lucas’s influence? This suggests a level disingenuousness and I refuse to be lied to by another party. My experience in Brighton re the Greens is appalling.
They are clearly not anti-capitalist. At best they are a reformist party. Andrew Feinstein is head and shoulders above any Green. How can you even think Amanda of not voting for him?
Surely it would be better to abstain or spoil ballot no Tony ?
Thanks Harvey.
Seeing as we’re on the subject of British electoral politics, what do people think about jvl’s deafening silence about Galloway and his Workers Party of Britain project ?
I understand he’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but he’s also a big pro-Palestinian advocate, so it seems a little strange jvl have never mentioned him or WPB. On their post about the ‘we are collevtive’ group, they haven’t even spoken about Halima Khan. She’s not involved with it but she is a candidate in East London and was a Labour Party whistleblower and another big pro-Palestine advocate. Surely worth mentioning.
It is a shame that this thread is probably well and truly dead and buried by now because a lot of people are effectively disenfranchised by the turn of events and the parlous state of the Labour Party. Aneurin Bevan’s plea to Jennie Lee to stick with Labour (?’there is only the Labour Party’ – in the wake of the 1959 election defeat?) no longer resonates. Over the years I have canvassed for several mainstream mildly reformist Labour candidates, but the current version of the Party leaves me dismayed.
Hassan, with reference to my previous comments, I would at least feel reconnected to UK democracy if I was able to vote for Leanne Mohamad, Fiona Lalli, Halima Khan etc, as well as more obviously experienced politicians such as Andrew Feinstein or Jeremy Corbyn.
I hear where your coming from Harvey Taylor, but I think the current state of Labour is making us all reassess the party – in other words, if its so easily compromised, was it ever that good in the first place. Looking at its history, the only answer I keep coming to is a no, and that also means the Knight of The Realm isn’t actually compromising it, he fits well into it.
As for Corbyn, he might be a nice man, but hes also a lost cause. Had he gone independent years ago when all the drama unfolded, there might have been a chance of a stronger challenge to Labour, but he hung around and the reasons for that are because he’ll always be more loyal to Labour, he likes being a ‘left’ gatekeeper, and he’s not serious about anti-imperialism.
Fiona Lali might mean well, but its possibly a bit wrongheaded of her to stand in the same area as Halima Khan, who had been standing first.