The Green Party today accused Gordon Brown's 'New Deal' of being 'inconsistent and unambitious.'

Dr Caroline Lucas MEP, leader of the Green Party, commented on Mr Brown's new policy revealed in today's Observer newspaper: 'His proposed investment in electric cars and green energy is unambitious, and 100,000 jobs is nowhere near what a real Green economic package would create.'

The Green Party leader continued, 'Germany is creating 750,000 green-collar jobs over 10 years, many of them in waste-management technology where they are leaving the UK behind. Denmark has created 100,000 jobs in wind energy in a country the size of North West England. The UK has been wasting opportunities for years and the Brown New Deal is going to keep on doing that.'

The Greens have long argued that sustainability cannot be tacked-on to an outmoded and unsustainable kind of economy. Caroline Lucas commented, 'Gordon Brown's archaic view of the economy is getting in the way of clear thinking. Who would put hundreds of millions of pounds into nuclear power, when everyone knows green energy sources create far more jobs per megawatt without the safety risks? The Brown New Deal means continuing to throw public money into projects that have a low job-creation ratio.

'A Green New Deal would fundamentally re-engineer the economy - we'd get value for money and sustainability at the same time.'

The Green MEP explained, 'A Green New Deal would be far richer in terms of job-creation. There are 22 million homes in the UK that need a comprehensive package of energy efficiency. We need this because of climate change, because of peak oil, and because it will create large numbers of jobs. A complete retrofit of Britain's housing to Green standards would create more than half a million jobs. And unlike with Labour's flagship policies like nuclear power, the Green jobs would be created in every community in the country.

Last November the Green Party recently produced a budget for a Green New Deal. This short-term costed proposal offered to create half a million jobs over the next year. It included:

• A £30bn stimulus package, creating thousands of green-collar jobs in environmental works and improved public transport that will dramatically reduce the carbon emissions of UK buildings
• The creation of new national investment products, such as local government bonds, to fund this work and provide a safe haven for pensions and savings
• Keeping interest rates low to encourage investment in the green economy
• Shifting from VAT to pollution taxes, cutting the standard rate of VAT to 15%, and reducing it to 5% for some items, and abolishing road tax whilst increasing pollution taxes on fuel
• Closing offshore tax havens to stabilise the financial sector, discourage tax avoidance and to help provide funds for the Green New Deal.

The government's own budget, dubbed by the Greens 'incoherent and unsustainable,' offered instead a misguided policy which would:

• Stimulate job-creation abroad rather than in the UK
• Continue to pump mopney into unsustainable and jobs-poor projects like motorway-building
• Failed to stimulate Britain's green jobs sector, one of the most promising areas for economic development

The Greens also pointed to the need to invest heavily in training for the Green sectors.

Dear Sir,

Israel's continuing assault on Gaza is not only 'disproportionate,' as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is reported as saying yesterday (Israel considers ground attack, Guardian 29.12.08). It is also deeply counter-productive.

The population of Gaza is already suffering the devastating consequences of the Israeli blockade, which has accelerated their decline into even greater hunger and poverty. Casualties among the civilian population only serve to make people more angry, and sow the seeds for further conflict Shamefully, however, EU leaders are complicit in this crisis.

By choosing to upgrade EU relations with Israel just a few weeks ago (against the advice of the majority in the European Parliament), they have squandered a key opportunity to put real pressure on the Israeli authorities to lift the blockade.

Violence can never be justified or condoned on either side. But the longer the deadly blockade and occupation continue, the further away the conditions for peace will get.

Yours sincerely, Caroline Lucas MEP Leader, The Green Party

(A shortened version of the letter was published.)

National Demonstration: Saturday 3 January: Hands off Gaza. Stop the bombing. Free Palestine

Called by Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War Coalition, British Muslim Initiative and many other organisations.

Meeting Point for Greens Villiers Street by the park entrance on the Charing Cross side of the Embankment Tube Station. If it is pouring with rain, up the stone stairs at the higher end of this little street, at the side entrance to Charing Cross Station.

