Keith Taylor speaks out on grey party hypocrisy
21 March 2006
Green Party Principal Speaker, Keith Taylor, addressed Conference on Saturday 18th March. He commented on the failure of the mainstream parties to back up their "green" rhetoric with serious policies and called for Greens to demand social and environmental justice for now and for future generations.
Keith Taylor, Keynote Speech Spring Conference 2006 - Scarborough
"Every time we pick up a paper we are reading about sleaze, about peerages for sale, hidden donations... so much so that the politics pages read like something out of Life with the Borgias
"It's a time of topsy turvy mix'n'match politics where Blair can't get through his Education Bill without the support of the Tories. We're seeing other parties try on new policies in less time than it takes George Galloway to put on his cat suit.
"All of a sudden the Tories and the LibDems are the environment's newest best friends, and social justice and fair trade are at the top of their agendas....
"I say fantastic this sounds great, thank you for taking seriously what the Greens have been saying for years
"But when I look behind those claims to what conservative and liberal democrats actually do when they are in power I begin to doubt they really mean what they say.
"In fact in the case of the Tories and their promises of shiny bright new policies, I wonder if their membership actually understands very much of what Cameron says, if the Tories I know and work alongside are anything to go by.
"The country needs more than ever a consistent, strong, visionary, value-led and radical political voice that recognises the 21st Century challenges and is prepared to speak out on climate change peak oil poverty resource depletion globalisation and conventional market economics
"And it needs a voice to challenge the big lies we are being offered as "solutions" that schools and the NHS will be better off privatised that nuclear energy is the answer to climate change and it's ok to keep expanding the aviation industry that increased trade liberalisation will feed and clothe the worlds poor and buy them drugs to treat their illnesses that ID cards will stop terrorism and make the UK a safer place that in Blair's Britain civil liberties and freedoms are safe and well
"There needs to be a voice to challenge the government's watchword which with one hand tightens its stranglehold on civil liberty at home in the name of its respect agenda
"... while the other hand wages illegal and immoral wars and repression abroad in the name of freedom and democracy, and at the bidding of George Bush.
"And I believe the Greens ARE that voice which the country and the future needs.
"Fellow Greens, we must work alongside politicians of a like mind but when necessary we must also be the ankle-biters who can confront the business as usual politics of pollute and privatise and move every parliament and council chamber in the land toward a greener agenda
"We must hold up to scrutiny the false claims of the Westminster 3
"...because each of those parties have turned the political process which should be about achieving a better world for all, irrespective of class colour or creed, into one where the preservation of the party and of the party's hold on power is absolute
"Over the last few months we've seen the Tories and LibDems elect new leaders, and we've seen Tony Blair's grasp on the Labour leadership falter in the wake of his can't-be-too-imminent departure.
"We've also seen the nation's political machines going into a heavy spin cycle, telling us that David Cameron is this season's Tony Blair (god help us).
"But ultimately, how hollow are those words, how absent any vision, how skewed the priorities towards commerce and away from people and planet.
"In effect they'd have us thinking that Black is White
"But I believe this century's colour will be Green, because in our Green vision we have the right policies for this century The right values for this century and  The right ethics for this century
"And while we're talking about ethics, and pardon me for mentioning this, but I cannot see how it should pass unremarked that a Labour Cabinet member (yes Labour, you know the party of the people, the working class) cannot recall a £350,000 transaction which paid off her mortgage
"Nor do I think that any PM with mortgages on properties totalling £4m like Tony Blair has got much relevance with the world you or I or millions like us live in
"It's hardly surprising that Tony Blair gave Tessa Jowell the all-clear is it?
"Neither is it surprising that people are losing faith the grey politicians in the political process.
"Just a couple of weeks ago I attended the launch of the Power Inquiry, a Joseph Rowntree backed inquiry into the state of British Democracy. Both Jean Lambert and I gave evidence on behalf of the Party.
"Our arguments included calling for the ditching of FPTP, for electoral reform, for spending caps on parties, for limits on donations, for state funding
"The inquiry concluded the current way of doing politics is killing politicsThat  People felt disengaged from formal politics There's high alienation from main political parties..and observed that turnout at general elections has declined significantly in GE since 1997
"Helena Kennedy QC, who chaired the Inquiry said people that falling turnouts at elections did not mean people were apathetic - look at the turn-out at demonstrations on Iraq, on climate change.
"And what I also see every day is that people are hungry for solutions, and hungry for their voices to be heard and for what they say to make a difference
"The Power Inquiry's main recommendation was the FPTP system should be changed to a more responsive one. A system that allowed the diversity of our communities to be represented, to increase the responsiveness and accountability between the governed and the governors.
"So we need to re-value the vote, and make a difference to the communities we serve, initiatives that change peoples lives  to empower voters (area parliaments and participatory budgeting in Oxford) to put a sustainable vision at the heart of policies for example in Brighton & Hove winning a new £1m seafront bus service, and getting construction training skills written into all major building projects)
"We've got to take our politics to people's doorsteps, because the TV doesn't take us into their lounges.
"The Greens have to demonstrate in language and terms that communicate to ordinary people that we're Relevant, that we have Solutions, we're Responsible and Capable and Confident. We need to clearly explain our vision and reassure them what they say matters.
"And yes, if you think I sound a little EVANGELICAL, that too.
"Because there's a lot at stake, and it's time to start living on this planet as if we mean to stay.
"Perhaps one of the most important issues before this parliament is the future of energy supplies, which are considered in the current Energy Review consultation to update the Energy White Paper of 2003.
