By the editor
The newest booklet produced by Left Horizons is A socialist programme for the Green Party and it proved very popular at the recent conference of that party in Brighton last weekend. Over 130 copies were distributed in little over an hour on Saturday and if the comrades distributing the booklet had known how popular it was going to be, they would have been better prepared, and no doubt would have been able to give out twice or three times that number.
As the booklet argues, modern British politics has been transformed beyond all recognition, in comparison to, say, twenty or even ten years ago. The Green Party today, notwithstanding the constant press attack on it and its leader, Zack Polanski – essentially a re-run of the vilification of Jeremy Corbyn – is in the strongest position it has ever been. It has approaching a quarter of a million members, wide support, especially among young people, and it controls several municipalities. More specifically, it is an important part of the British left.
The booklet is aimed at persuading members of the Green Party and its supporters that ‘green’ issues, principally the crisis of climate change, are not separate from ‘other’ politics. That this is self-evident is clear from the radical policies coming from the leadership of the Greens, on taxing wealth, on nationalisation of utilities (especially water) and, not least, condemnation of Israel’s policies of genocide in Gaza and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank.
It is hardly surprising that in the Starmer years, many of the Labour left who were either thrown out or walked away from that party ended up with the Greens, and former Labour members or supporters now form a significant part of the active Green Party membership.
The booklet deals extensively with climate change as the key ‘green’ issue, but argues that saving the planet cannot be based on a myriad of individual actions and the carbon footprints of ordinary men and women in the street. “Socialists believe” it says, “that it is wrong to blame individual consumers for environmental issues in general, when the answers are linked to national and international economic, social and political priorities”.
The booklet argues that raising the very serious question of the climate crisis must be linked to day-to-day issues facing working class people. “Those who are living day-to-day” it argues, “cannot be expected to plan years ahead.”
Taking the argument to its logical conclusion, climate change and other ‘green’ issues have to be linked to social and political questions. But social and political issues and problems facing the majority of the population necessarily demand socialist answers and socialist change.
The booklet links the issues facing workers – and the dangers facing the planet – to the need to take concrete measures to change things. There are several important sections, dealing with energy production, land use, food production and so on, but perhaps one of the key sections is on energy. Put simply, those who are currently trashing the planet – corrupt governments and the big energy companies who are still seeking short-term profits – cannot be relied upon to save the planet.
The booklet argues for a series of policies in relation to energy on these lines:
*Democratic public ownership of all the plant and utilities related to energy-production industries, including coal, oil, gas and nuclear power.
* Democratic public ownership of an electricity grid, integrated with storage systems and with suppliers in other countries
* Democratic public ownership of ‘downstream’ regional electricity suppliers and delivery companies
*A national investment plan, through a National Energy Commission, to develop wind, solar, geothermal and tidal energy and appropriate electricity storage systems. This to include a national policy of installation of solar panels on public buildings.
There are similar demands and policies put forward in all of the other sections, all of them based on the need to harmonise the needs of the planet and the needs of working-class people, and to bring forward measures to address the key issues.
This 29-page booklet is essential reading for all supporters and members of the Green Party, and, indeed, anyone on the left, including the Labour left. You can get your copy or copies by emailing the editor at editor@left-horizons.co.uk