Meet for 12.30pm.

In today's Guardian newspaper, the Green Party leader drew attention to the EU-Israel association agreement. Under this agreement, the EU could suspend preferential trading links between the EU and Israel on the grounds of the Israeli government's failure to adhere to its human rights clauses.

Caroline Lucas said, "By choosing to upgrade EU relations with Israel just a few weeks ago (against the advice of the majority in the European Parliament), EU leaders have squandered a key opportunity to put real pressure on the Israeli authorities to lift the blockade."

Dr Lucas added: "Israel's continuing assault on Gaza is not only 'disproportionate,' as the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights is reported as saying. It is also deeply counter-productive."

Commenting on the long-term situation Dr Lucas said, "The population of Gaza is already suffering the devastating consequences of the Israeli blockade, which has accelerated their decline into even greater hunger and poverty. Casualties among the civilian population only serve to make people more angry, and sow the seeds for further conflict.
 
"Violence can never be justified or condoned on either side. But the longer the deadly blockade and occupation continue, the further away the conditions for peace will get."

The Green Party has today welcomed Nick Clegg's announcement of plans for a ‘green road out of recession' but said that it risks being undermined by Liberal Democrat policies on greater economic liberalisation and business deregulation.

Green Party Leader, Caroline Lucas MEP, commented:

"For all the green rhetoric, the reality is that Nick Clegg still clings to the out-of-date economic liberalism that has gotten us into the economic mess we're in.

"His Party retains both the principle and the policies of de-regulation - letting the markets rule. People losing their jobs and their homes can tell you what a deregulated market has done for them. What has happened in the financial world in recent months shows that you don't improve things for most people by removing regulation.

"What the Green Party proposes is a complete re-structuring package for the economy, which would include:

- A £30bn stimulus package for investing in green jobs in environmental works that will dramatically reduce the carbon emissions of UK buildings

- The creation of new national investment products, such as local government bonds, to help fund this work and provide a safe haven for pensions and savings

- Shifting from VAT to pollution taxes, cutting the standard rate of VAT to 5% for some items, and abolishing road tax whilst increasing pollution taxes on fuel

- Closing offshore tax havens to stabilise the financial sector, discourage tax avoidance and to help provide funds for the Green New Deal

- Replacing the pursuit of endless economic growth with strategies to promote a transition to a steady state economy.

Dr Lucas concluded: "If anyone is looking for a genuine progressive alternative to the mainstream political parties, for politicians that will put social justice, sustainability and the environment at the heart of policy making, they would do better to go Green - not yellow."

Martin Hemingway, Green Party candidate in the European elections 2009, commented: "The UK Government has been trying to keep the opt-out in despite the UK having some of the longest working hours in Europe.

"This is not good for people's health and it limits the time workers can spend with their family and friends. This legislation will protect workers' health and safety by limiting the average working week to 48 hours over a 12 month period."

The UK opt-out could now be phased out within three years.

Mr Hemingway added: "Working time rules are designed first and foremost to protect the health and safety. There are many serious health issues related to our long-hours culture including stress, anxiety and depression, as well as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and insomnia. This vote now gives UK workers the right to enjoy a healthier work-life balance."

Jean Lambert, Green MEP for London and Member of the Employment and Social Affairs Committee, has been heavily involved in negotiations on the Directive.

She said: "Most long hours employees are not paid for their overtime and therefore have little to fear in terms of their earnings if we end the opt-out. Unsurprisingly, seven out of ten people who work unpaid overtime want to cut their hours. Over half of those doing paid overtime also want to reduce their working time.

"The UK Government has been pressurising MEPs to vote to keep the opt-out, thereby leaving UK workers open to exploitation. Workers here should not be expected to work longer hours and have fewer rights than those on the continent."

The Plan announces £33 million of new money for business support - but £23 million of this was already announced a week ago. Similarly, the Plan claims "the £130 million Targeted Funding Stream" will be used to "help vulnerable householders improve the energy efficiency of their homes"- but much of this funding stream has already been committed for other programmes.

