Today the Green Party launches its European election manifesto titled: "It's the economy, stupid."
The manifesto promises to rapidly create a million jobs through a Green New Deal. It stresses the need to make Britain's economy work differently in order to protect and improve public services, to create a fairer society and to tackle the climate crisis and impending problems like peak oil - as well as the immediate problem of the recession.
Good economics v bad economics
The slogan has been borrowed tongue-in-cheek from US President Bill Clinton - but, say the Greens, it carries a very different meaning coming from the Green Party. A spokesperson explained today:
"Jonathan Porritt said back in 1991 that if you want to see how green a political party is, look at it's economic policy.
"Britain's biggest parties are still pursuing an economic model that puts private profit before the public good. They put the Thatcherite-Blairite ideology of privatisation before people's real needs. This has driven the erosion of Britain's public services, threatened our National Health Service, and badly damaged our public transport infrastructure. So-called 'liberalisation' made the credit crunch possible. Boom-bust economics has widened the gulf between rich and poor and it has plunged us into recession again. All this has to change."
Age of Stupid
He continued: "Look at the climate crisis - probably the biggest single threat to the world's future prosperity and well-being. Climate change begins and ends with the economy. It started with how the economy transformed through burning too much fossil fuel, and it can only be dealt with by transforming the economy again, to a low-carbon economy.
"A low-carbon economy will bring social benefits like stability, energy security, sustainable jobs, better health, hugely improved public transport, and so on. Fixing all these things means changing the basis of how our economy works.
"We really are living in the Age of Stupid. We know what the problems are, we know the consequences of causing climate change and we know how to avoid the worst of the consequences. We need to change one thing above all to get out of the Age of Stupd - we need to change the economy."
Investing in change - that starts to pay for itself
The massive job-creation and other benefits in the Greens' manifesto would be brought about for an investment of £44bn. Much of this would be found from a variety of "good housekeeping" measures:
The remaining £25bn would in fact be reduced by some billions as the new jobs increased the country's tax revenue.
Brian Heatley, policy coordinator on the Green Party's national executive committee, explained:
"Like the current government, we would be prepared to borrow. This could, however, be done much more imaginatively than is currently the practice, and with less reliance on international money markets.
"Citizens and institutional investors can provide funding for the Green New Deal by investment in ‘green gilts’ (government bonds), guaranteed not just in terms of an interest rate, but also in terms of their use to reduce carbon. New green products could be introduced and revitalise the National Savings. Local authority bonds could also be a major vehicle for the funds raised for this programme. And Green MEPs will press for some of this expenditure, such as that on training, to come from European funds, for example the European Social Fund."
Mr Heatley added:
"In the longer term, the package would begin to pay for itself. Increasing energy efficiency means that energy does not have to be generated, and this saves money. As oil prices rise, renewables will be cheaper than the fossil fuel alternatives. Much-improved public transport will mean more people will not have to pay for private cars. None of this is true for responses, like Labour’s, that simply encourage consumption."
Practical vision an "antidote to apathy, cynicism and fears for the future"
The Greens are saying they are the only party in this election offering the public a practical vision for a fairer society and a sustainable economy - an antidote to the country's current political malaise of apathy, cynicism, mistrust of many politicians, and fears for Britain's economic future.