Greens are "Extremely progressive and hard to fault on development issues"
24 April 2005
In an analysis of the parties' policies, the LibDems have scored 6/10,Labour 4/10 and the Tories 2/10. The Green Party was not graded, but WDMremarked if it had been "it would have probably scored extremely highly".WDM said "The Green Party is extremely progressive and hard to fault ondevelopment issues".
Their election guide is atwww.wdm.org.uk
Green Party Principal Speaker Dr Caroline Lucas MEP said "we welcome theWorld Development Movement's analysis of the Green Party as extremelyprogressive and hard to fault on development issues. Our policies cover allthe ground that the other parties do, and go far beyond them. Only theGreens accept that a commitment to ever-more free trade, and with it theforcing open of developing countries' markets to the the domination ofWestern-based multinationals contributes to rather than ameliorates povertyin the developing world. The Greens accept that we must seek to replace evermore free trade with ever more fair trade, and only by doing so can werectify the imbalance between the so-called developing and the developedworld. The other parties' stated commitments to tackling poverty will remainonly words so long as they remain committed to the idea of ever-moreunfettered international free trade.The Green Party's standing policy commitments on international developmentare below, from our Manifesto for a Sustainable Societywww.policy.greenparty.org.uk, agreed by Party Conference.
AID
Our policy clearly states, "IP255 British aid should become 0.7 percent ofG.N.P. within five years and 1.0 percent of G.N.P. within ten years.Emergency aid should be an addition to this from the Government'scontingency reserve."
TRADE
IP122 A General Agreement on Sustainable Trade, under which fair trade rules(where producers are guaranteed a reasonable price for their products beforeplanting, and an portion of the payment is set aside for communitydevelopment) would become a requisite for international trade and localsupply of goods would be preferred, should replace the General Agreement onTariffs and Trade (GATT). A World Localisation Organisation should replacethe World Trade Organisation (WTO).
IP242 To secure bilateral and multi-lateral agreements to plan trade whichis ecologically sustainable and beneficial for poor people.
IP243 Food surplus dumping as a form of trade or Aid should be stopped byinternational agreements between the countries responsible, and byagricultural reform.
IP244 Aid and trade policies should aim to encourage food and energyself-sufficiency in all countries.
SUBSIDIES
IP264 British support for the Common Agricultural Policy should cease,"which is more radical than either the Labour or Liberal Democrats.
DEBT
We support private banks writing off uncollectable debts in the third worldand for the OECD to eliminate the transfer of wealth from poorer countriesto wealthier ones. At our most radical we propose that:
IP238 The British Government would create the monitoring organisation toallow the development of a creative reimbursement scheme. The Governmentwould attempt to transform the debts of all poor countries into creativereimbursement schemes, either involving cash or 'kind'. Instead of repayingdebts in hard currencies, governments of countries with debts to the BritishGovernment or private banks will be required to make payments in their owncurrencies into local development funds, which will be administered by localpeople to establish local, ecologically sustainable economies and projects.Each repayment will be matched by a corresponding reduction of the foreigndebt. Similar reductions would be made for reimbursement-in-kind projects,i.e. conservation and reproduction of genetic species (plant and animal),soil conservation, forest set-aside and reforestation, use of traditionalfarming and building techniques, educational programmes for women, etc. Allrich country governments will be encouraged to join the creativereimbursement scheme.
HEALTH AND EDUCATION
IP253 Suitable Aid projects should include: low-technology energy schemesbased on indigenous resources; fuel-efficient stoves; fuel-wood plantations;securing sustainable, ecological systems of food production and distributionfor domestic needs; primary health care; women-centred projects includinghealth, child-care, literacy and family-planning education; aid to establisha scientific research base in each country to facilitate research on localagricultural and environmental matters; assisting refugees for lengthyperiods; housing for the poor; improved rural transport systems; training inagricultural and forestry skills appropriate to the area; aid to secureminimisation of food exports until domestic needs are met, recognising thelimits to sustainable productivity of land; establishment of buffer stocksof food and animal feed; support for creating community banks.
IP257 British aid should be limited to countries and projects committed to a"basic needs" approach to development, coupled with a primary health careand family-planning programme culturally acceptable to the people concerned.Land reforms and wealth re-distribution should also be considered whenassessing suitability for assistance, as should the locality and theecological sustainability of the project.
CORRUPTION AND GRIEVANCEWe have a whole host of policy on Transnational Corporations (TNCs), WorldBank loans and the IMF, designed to root out corruption and bad decisionmaking. This is a big subsection of our International Policy. Here is asingle example:
IP421 The British Government should: institute capital controls to ensuremoney made by TNCs in Britain is re-invested here. The TNCs should be forcedto observe ecological restraints and labour standards, as suggested by theInternational Labour Organisation, worldwide. Failure to observe theseconditions must mean that the TNC concerned should no longer be allowed tooperate in the European Community. Transfer pricing activities by TNCs toreduce tax and export duty costs should be made illegal. (see WR681)
ARMS TRADE
There is a clear Green commitment to end subsidies and credits for UK armsexports, which is entirely within the power of the UK government. There is aLib Dem commitment to press for an EU wide voluntary code of contact to bemade legally binding, which is clearly less realistic than the Greenproposal. The Lib Dem proposal for a cross-party parliamentary committee isalso a much weaker position than the Greens.
From Green Party press office, 020 7561 0282.Published and promoted by Matt Wootton for the Green Party, both at1a Waterlow Road, London N19 5NJ.