London Assembly Member, Jenny Jones said: "The Mayor seriously underestimates the scale of the economic crisis facing London. At a time when there is urgent need for concerted action to protect jobs and increase affordability, the Mayor's plan rehashes existing policies and re-announces current funding. The proposals will do nothing to make ordinary Londoners better off. 


"Concerted action from the GLA could create thousands of much-needed jobs in low carbon industries - from home insulation fitters to designers and high-tech factory workers. Yet the Mayor's plans in this area remain weak, vague and underfunded. Instead of economic recovery, this is a plan for a missed opportunity," she added.

South East MEP and Green Party Leader Dr Caroline Lucas has welcomed the decision by the new Green Party Women group to sign up to the Women and the Vote campaign as its first formal move.

Dr Lucas, the only female leader of a major British political party, said: "This year, 90 years after women first got the vote in Britain, and 80 years after full suffrage was achieved, it is disgraceful that still fewer than 20% of MPs are female. We should be aiming over the next decade to finally redress that balance.

"As an excellent Hansard Society report has shown, having women in parliament is not just an issue of numerical equality, important as that is; women MPs address issues of particular concern to their gender, addressing employment, health, domestic violence and representation questions, among other. Women are more than half of the population, but without boosting the number of female MPs the concerns of half the population will not be properly addressed."

Dr Lucas added: "It is interesting that in the three Assemblies within Britain elected through forms of proportional representation - the Welsh Assembly, the Scottish Parliament and the London Assembly, the percentage of women is much higher - approaching parity in the case of Wales.

"The Green Party supports proportional representations for its innate fairness and capacity to re-engage disillusioned voters, but its clear ability to deliver more gender-balanced parliaments is another plus."

She continued: "Political parties have a responsibility to promote and encourage women to rise through the ranks, which must work particularly at the local government level, at which many politicians start, as I did myself.

"I'm proud that a survey this year of local government candidates in the East Midlands, North East, North West, West Midlands and Yorkshire & the Humber showed that the Green Party was leading the way in having 42% female candidates, a clear nine percentage points ahead of Labour and the Liberal Democrats."

Dr Lucas welcomed the formation of Green Party Women, which will work in concert with an informal group, Women By Name, which has long acted within the party to support and encourage women members to take up prominent roles.

She said: "The Green Party has always had its heart and policies in the right place on women's issues, but it hasn't always done enough to tell the rest of the world about them. By building links with women's groups, and promoting our policies, Green Party Women will help ensure voters know about our views on such important issues as equal and fair pay, work-life balance, the valuing of unpaid contributions to family and society, and healthcare."

Manchester Greens have expressed their disappointment with the outcome of today's referendum to introduce a congestion charge as part of a package of measures to improve the region's transport infrastructure.

A majority of voters in all of the region's 10 boroughs voted against the plans, with 812,815 (79%) no votes and 218,860 (21%) in favour of the charge.

Nearly 2m people were asked if they supported a £2.8bn investment in regional transport, which included the peak-time charge.

The proposal aimed to create the biggest road congestion zone in the UK, charging drivers up to £5 a day to use Greater Manchester's roads.

Alan Francis, Transport Spokesman for the Green Party said:
"We are very disappointed with the results. It was an opportunity to bring Manchester's transport system into the 21st century, as well going some way to reducing the city's carbon emissions."

As the government's £3billion Transport Innovation Fund (TiF) was tied up with the ‘Yes' vote, a big question mark now hangs over the future of Manchester's transport system.

Mr Francis added: "Despite local government support for the proposals, there appears to be no plan B in case the bid failed. With increased car use and Greater Manchester streets at a gridlock, the government and local authorities now don't have any plans to tackle congestion or increasing carbon emissions.

"They urgently need to devise a strategy for reducing car use and getting more people travelling by train, tram, bus, bike and walking. That will require huge investment in improving those alternatives to car use. Meanwhile Manchester residents will have to put up with traffic congestion and inadequate public transport and the climate change will continue to get worse."

