Green World

In 2013, newly arrived in London, I applied to be the Campaign Manager for Caroline Lucas’ 2015 re-election campaign. At that point, I'd already been a Green for a long time. Born in Belfast, I'd joined the Northern Ireland Greens after their breakthrough in the 2007 Northern Ireland Assembly election. I sat on the party’s executive, founded the youth wing, stood as the youngest Parliamentary candidate in the 2010 general election, and was deeply involved in many election campaigns.

With disruptive modes of protest becoming more widespread, climate activists are accused of alienating policymakers and public opinion from the just cause of climate action. However, an analysis of mainstream media discourse in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy suggests that the othering and demonisation of climate activists are neither new nor unbiased. Mon 30 Oct 2023 This article originally appeared in the Green European Journal on 17 October 2023.

The arts have been successfully utilised to draw attention to the importance of addressing environmental issues. Focus should now be put on creating art which shows us a constructive way forward. Art can be used to urge us to live in an ecologically sustainable way, encourage us to value nature and show a good way forward in a simplified way. Scientific data on the environmental emergencies we face is very dry, so art is needed to communicate the data.

Two well-funded national campaigns, Just Vote and Project Climate Vote, have launched recently to influence how people vote at the next General Election. While they seem to have impeccable climate credentials, both could damage the Green Party’s electoral chances, finances, and long-term growth. Just Vote stems from Ecotricity founder Dale Vince. He is diverting his funding of Just Stop Oil to persuade young people and first-time voters to support Labour.

Nestled on the edge of the Norfolk Broads, our parish village, Rockland St Mary with Hellington, is dotted with apple trees – in gardens, pocket community spaces and allotments. Image credit: Sally-Anne Lomas Residents on our Close recently organised an Apple Day, an idea discussed by a local action group, enthusiastically named ‘Save the world – one Close at a time’! The aim is to contribute to the Green goal of transformatively adapting our community to the climate and nature emergency.

The Green Party is deeply concerned by reports that the United States intends once again to station nuclear weapons at RAF Lakenheath – a US-controlled airbase in Suffolk. We share the widespread condemnation which was expressed when Russia recently placed some of its tactical nuclear weapons in neighbouring Belarus.

Following the publication of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s report into destitution in the UK, the Green Party is calling for reform to Universal Credit, scrapping the two-child benefit cap and the introduction of a wealth tax. Green Party co-leader Adrian Ramsay said: “Thirteen years of Tory government has resulted in a catalogue of social, environmental and economic wreckage. And there can be no worse legacy than leaving almost four million people in destitution – a quarter of them children.

Why proportional representation needs to happen if we are to change British Politics for the better, and why the voting system of single transferable is the way to go. Wed 25 Oct 2023 After the glitter protest to Keir Starmer at his speech at the Labour Party conference by a man from the People Demand Democracy group pushing for electoral reform, proportional representation has never been more prevalent in the public sphere.

Adrian Ramsay, co-leader of the Green Party and parliamentary candidate for Waveney Valley spent the weekend talking to people affected by the flooding in Eye, Suffolk. He said: “The scenes and stories of flooding I’ve been seeing and hearing from Suffolk and Norfolk residents have been deeply shocking. This is not the first time East Anglia has been flooded, and it certainly won’t be the last.

On 8 October, Bavarians and Hessens went to the polls after a toxic campaign where nothing seemed off limits. The sober tones of previous election contests were swapped for scandals, death threats, and stone throwing. With this strategy, the conservatives have managed to hold on to power but also right-wing extremists now have a foothold in government. But Greens cannot despair just yet.