A FAIRER GREENER SOCIETY: NOT SAVAGE CUTS
We are about to witness the biggest spending review that this country has seen for a generation, with all of us being told to tighten our belts. No stone seems to be left unturned, as the coalition government seeks to balance the books that the bankers' irresponsibility has unbalanced: today the Armed forces and the BBC (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/oct/20/spending-review-cuts-bbc ), tomorrow the rest of us: everyone is braced for the next round of cuts. The greatest long-term threat to the country, and to our planet, is environmental destruction, including of course manmade climate change, but this has been consistently ignored. The government is actually cutting its ecological spending, giving the lie to its one-time (and now utterly laughable) claim of aiming to be the greenest government ever: (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/oct/18/green-campaigners-comprehensive-spending-review )
Ordinary folk are being made to pay for the crisis which the bankers have brought upon us. This is plain wrong, Meanwhile, the biggest long-term problem this country, and this planet, face is dangerous climate change, and yet this seems to have been forgotten about.
500,000 jobs are going to be cut today including about 50,000 in the East of England. Is that really what our region needs at this moment in time, more people being thrown onto jobless queues? Rather than cutting services, jobs should be created by investing in renewable energy, insulating homes, and bringing redundant housing back into use. This government is cutting services that many rely on, cutting the budget for social housing, and forcing those who are disabled into jobs, while at the same time looking to renew Trident, which will not bring lasting jobs.
Scrapping Trident alone could save 100 billion pounds, and investment in renewable energy could produce jobs to replace those that will be lost due to this wrong-headed comprehensive spending review. The Green party will continues to fight these cuts across the villages, towns and cities of this Region, and will promote instead a fair society for all, including our children and their children. This is a time for green jobs, not for savage cuts.
Comments
-Trident renewal has been postponed and the number of warheads will be cut.
-500,000 jobs are expected to be lost over 5 years, not today
-the Green investment bank is at last funded after years of just talk + new programme for home insulation
-new capital investment in rail
...
While nothing good (except the Trident savings) comes of a big budget deficit, this government is doing many good and green things that Labour didn't bother to in 13 years when the coffers were full.
The problem for the greens is that if you don't rely on economic growth, you have to make bigger cuts. Even if you defaulted on the debt today, you would have to make cuts of £225bn (£150bn borrowing and £75bn refinancing).