As Germany's Finance Minister lambasted the UK Government's ‘borrow and spend' style of economic policy today, the Green Party urged the UK to adopt a Green New Deal to provide an effective way to bring economic stability to the country.

Peer Steinbruck, the German Finance Minister commented in an interview with Newsweek magazine that Brown's ‘fiscal stimulus package would have little impact'.

Leader of the Green Party, Caroline Lucas MEP, echoed Mr Steinbruck's criticisms, warning that Brown's ‘knee-jerk' economic strategy would do little more than encourage short term consumer spending, when what was needed was long term investment in a new low carbon economy. She urged the Government to put in place a Green New Deal for Europe - a package of economic measures inspired Roosevelt's New Deal of the 1930s - that will provide long term green jobs.

The measures would involve:

• Re-regulation of international finance
• An end to the subsides for coal and nuclear power
• A massive programme of public and private investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency to generate hundreds of thousands of green-collared jobs

The MEP said: "By directing resources into renewable energies fit for the 21st century, we can make the transition away from fossil fuels and avoid a huge economic downturn at the same time."

But as Dr Lucas welcomed Mr Steinbruck's views on Brown's economic policy, she highlighted the failure of the German Chancellor Angela Merkel - once dubbed the Green Goddess of Europe for pushing through tough climate change targets - to stand firm against pressure from the German industry lobby over the cost of going green at the UN climate talks in Poznan.

The South East MEP, who sits on the European Parliament's Environment and Climate Change Committees, said: "It is disappointing that Chancellor Merkel has caved in to the demands of the powerful German industry lobby. By kow-towing to industry demands, the Chancellor is effectively driving climate change problems not only for Europe but the rest of the world."

A draft of proposals being considered by EU heads of state and government, seen by Green MEPs, would have seriously negative implications for achieving the EU's emissions reduction targets.

EU leaders, meeting on the 11th and 12th December at a summit in Brussels, are considering proposals to drastically undermine the EU's climate package of legislation.

Commenting on the draft text, Green MEP Dr Caroline Lucas said:

"EU climate policy is in meltdown. The proposals currently on the table for consideration by EU leaders are really an exercise in poor law-making and represent the lowest possible common denominator.

"This dramatic retreat on the climate package of legislation could not come at a worse time: with UN climate talks currently underway in Poznan, the eyes of the world are on the EU. The EU's credibility as a leading actor on climate change is in freefall. It's not too late for heads of state and government to intervene and save face.

"The only good news from the summit is that the agreement on renewables will not be reopened by heads of state. Greens are proud to have at least secured this legislation which will put renewables at the heart of EU energy policy and make them the number one energy source for the 21st century, bringing the EU two million jobs and a huge export industry."

"The proposals on ETS currently being considered risk creating a monster. Allocating such a large proportion of emissions permits for free, as the summit is contemplating, would turn the ETS into a windfall profit machine for Europe's most polluting industries. Instead of learning from the lessons of the first phases of the ETS, EU leaders seem intent on repeating them - creating laws that would subsidise these industries and delay our transition to a cleaner more sustainable economy.

"Based on the current drafts, outmoded power sectors could potentially get exemptions from the auctioning of permits throughout the term of the scheme until 2020. Nearly all the remaining industry sectors would also get all their emissions permits for free under the cover of so-called ‘carbon leakage'. The criteria proposed would ensure that 96% of the remaining emissions under the ETS would be considered to be exposed to carbon leakage - in most cases despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary - and therefore eligible for free allocation."

Proposed ‘effort sharing' legislation on emissions reductions from other sectors (covering 55% of emissions and including transport, agriculture and domestic heating and cooling) is also being drastically weakened.

