Greens: We were right all along
By Laura Miller
Green party forecasts of the disastrous effects of liberalising banking rules have been proved right, Caroline Lucas, leader of the Greens, told supporters today.
At the party’s Blackpool conference she also said Labour’s current wave of recession beating measures were first put forward by the Greens years ago.
“We said de-mutualising was wrong. Halifax, Northern Rock and the rest embarked on an unsustainable adventure into turbo driven capitalism,” she told supporters.
“The Green party understood the folly behind conventional wisdom. We tell it like it is. We don’t do afraid.”
Referring to Gordon Brown’s latest initiative to boost economic recovery, the Green New Deal, Ms Lucas said her party had been pointing out the environmental and employment benefits of investing in green technology “for years”.
Sir Jonathan Porritt, chairman of the UK’s Sustainable Development Commission, and Green party member, recently admitted that unlike Labour, the Tories or the Lib Dems, the Greens had been “right all along” about the wide ranging impact of ecological issues.
Ms Lucas also used her speech to criticise those who argued green issues will be forced onto the back seat during the downturn.
“As if the environment and social justice can be just given up like an extra cappuccino on the way to work,” she said.
“Is campaigning to reduce the number of children killed on our streets a distraction?”
The Green party’s spring conference will consider a motion calling for a zero-carbon economy by 2030.
