The Greens, the economy and the media: is the penny beginning to drop at last?
15 April 2010
It's good to see the national media reporting what the Greens say about the economy, writes Spencer Fitz-Gibbon
The main thing the mass media noticed about the Green Party's election manifesto, launched yesterday, was that it was strongly focused on the economy. From the first bulletins on the Radio 4 Today programme, the voters heard very clearly that the Greens were proposing that the government should raise lots of money by taxing wealthier people, and thus be able to spend lots of money on a massive plan for job creation and wealth redistribution. Hence the manifesto's title, Fair is worth fighting for (1).
It shouldn't actually come as a surprise that the Green Party has a very bold economic policy. After all, last year's Euro-election manifesto, written with the need to address both the recession and the climate crisis in mind, was called "It's the economy, stupid" (2). Shortly after that election, the august Geoffrey Lean wrote in the Daily Telegraph that the Green Party's economic thinking was actually ahead of that of the big three parties.
But the Green Party's socio-economic policies certainly dominated the reporting of its manifesto. The Greens "have elevated leftish social justice to the centre of their programme," wrote Michael White of The Guardian (3). Laura Dixon of The Times led her report with "The Green Party launched its election manifesto in the eco-heartlands of Brighton today, with pledges to create hundreds of thousands of jobs in a new green economy, raise taxes on the wealthiest and improve the lot of the nation’s pensioners." (4) The Daily Telegraph's report was headlined "Green Party election manifesto sets out £73bn of tax rises" (5). And so on.
This, of course, was all quite calculated. After thirty years, the British public knows that whatever degree of mistrust may colour its view of politicians in general, you can definitely trust the Greens to care passionately about the environment. It's all those other policies that left-of-centre voters like, but don't often hear about, that the Greens need to highlight nowadays.
But just in case anyone might think the Greens have in any way gone soft on the environment, let's have a look at the verdict passed by Friends of the Earth (6) on the Green Party's 2010 manifesto:
"So today was the turn of the Green Party, the last manifesto to come out. Surprise surprise: it's very green. It's got green economics, it's got green jobs and it's got a whole raft of green polices - much more than any other party. As well as a nice green cover.
"What is there to say about it? Their carbon targets are particularly bold - 90% by 2030. Principally, they are exactly right on green investment. Their programme of £44 billion investing in renewables, transport, insulation, housing and waste management is estimated to create 1 million new green jobs.
"They are the only party that put the message that action on climate change and the environment is a solution to our other problems - of a struggling economy, and increasing inequality - at the centre of their manifesto."
Friends of the Earth appear to get it. Ecological politics isn't just about environmental protection. Ecology is about everything, and how everything connects with everything else. The Greens have been saying repeatedly lately that if you want a Green society, you have to start by changing how the economy works. It's never been about environment versus economics, it's always been about economics that take into account sustainability, social justice and fairness.
In fact the Greens have been saying this for a long time. I first heard Jonathon Porritt say it nineteen years ago.
But it's good that more people seem to be hearing it, at last.
Notes
1. You can download a copy of Fair is worth fighting for at http://www.greenparty.org.uk/policies.html.
2. You can download a copy of "It's the economy, stupid" at http://www.greenparty.org.uk/assets/files/EU_Manifesto_2009.pdf.
3. See: http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2010/apr/15/green-party-tax-quality-life.
4. See: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/election_2010/article7098748.ece.
6. "A very green party manifesto", 15.04.10, Martyn Williams, Friends of the Earth parliamentary campaigner, http://election.foe.co.uk/.
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