Dr Lucas concluded: "The proposals on the table make a mockery of the EU's hitherto proclaimed leadership on climate change. EU governments are proposing to outsource the vast majority of their emissions reduction effort through external offsetting - close to 80% of the reduction targets could be offset. This is completely inconsistent with the scientific recommendations for delivering emissions reductions within developing countries.

"Outsourcing our emissions reductions is not just scientifically unsound, it is ethically wrong. It means the EU could cherry pick the cheapest climate mitigation potential in developing countries in order to prolong our own unsustainable model. This neo-colonial approach to climate policy completely undermines the EU's credibility in international climate negotiations. EU leaders must rectify this before it's too late."

The Green Party yesterday slammed the government's decision to lend its support to EU countries that do not offer gay civil partnerships, and questioned its commitment to LGBT rights after it back-tracked following pressure from the House of Lords.

Despite the UK's own recognition of civil partnerships, the government made a submission to the European Court of Human Rights saying Austria should not have an obligation to provide the same rights to same sex couples. The opinion was submitted as part of a case brought by an Austrian couple who argued that Austria had violated their right to a private and family life, the right not to suffer discrimination, and the right to marry [1].

Green Party MEP for London, Jean Lambert, said:

"Across the EU and in the European Parliament we are pushing for the equal recognition of civil partnerships in all member states [2]. However, it seems that the UK government voluntarily lent its support in this case to EU Member States who do not wish to allow the same rights to same sex couples as heterosexual couples.

"One would hope that a government supposedly committed to equal treatment would also promote the principle outside its own borders.

"This clearly displays the government's own confusion with what it hopes to achieve for LGBT human rights. Human rights are meant to be universal and indivisible, however, it would appear that the British government does not think so and is making it more difficult for those at the EU level who are arguing for the mutual recognition of civil partnerships and marriages."

Notes 

[1] Following questions posed by Lord Lester in the House Lords, the government abandoned its submission about same sex civil partnerships, but is maintaining its position on same sex marriage.

[2] In September 2008, a Written Declaration on the equal recognition of civil partnerships was co-signed in the European Parliament by Green MEP for the South East, Caroline Lucas MEP, as well as MEPs Sharon Bowles, Elspeth Attwooll, Martine Roure and Anders Wijkman. It called for:

• Member states with existing same-sex partnership legislation to recognise the arrangement of other Member States that have similar provision

• The Commission to draw guidelines for mutual recognition between Member States with existing legislation

10th December 2008 marks the 60th Anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights, and is known internationally as Human Rights Day.

European Green Party spokespeople say that there is no cause for complacency regarding the human rights situation within the EU itself and that EU Member States and institutions must also do much more to defend human rights in their dealings with countries outside the EU. 
 


EGP Co-Spokesperson Ulrike Lunacek said:

"While there is no doubt that in many ways the human rights situation in the EU has improved in recent years, there are numerous examples of a deterioration in this domain and we Greens will continue to carefully scrutinise both EU member states and institutions so that the human rights of all citizens and residents of the EU are respected in practice.

"Particular areas of concern to us and to many human rights defenders in the EU include the treatment of asylum seekers, refugees and irregular migrants in many parts of the EU, the discrimination and prejudice suffered by many members of the Roma minority in Italy and other EU member states, and the worrying trend in many member states of increased government surveillance of citizens' activities in the name of maintaining security." 
 


EGP Co-Spokesperson Philippe Lamberts continued:

"The EU likes to see itself as a champion of human rights but in its dealings with both neighbouring states and countries in other continents, it too often puts short term economic interests ahead of protecting the human rights of the citizens of those countries.

"The most blatant example of this attitude can be seen in the EU's often inconsistent attitude towards increasingly authoritarian and anti-democratic tendencies in the Russian government but there are many other instances where either member states or EU institutions should speak out much more forcefully against oppression of human rights.

"We European Greens will not cease to work with those courageous individuals and organisations who stand up for democratic and human rights wherever they are threatened so that the universal nature of human rights is respected in reality and not just as an aspiration."

