Caroline Lucas, leader of the Green Party, will speak later today at the new economics foundation's The Big Picture festival. Her panel will look at the relationship between inequalities in Britain, public services, and our environmental crisis.
In advance of the event, Caroline Lucas said:
"Inequality has increased during Labour's 12 years in power. What we need is investment from government to build an economic system that delivers for people. In Yorkshire, Greens have pioneered an ambitious free insulation scheme to address fuel poverty. The programme cost £20m over three years to insulate between 40 000 to 60 000 homes. It saves the average family in Huddersfield £150 annually off their fuel bills."
Lucas pointed out that: "Friends of the Earth have found that 50 per cent of the incinerators in Britain are situated in 10 per cent of the poorest wards in the country. We can't keep locating dirty industry in areas of high inequality."
The Green Party, Lucas said, knows that, "at a time of high youth unemployment, we can create hundreds of thousands of sustainable jobs, with living wages, in the fields of solar energy, wind energy, marine/tidal energy, and energy efficiency. It is only through reducing social inequality that we will have the solidarity across communities to deal with the challenges of climate change."
Notes to Editors
1) The event will be held at: Thursday, 8th October, at 1830, at the Hub (Kings Cross, 34b York Way, London N1 9AB)