The Green Party’s Autumn Conference starts today in Harrogate. The conference will run at the town’s Convention Centre until Sunday.
As with last years event, the conference will be fully hybrid, and members can choose between attending in person or joining and voting online.
The Conference is expected to debate the current energy crisis with the party leadership unveiling their ‘emergency proposals’ for green energy solutions and the introduction of a wealth tax
Speaking on Sky News this morning, the co-Leader of The Green Party, Adrian Ramsay said, “ “We would like to see a tax on wealthiest 1% in order to generate income to invest in a greener economy.”
He added that this policy would be an“anti-inflationary measure” which would stabilise the economy, and that the root cause of the crisis is that the UK have the “leakiest homes in Europe”
When asked whether the conversion to green energy was realistically affordable in the UK, Ramsay replied,
“Investing in genuine clean renewable energy would help keep people’s bills down because the cheapest and greenest energy bill is the one you don’t have to pay”.
Green party co-leader Carla Denyer last night last night called for a far more significant windfall tax, alongside a massive investment in home insulation and a ramping up of renewable energy in the UK.
Although the Labour party has made similar noises at its conference in Liverpool this week, notably with its plan for a publicly owned green energy company, Denyer said her party were disappointed that Labour’s proposals were not “nearly as big as they thought they were”.,.
But when it comes to proportional representation, the Green’s have welcomed the proposal with open arms. Deputy leader Zack Polanski said:
“It’s promising to see Labour members vote overwhelmingly to join with the rest of Europe and embrace modern, fair and proportional elections in the UK. However, it’s disappointing that Keir Starmer appears to remain unmoved by the democratic rights of his own members.”
The Basic Income Pilot in Wales and the trial of the 4 day working week will also be discussed at the conference, as well as plans for the NHS.
The latest YouGov poll sees the Labour party on 54% of the vote, up nine points on their previous record high with YouGov on Monday and the Conservatives down to 21% of current vote intention, down seven points.
The Green Party are currently on 6%, down one point since the previous poll.