On the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights on 10th December 2008, Human Rights Day, the Spokespersons of the European Green Party have said that there is no cause for complacency regarding the human rights situation within the EU itself and that EU Member States and institutions must also do much more to defend human rights in their dealings with countries outside the EU. 
 


EGP Co-Spokesperson Ulrike Lunacek said:

"While there is no doubt that in many ways the human rights situation in the EU has improved in recent years, there are numerous examples of a deterioration in this domain and we Greens will continue to carefully scrutinise both EU member states and institutions so that the human rights of all citizens and residents of the EU are respected in practice.

"Particular areas of concern to us and to many human rights defenders in the EU include the treatment of asylum seekers, refugees and irregular migrants in many parts of the EU, the discrimination and prejudice suffered by many members of the Roma minority in Italy and other EU member states, and the worrying trend in many member states of increased government surveillance of citizens' activities in the name of maintaining security." 
 


EGP Co-Spokesperson Philippe Lamberts continued:

"The EU likes to see itself as a champion of human rights but in its dealings with both neighbouring states and countries in other continents, it too often puts short term economic interests ahead of protecting the human rights of the citizens of those countries.

"The most blatant example of this attitude can be seen in the EU's often inconsistent attitude towards increasingly authoritarian and anti-democratic tendencies in the Russian government but there are many other instances where either member states or EU institutions should speak out much more forcefully against oppression of human rights.

"We European Greens will not cease to work with those courageous individuals and organisations who stand up for democratic and human rights wherever they are threatened so that the universal nature of human rights is respected in reality and not just as an aspiration."

The Green Party says the disruption to Stansted Airport following the protest by Plane Stupid this morning was a direct consequence of the Government's inconsistent policies on tackling climate change.

Leader of the Green Party, Dr Caroline Lucas MEP said the event had highlighted the important role that peaceful direct action can play in exerting pressure on the government and raising awareness of the urgent need to establish effective climate policy.

Dr Lucas commented:

"As long as the government continues to peddle its hypocritical rhetoric on reducing greenhouse gases, then ploughs ahead with plans to expand Stansted and other UK airports, we will see more protests like the one today.

"Although the inconvenience experienced by travellers using Stansted Airport was unfortunate, the peaceful protest demonstrated more clearly than any strongly worded letter the level of frustration and anger at the proposals to expand aviation, and the government's shirking of its environmental responsibilities."

Last week, the South East MEP, who is also the shadow rapporteur for the emissions trading scheme (ETS) - which now includes emissions from aviation -took part in the latest round of talks on EU climate change law.

She criticised European Council proposals, which would lead to the watering down of the ETS, a scheme supposedly designed to reduce the EU's total annual carbon emissions.

She said: "It is appalling that as the global climate talks continue in Poznan, EU leaders seem to be getting cold feet on their own climate change commitments - at just the critical moment when the world needs to see decisive action.

"Although Green efforts to include aviation in the scheme were successful, the terms of that inclusion are incredibly weak and, in proposing heavily diluted amendments to the ETS, the EU has sent a message to the world that it is unwilling to commit to tough and binding legislation.

Dr Lucas concluded: "As long as national and international political inaction on climate change persists, peaceful direct action will and should continue."

For immediate release - 8 December 2008

On Monday December 8th, two days before the 60th anniversary of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Green Party will launch an ambitious plan to expose governments that abuse human rights - a Global Human Rights Index.

The proposed index has the backing of Green Party leader, Caroline Lucas MEP, and Green Party human rights spokesperson, Peter Tatchell.

"Our report makes the case for the UN to publish each year a Global Human Rights Index (GloHRI), detailing the human rights performance of each and every government on the planet, displayed in a league table form," says lead author, Dr Richard Lawson, who is the founder of the campaign for the Global Human Rights Index.

"This will enable the relative standing and trends of each country to be seen at a glance. It would add to pressure on the worst ranked countries to improve their human rights record and providing evidence for action against the most serious offenders by the International Criminal Court and other human rights bodies," he said.

