A photo of Green Party campaigners in Bristol

Reform UK has been displaying a clear (albeit false!) story to the British public. They’ve painted a picture of our country, one that points the blame at migrants. Housing, unemployment, cost of living, you name it! Reform will blame migrants for almost all of our problems. The Green Party knows this is not true. We know that it’s the ultra-rich who are really causing our problems, via their lobbying of MPs for their own self interest, not the interest of the British public. It’s time the Green Party clearly tells this story and uses it to change the national narrative.

I’m Haydn Osborne-Brookes, candidate for Campaigns Co-ordinator of the Green Party. Over the past year I’ve been Under 18’s Liberation Group Co-Chair for the Young Greens and I’m currently Under 18’s Officer, running a “Make Votes at 16 Effective” campaign which involves party figures like Natalie Bennett and Carla Denyer, and I’m also Head of Campaigns for the Young European Movement.

To tell a powerful story which shows voters that it’s the 99% against the 1%, with that 1% being the ultra rich, the Green Party needs to speak more about economic justice. That doesn’t mean ignoring our social or environmental policies which are just as vital and which I will run bold campaigns on if I’m elected, it means linking all our policies to an economic, class-based analysis and presenting that in a digestible way.

You may be wondering how we can link these policies, I know I did when I first delved into these ideas, but let me provide you with just two examples of how we can link social and environmental policies to economic justice.

The first example is fairly simple. Renewable energy is far cheaper than non-renewable energy! If we make this clear and show that we recognise the initial cost of things like solar panels is expensive, but that we will help to fund it through grants etc., we present a clear route for cheaper bills and an ease on the cost of living crisis. But how do we link this to our narrative that it’s the 99% against the 1%? Well, the 1% doesn’t want you to have cheaper renewable energy! Their interest is profit, not the well-being of the British people. If we have cheaper energy that means less money being taken away from us and towards the ultra-rich.

The second example is much less clear, but just as important. Recently Carla Denyer put a video out on her social media explaining how most groups which are campaigning against trans rights are actually funded by the fossil fuel industry. At first glance for most people this seems bizarre, why would fossil fuel giants be against trans rights? But when you look a little closer it becomes clear. The ultra-rich create hate and division amongst us in order to distract us from the real problem. Them. Whilst we’re fighting over people’s human rights, they’re burning more fossil fuels and earning more profit.

This intersectional view on each and every issue will bring us closer to painting that national narrative, and as long as we can present it in a way that is understandable, simple, and digestible, the British public will listen.

And of course our raw economic policy is also extremely popular with voters! A YouGov poll showed that 75% of people agree with the idea of a wealth tax. This is a shockingly high mandate and it shows that these are the kind of policies we need to be very vocal about, to show voters that we aren’t just tree huggers, we’re eco-socialists.

So vote for me, Haydn Osborne-Brookes, to be your Campaigns Co-ordinator when voting opens this Friday for an intersectional view on our politics so that we can change the national narrative, and show voters that it’s the 99% against the 1%.

Image credit: Matthew Philip Long – Creative Commons