2016

Record of Policy Statements (RoPS)

Frequent Flier Levy

The Green Party would replace the Air Passenger Duty (APD) with a Frequent Flyer Levy (FFL), which would vary depending on the number of previous flights taken by an individual. The Frequent Flyer Levy would be zero for an individual’s first outbound flight in each year and increase continually for each subsequent outbound flight.

Approved by GPRC 16 October 2016

Emergency Brexit policy statement

  1. While the Green Party deplores the Conservatives’ irresponsible behaviour in calling a referendum without proper safeguards and without undertaking any prior planning for a Leave vote, we believe that the clear majority for a Leave position must be respected and that it is almost inevitable that Article 50 will be triggered.
  2. We believe that a Parliamentary vote is necessary before Article 50 is triggered and acknowledge that MPs whose constituencies voted to Remain have a local mandate to oppose the triggering of Article 50 in any parliamentary vote.
  3. The Green Party restates its commitment to direct democracy and sovereignty of the people, but we believe that to be effective and to avoid division and confusion direct democracy needs to be based on a participatory and deliberative process.
  4. We believe that our future is best served by staying as close as possible to the European Union;
  5. We strongly resist attempts to push the country towards a so-called hard Brexit which is little more than cover for those in the Tory party who desire a free market without any protective regulation. We will resist any attempt to race to the bottom on social or environmental standards, or to turn the country into a tax haven.
  6. The Green Party commits to working with environmental NGOs to protect and enhance existing UK legislation in the areas of environmental protection, climate change, and energy efficiency.
  7. We will seek improvements to areas of EU and Government policy where we have long been critical of EU policy, especially in the area of farm support.
  8. We support calls for a second referendum once it is clear what the outcome of the Brexit negotiations is and when the British people are in a position to compare two real and possible futures for their country.

Approved by GPRC 18 October 2016

House of Lords Reform

This Conference supports the House of Lords Reform Bill introduced in the House of Lords by Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Jenny Jones) on 26th May 2016, and (whilst recognising that the Bill may be subject to amendment during its parliamentary stages) instructs GPEx to fully support this Bill for as long as it continues to provide that voting in an eventual reformed House of Lords will be by elected members only and that those members will have been elected by an acceptably fair method of proportional representation.

Passed Autumn 2016 (as part of motion C8)

Opposition to The Government’s Prevent Strategy

The Green Party calls for urgent review of the implementation of the Prevent strategy and its implications for tackling extremism as well as preserving good community relations. We would pursue community-led collaborative approaches to tackling all forms of extremism and not allow the disproportionate targeting of the Muslim community as evidenced by Prevent in its current form.

Passed Autumn 2016

Opposition to the Conservatives’ Trade Union Act

The Green Party supports the right of working people to form and join free, democratic and self-governing trade unions, without restriction by employer or government. Our policies call for a legal framework which will enable workers to pursue legitimate trade disputes, with appropriate rights and protections in the law.

However, the Conservatives’ Trade Union Act seeks to hamper the ability of Trade Unions to improve the pay and conditions of workers, at a time when wages are already suppressed and inequality rising. It raises additional legal barriers to the right to strike, on top of what was already the most complicated legislation on industrial action in the democratic world. It also attempts to impose a range of needless new financial and legal burdens on Trade Unions.

The Green Party congratulates Caroline Lucas on her efforts to oppose this Bill during its passage through Parliament, and in particular her call for direct action to resist it following its passage into law.

The Green Party calls on the UK Government to repeal the Trade Union Act, and calls on Green Party members and supporters to lend their support to their Trade Unions as they take action to defy it.

Passed Autumn 2016

Extending the HPV vaccination

Green Party conference notes:

The move to vaccinate adult men who have sex with men by the Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisation is a welcome step in the right direction. However we join campaigners, including the British Medical Association, in calling for the HPV vaccine to be extended to all school age boys.

Passed Spring 2016 (see also PSS HE402)

Foreign policy and bombing of Yemen by Saudi Arabia

The Saudi bombing campaign, and the food, water and medicines blockade against  Yemen has intensified catastrophically.  The Green Party is very concerned about the effects of the war conducted by one of the world’s richest countries, Saudi Arabia, on one of the poorest, Yemen. We demand:

  • That Britain end the current supply of UN-banned cluster munitions to Saudi Arabia which are being used to bomb schools, hospitals and orphanages in Yemen.
  • That Britain end all military assistance to the Saudi Arabia bombing campaign against civilians in Yemen and end all Royal Naval support for the Saudi water, food and medicines blockade of Yemen.

 Passed Spring 2016

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