You can read the proposed Global Human Rights Index in full here:

Fellow contributor to the report, Peter Tatchell, added:

"Using a points system, the GloHRI index would measure every country, based on its compliance with a check-list of agreed human rights norms, such as whether or not it has the death penalty, torture, detention without trial, freedom of the media, the right to protest, equal rights for women and minorities and so on.

"This simple, accessible index would enable objective comparisons between the human rights records of different countries, and permit the identification of whether each individual country's human rights record was, year-on-year, improving or deteriorating.

"Published annually by the UN, the index would document where each state upholds or violates human rights; providing an incentive for all nations to improve their human rights record and ranking," he said.

Dr Caroline Lucas, leader of the Green Party, commented:

"I hope that I will live to see the United Nations adopt the Global Human Rights Index, which is an important step towards the long term goal of a global civilisation where human rights are universally respected, and state sponsored torture and killing are consigned to the dustbin of history where they belong".

Dr Lawson concludes:

"Tragically, in 2008 many countries are still torturing and killing our fellow human beings as a policy of ‘state security'. One day this barbaric practice will pass into history. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was an important step in that direction. We hope that the Global Human Rights Index will prove to be another such step."

The Green Party's proposal sets out the human rights issues that would be covered by the index and how the index would work. It also examines other attempts to establish various related indexes, which demonstrate the practicality of the proposal.

The concept of a Global Human Rights Index is supported many organisations (See links).

For further information contact:

Dr Richard Lawson - 01934 853 606 or 0774 786 8836

Peter Tatchell - 020 7403 1790

South East MEP and Green Party Leader Caroline Lucas will join thousands of campaigners in London this Saturday (6 December) in marching on Parliament to urge the government to match its rhetoric on climate change with credible action.

The National March against Climate Change, organised by the Campaign Against Climate Change, will gather at 12 noon at Grosvenor Square as thousands of people in more than 70 countries hold similar events around the world.

To mark the Global Day of Action on Climate Change, UK demonstrators will demand that the government says no to a third runway at Heathrow, ditches its plans for new coal-fired power stations, and halts further expansion of agrofuels.

The protest will also call for a Green New Deal - an innovative package of economic policies co-authored by Dr Lucas MEP to spark a revolution in energy efficiency and renewable energy, and create hundreds of thousands of green jobs in a time of recession.

Dr Lucas MEP commented:

"Climate change is happening even faster than the latest IPCC report predicted, and requires urgent and radical action at government level. UK ministers must be held to account for failing to match their green rhetoric with effective policies to secure environmental and economic sustainability.

"Just this week, the UK's climate watchdog called for dramatic cuts in carbon emissions to stave off the worst of what Lord Turner called ‘a grave threat to human welfare, the environment and the economy'.

"But if the government thinks it can achieve even its currently inadequate targets by expanding UK airports, approving a fleet of new coal fired power stations and committing to the same old boom-bust cycle of an over-exploitative, speculative fossil fuel-based economy, it is living in a fantasy land.

"In his Pre Budget Report, Alistair Darling threw away an historic opportunity to launch a clean energy revolution that would lead to hundreds of thousands of new green collar jobs in renewable energy and energy efficiency, cutting energy bills and delivering long-overdue improvements to the UK's infrastructure."

Dr Lucas concluded: "As critical UN climate talks get underway in Poznan, we stand in solidarity with the world's poorest and most vulnerable communities that suffer worst effects of climate change and demand that our politicians push hard for a tough and binding international climate agreement.

"At Kingsnorth Climate Camp 2008, we gathered peacefully to show our disgust at the government's commitment to coal. On Saturday we will gather once again to demand rapid action to safeguard our economic and environmental future."
 

Green Cllrs are celebrating after winning a key vote that will see Brighton & Hove City Council ask the Government for funding for a pilot scheme to provide all young people at the city's primary and secondary schools with free school meals.

Councillor Rachel Fryer, the Green Group's education spokesperson who laid down the motion calling on the council to bid for funding, said:

"I am delighted with this result. Giving every school child in the city a free school lunch could make a real difference to their life chances, their education and their general well being.

