Ahead of its manifesto launch later this week, the Green Party today revealed one of its key policies - a Green recovery package that would create a million jobs.
The Greens have costed their manifesto in terms of how many jobs would be created if all their policies for the Euro-elections were implemented. The total comes to over a million.
"Put the economy on a war footing NOW"
To deliver these jobs urgently (2), the UK economy must be put on something like a war footing, say the Greens - as the best way to tackle the recession and the only way to tackle the climate crisis.
The Greens maintain a big national effort is needed to rebuild and transform Britain's economy, industry, public and financial services, public transport infrastructure and local communities.
Only a vision like this, say the Greens, can provide the antidote to the current widespread sense of apathy, cynicism, disenchantment with politics and insecurity over our economic future - including the effects on the global and British economies of climate change and peak oil.
The real Green New Deal - and beyond
The Green Party has been pushing for a multi-billion-pound Green New Deal since last year - only to see the government produce its own version which the Greens said was "neither Green nor, strictly speaking, a new deal" - as much of the government scheme involved cash already allocated by previous plans, and much of it would create jobs only in many years' time. And it included things like nuclear power stations, which are known to sustain relatively few jobs per megawatt "and are certainly not Green." And since then, it has been shown that the government's "green stimulus" was in fact offering more cash to high-carbon than to low-carbon projects (3).
But the million-job Green New Deal offered to voters this year would only be a start, say the Greens - as kick-starting the Green industrial revolution would lead to:
Notes to editors
1. Green candidates will be making their point visually with giant banknotes bearing the picture of Green Party leader Caroline Lucas MEP and the words: "We promise to pay for one million Green jobs."
2. The basis for all these jobs could be laid within one year - and all the jobs delivered within 2-3 years.
3. According to studies by HSBC and NEF.