"In fact, if the political will had existed to implement rather than ignore the 2003 white paper, we could have been well on the way to insulating ourselves from the energy price hikes of just a few weeks ago. Anything between 18 - 24% for electricity and gas - with more on the way - rising costs that will hit hard, that will increase fuel poverty
"But no, three years after the White Paper called for a genuine low carbon economy - with investment in renewables and demand reduction - we see Tony Blair and his energy minister Malcolm Wicks giving a very positive steer to meeting future needs from a new generation of nuclear power stations.
"But as we heard yesterday nuclear is NO solution.
"Taking a decision to build new power stations isn't like most decisions - it has an effect for thousands of years. You build one, you generate power that's used immediately, and in doing so create a legacy of radioactive waste that you're stuck with virtually forever.
"We simply can't afford to make the wrong decision.
"We're just coming up to the twentieth anniversary of Chernobyl, the world's worst nuclear accident. In the explosion at Chernobyl's Reactor 4 there was, according to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, "at least 100 times as much radiation released by this accident as by the two atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined".
"7 million people have been seriously affected and of those 3 million children continue to require medical treatment and "many will die prematurely."
"Supporters of nuclear will say standards have improved, maybe they have but I'm sure if we'd asked the Buncefield operators about their standards before the huge oil depot explosions they'd have been just as reassuring. The truth is accidents can and will happen, even in the best regulated industries.
"As if the danger from accident were not enough we oppose the nuclear option because the enormous expense of any new nuclear project the creation of further radioactive waste, when there is no agreed, acceptable and effective method of disposal the increased risk from terrorism the increased risk of accident or leakages in transit of nuclear materials the creation of more raw materials which could be used in weaponry the health impacts of power stations on the community
"Alongside our own Alternative Energy Report by Dave Toke and Simon Taylor which we heard about in yesterday's panel there are also the arguments put forward in Jonathon Porritt's SDC comprehensively researched report entitled 'Is the nuclear the answer?'
"The SDC's answer is no
"Their conclusion - instead of endorsing the Government's enthusiasm for new nuclear - was to say that it's possible to meet the UK's energy needs without nuclear power.
"With a combination of a low-carbon innovation strategies and an aggressive expansion of energy efficiency, energy reduction and renewables, the UK could become a leader in low-carbon technologies. This is a fine example of turning a threat into an opportunity and provide regeneration and employment whilst meeting the UK's future energy needs.
"More evidence that nuclear's not needed comes from NEF in their June 2005 report that spelt out how we can replace nuclear power. Through wave, solar and wind. Through reducing demand, through CHP's and microgeneration, there is a viable and deliverable alternative to Labour's 'push button' nuclear solution
"At this time I'd like to acknowledge the fine work being done by Sian Berry, in leading the Green Energy Works campaign, which champions renewable energy. It's a campaign that deserves all our support as it's about delivering solutions, it's about what people can do, now.
"You may have seen the flyers around for the "Dirty, Dangerous and Expensive" tour I'm doing over six weeks starting April 3 in Bridgwater, Somerset.
"The tour's all about debagging the myth that nuclear is the answer to climate change and instead promotes renewables.
"It's about reaching out from the Party's centre to local parties and the man and woman on the street in a way that's not been done very much before. It's an experiment and if it's successful it's something perhaps the Party should think about doing more.
"So, if I'm visiting a town or city near you, please come along.
"In that tour I'll be delivering the message in the tour's title, Nuclear is Dirty Dangerous and Expensive, I'll be encouraging people to write into the Energy Review with their feelings, and I'll be encouraging them to sign up to our Green Energy Works campaign.
"This is a simple message, this is the kind of outward focussed activity the Party needs to encourage - we all know we are voting Green, so don't let's spend all our time preaching to the converted - we need to get out and build on support for our message.
"Conference, nuclear is but one issue of many that needs our attention, but it neatly demonstrates that the future is both in humankind's hands and at its mercy.
"Every member and supporter has a duty to make a difference in influencing and bringing about change. Whether it's in your home, your workplace, school or college or debating chamber, whether you're talking to friends workmates or strangers - we should all be leaders - of people's thinking and awareness. Because a Green future will never happen if we leave to the likes of Cameron, Blair and Campbell
"It is up to those of us who have glimpsed an alternative future, where all people live equitably within the earth's resources and capacities and lives don't have to be blighted by climate change, resource depletion and exploitation
"An alternative future to where we are now, where  Half the world - nearly three billion people - lives on less than two dollars a day and Every 3.6 seconds one person dies of starvation. Usually it is a child under the age of 5.  Where over a billion people are still without access to clean drinking water  Where AIDS kills approximately 8,200 people every single day, the majority of them in poor countries.  Where Eight hundred million people go to bed hungry every night, despite the fact that there is enough food in the world to feed everyone.  Where the GDP of the poorest 48 nations (i.e. a quarter of the world's countries) is less than the wealth of the world's three richest people combined. 1No, the future does not have to be that way, but if you look behind the platitudes of the Tories and Libdems and new Labour - if you look at what they're actually doing, you'll see their unerring continuing faith in neo-liberalism, in the market providing the global solutions we need, and every time placing the needs of the market above the needs of people.
"And while they're loudly talking the good public talk about climate terror, about how they'll champion solutions that provide economic, social and environmental justice, they're whispering to their big business sponsors "anytime but now, anywhere but here"
"But our message has got to be that the next step toward creating a future where those things don't happen is right here, right now - and it's in our hands.
"We've got to fight to win those hearts and minds, to earn every single vote, in every single election. Because every Green vote is step closer toward turning our vision into a reality.
"Conference, We OWE it to future generations to make sure the green arguments prevail, and I'd ask each and every one of you to follow my example, to get out and win the support and trust of as many voters as you can and let's see some fantastic results in the May elections.