"But this isn't just about giving everyone a fair start in life: free school meals could prove a lifesaver for low income families facing rising food prices. Recent figures suggest they could save in the region of £300 per child on the costs of paying for school meals or pack lunches.

"This will also make a real difference to families who under current rules qualify for free school meals, but who don't take them. More than half of secondary school pupils in Brighton & Hove who are entitled to free school meals don't take them, in part because of the social stigma around the idea of a free lunch. Universal free school meals would put an end to this problem.

"Free school meals could also be part of a wider shift in the way children learn about food. A 'whole school approach' will benefit everyone. Children will engage with food throughout their school day, getting involved in growing and preparing their food, as well as having the time and space to enjoy eating healthy food together calmly as a social activity. Evidence suggests that this will improve behaviour, improve learning, reduce bullying (as they do not need to take money into school), and improve health and quality of life.

"Providing free, healthy school lunches is the common sense solution to tackling so many of the problems facing our children and their parents today. When it comes to childhood obesity, spiralling food costs or the gap in life expectancy between rich and poor areas, policies like this will go a long way to ensure a healthier, happier and fairer society."

As the Government prepares to reveal its legislative framework for the coming year in the Queen's speech, the Green Party has urged ministers to adopt its Green New Deal for real economic and social change. 

The Green New Deal, inspired by FD Roosevelt's revolutionary New Deal of the 1930s, is the brainchild of nine of the UK's top financial and environmental experts, including Green Leader Caroline Lucas MEP. Its ambitious aim is to tackle the credit crunch, create new green jobs, and boost the UK's failing economy - while at the same time slashing carbon emissions.

Green Party leader, Dr Caroline Lucas MEP, said:

"The Green New Deal shows why the Queen's Speech should have at its core an increase in public spending to fund hundreds of thousands of jobs for plumbers, electricians, roofers and installers who will form a 'carbon army' trained up to insulate every home in the country. It should also include green energy measures such as solar panels installed on the nation's roofs, turning every building into a mini-power station."

The Green New Deal includes:

• A £30bn stimulus package for investing in green jobs in environmental works that will dramatically reduce the carbon emissions of UK buildings
• The creation of new national investment products, such as local government bonds, to fund this work and provide a safe haven for pensions and savings
• Keeping interest rates low to encourage investment in the green economy

Dr Lucas added:

"Investment in a ‘Green New Deal' will create jobs all over the country. Alistair Darling's tax cuts will have limited long term benefits as people are likely to increase immediate spending largely on imported goods."

As the Government prepares to reveal its legislative framework for the coming year in the Queen's speech, the Green Party has urged ministers to adopt its Green New Deal for real economic and social change. 

The Green New Deal, inspired by FD Roosevelt's revolutionary New Deal of the 1930s, is the brainchild of nine of the UK's top financial and environmental experts, including Green Leader Caroline Lucas MEP. Its ambitious aim is to tackle the credit crunch, create new green jobs, and boost the UK's failing economy - while at the same time slashing carbon emissions.

Green Party leader, Dr Caroline Lucas MEP, said:

"The Green New Deal shows why the Queen's Speech should have at its core an increase in public spending to fund hundreds of thousands of jobs for plumbers, electricians, roofers and installers who will form a 'carbon army' trained up to insulate every home in the country. It should also include green energy measures such as solar panels installed on the nation's roofs, turning every building into a mini-power station."

The Green New Deal includes:

• A £30bn stimulus package for investing in green jobs in environmental works that will dramatically reduce the carbon emissions of UK buildings
• The creation of new national investment products, such as local government bonds, to fund this work and provide a safe haven for pensions and savings
• Keeping interest rates low to encourage investment in the green economy

Dr Lucas added:

"Investment in a ‘Green New Deal' will create jobs all over the country. Alistair Darling's tax cuts will have limited long term benefits as people are likely to increase immediate spending largely on imported goods."