1. Campaigning Party vs an Election Machine?
Within a flawed electoral system, are we not focusing too much on winning elections with some success in local elections with a few seats gained (but no gains in General Elections) while the planet is burning instead of urgently building a mass movement? One bad election could wipe out gains.Are we running out of time? What is your strategy?
The Green Party must exist to be the political wing of the wider climate movement, because action needs to occur immediately. To ensure that the change we need happens, pressure needs to be applied at every angle and through every avenue.
We value the work done by Greenpeace, Extinction Rebellion and others, but they are different organisations with different roles. Our role is to win elections and to create change within the political process. We encourage all members of the Green Party to campaign in their communities for change – not just for Greens to win elections.
But we also recognise that some change is only going to happen with Greens in the room, calling the shots and making the hard decisions. And that is why it is so wonderful to see our Green colleagues Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie enter Government in Scotland as Ministers – they will be directing civil servants and drafting legislation every day to make change.
Change seems far off and impossible until suddenly it happens, and our campaign is about making the impossible possible. But we need to apply pressure by standing candidates in elections, acting as a counter balance to the climate destruction brought about by successive governments, especially Conservative ones, and we need to win as many of those elections as possible too. In order to win, we do need to build a mass movement, and that work has already begun.
2. Removing toxicity and healing splits?
How can the Green Party be an effective healthy political party, with transparent internal democracy and accountability based on fairness and unity? Are members expected to sign up 100% to everything that the leader(s) or the Party is perceived to support at any given time? Is it not the role of a leader to ensure that party members rights to disagree are protected? Be it the rights of women, transrights, the IHRA or the failed holistic review. What will you do to heal division?
It is vital as a party that we find ways to come together and unite for our common purpose – tackling the climate emergency via a programme of radical inclusion and social justice. But that cannot happen by tolerating those who create hate, division, and fear against our most oppressed members.
We can and do disagree with each other in the party, in a healthy way, but if what you disagree with is the right of trans members to exist and be recognised in their identity, if you what you disagree with is the right of Jewish members to define their own oppression, and if what you disagree with is the importance of empowering all women in the party, then we do not believe that these are views that have a place within our movement. It is by ensuring the liberation of our most oppressed members that we will enable our party to come together to fight the biggest challenges of our generation.
We have a Manifesto for Liberation that will allow our party to unite in the mission of liberating all those that face oppression – racism, anti-semitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, queerphobia, transphobia, sexism, ableism, classism, ageism and other human rights issues will divide us not when we take a stand against them but when we don’t. Please read our Manifesto at https://www.womackomond.green/news/a-manifesto-for-liberation-2
3. A party that understands working-class communities
Many people still see the green movement and GPEW as being well meaning but not relevant to the everyday struggles of working people and working-class communities. How can we challenge that idea?
As Greens, we know that we have a lot of work to do to connect social and environmental justice. We have the policies that work to bridge those divides and ensure that we uplift working class communities and that working people have resilient rights in resilient jobs. During the 2015 Green Surge, we saw more working class people joining our party, simply because we had the policies that spoke to their needs.
Right now, we are in a similar political situation with a weak Labour leader not representing those they claim to represent. This is an important moment for the Green Party to ensure that we continue with our clear message of investment in communities and a just transition through a Green New Deal.
We recognise that we need to be addressing the structural issues that hold back working class people in our party, in politics and in society. This is why we have committed to listening to your voices as part of our liberation panel in our liberation manifesto. https://www.womackomond.green/news/a-manifesto-for-liberation-2
We see councillors in working class communities ensuring that working class voices are elevated in decision making. It’s important that we are striking to get more Greens elected to ensure that their vital work continues. You can find our election manifesto here: https://www.womackomond.green/news/elections-manifesto
4. The Movement for Green Jobs and a Green Socialist future
What do you know of the Trade Union backed Campaign Against Climate Change, Lucas Plan, The Million Green Jobs campaign and the Greener Jobs Alliance of trade unions? How would you work with these campaigns and ensure all parts of the party are engaging with these groups? Do you understand Just Transition and support it? Does the Green Party have a distinct action plan for COP 26?
We have recently launched our COP manifesto with clear national and international commitments that embrace a Just Transition and show a clear plan for the Greens for COP26. https://www.womackomond.green/news/cop-manifesto
At this COP, we need to secure the Green Party as the voice of action on climate change. Yes, it’s important that scientists are heard when it comes to the climate and ecological emergency, but it’s a failure of politics that has led us to this place. This is why we have to claim our place in the press and media and work to ensure that we embed the need to be addressing inequality while tackling the ecological emergency and staying below 1.5 degrees of warning.
The Green Party has an additional COP campaign working with the Global Greens so that international solidarity is embedded in our work.
In terms of the campaigning organisations, these have all been vital in ensuring that workers rights have been embedded in the climate movement. We need to not only be working with, but learning from these movements.
5. Are you an Eco-socialist?
What does eco-socialism mean to you? What links do you see between climate change and the need for social, economic and democratic change?
Yes, we both see ourselves as eco-socialists. We have committed not only to tackling the climate and ecological emergencies, but to oppose any austerity agenda that comes from this government, and to champion genuine investment into public services and communities. We oppose all forms of privatisation and want to see our basic infrastructure in public hands.
Social, economic and environmental justice are intertwined alongside democratic change. If we had a more proportional system, other countries have shown that we’d get better policies for the environment while also electing a more diverse parliament. We need to see votes at 16 so that those of the generation who will live with the worst effects of climate change have a say in their futures. We also need to have an elected second chamber to ensure that it’s not simply the ruling classes who have a majority say on our national policies in the House of Lords.
The work we have been doing on promoting a Green New Deal with a Just Transition is essential to ensuring that we make all of the links between inequality and climate change.
6. Making campaigning for PR a Green Party priority
It’s clear the electoral system is holding back Green Party advance at local and parliamentary elections. How can we campaign to convince members of the Labour Party, Trade Unions and Labour MPs to support this democratic change to bring English elections in line with other parts of the UK? Do you see this as a priority for the Green Party in the next period?
Yes we do, and we want to continue Amelia’s work on speaking out for the need for PR and to build on the work she’s done with Make Votes Matter. It’s through grassroots campaigning that we can win.