:00:16. > :00:23.Thank you everyone for coming to the launch of our green guarantee for
:00:24. > :00:26.this election. I'm Sian Berry the London Assembly Member and I'm here
:00:27. > :00:32.to introduce our co-leaders. First of all, we have Jonathan Bartley. I
:00:33. > :00:34.cannot turn on social media at the moment without being flooded with
:00:35. > :00:40.messages about saying how fantastic he is. I'm very, very pleased to
:00:41. > :00:46.welcome him to our launch today, where he'll introduce some of our
:00:47. > :00:52.policies for this election. It feels like the only way is down
:00:53. > :01:04.now. Thank you so much for coming to today's launch of the Green
:01:05. > :01:06.guarantee. It sets out what Greens Health Secretaried to the House of
:01:07. > :01:09.Commons would stand up for on your behalf. These are big and these are
:01:10. > :01:13.bold ideas that with the right political will are possible. They're
:01:14. > :01:18.about building a confident and a caring Britain and a future that we
:01:19. > :01:24.can all be proud of. Confident because we're creating a resilient,
:01:25. > :01:33.diverse and people-powered economy that allows us to live larger lives
:01:34. > :01:40.and cope with the challenges ahead. Caring, because we're redefining the
:01:41. > :01:42.Welfare State, striving to end inequality and committed to
:01:43. > :01:52.redistributing both wealth and power. We have the fifth largest
:01:53. > :01:54.economy in the world. In such a country, no renter should have to
:01:55. > :01:58.live in damp, cold or neglected accommodation. No parent should have
:01:59. > :02:04.to compete with other parents to find their child a decent school.
:02:05. > :02:10.No-one should have to wait ten hours in an emergency ward before getting
:02:11. > :02:19.the care and attention they need. When I go to my children's school I
:02:20. > :02:21.walk in to the foyer and I'm frented with a huge board right in the
:02:22. > :02:26.middle of the school. Everyone see it's when they come in. On that
:02:27. > :02:35.board are three concentric circles. In those circles is the picture of
:02:36. > :02:38.every child in the school with their names underneath. The children with
:02:39. > :02:40.three levels of progress are in the centre. That's where two of my
:02:41. > :02:43.children are. Those children that have made no progress are pictured
:02:44. > :02:48.on the outside of those circles, Sigma tied for everyone to see. None
:02:49. > :02:54.of my children want that. None of the teachers in their heart of
:02:55. > :02:57.hearts want that. They want an education system that works for
:02:58. > :03:02.everyone. When I go to a hospital, as I did last year, and I go with my
:03:03. > :03:06.son as a regular user, I don't want to have to have my hospital
:03:07. > :03:09.appointment cancelled three times, my operation cancelled three times
:03:10. > :03:15.for my son. It's not fair on him. It's not fair on the others. When I
:03:16. > :03:18.go to a basic hospital appointment, I don't want to wait two hours only
:03:19. > :03:26.for that appointment to be cancelled. We can have a different
:03:27. > :03:32.future, one where we all have the security and the choices we deserve,
:03:33. > :03:36.for a basic income which allows us to fulfil our potential, yes, let's
:03:37. > :03:43.say it - our dreams. No-one should tell you that your voice doesn't
:03:44. > :03:46.matter. When it comes to the biggest decision this country has faced in
:03:47. > :03:50.generations, you will not get a say on whether having seen what life
:03:51. > :03:58.outside the EU will look like we should choose that future or choose
:03:59. > :04:06.to remain. The media, with respect, and the old parties will tell you
:04:07. > :04:17.that there are other two options on the ballot paper at this election.
:04:18. > :04:21.It's not true. That is aess service to our democracy. If you believe in
:04:22. > :04:24.a welcoming Britain, a country of compassion, a fair economy, where
:04:25. > :04:27.those with the most contribute more, the protection of our countryside, a
:04:28. > :04:32.nation confident enough to build bridges not walls. You have a
:04:33. > :04:37.choice. If you believe things can change for the better and that the
:04:38. > :04:42.next generation must be defined by fairness not food banks, then we
:04:43. > :04:56.will give you that choice. If you believe that our future will be
:04:57. > :05:03.defined not by the size of our nuclear Arsenal but by harnessing
:05:04. > :05:06.the enormous potential of the people who live here in this country - join
:05:07. > :05:17.us and stand up for what really matters.
:05:18. > :05:20.On June 8 choose a positive future and vote Green for a confident and
:05:21. > :05:22.caring Britain. Thank you. APPLAUSE
:05:23. > :05:28.Thank you Jonathan. I'm very, very proud to introduce Caroline Lucas.
:05:29. > :05:31.She's defending to be reected as MP for Brighton Pavillion for the
:05:32. > :05:34.second time now. She just gets more and more popular, as far as I can
:05:35. > :05:38.tell. Caroline Lucas. . Thanks so much. Thank you to everyone for
:05:39. > :05:51.being here. I'm delighted to be with Jonathan and launching this
:05:52. > :05:54.wonderful Green Karen gee and -- guarantee. I want to thank WIRA for
:05:55. > :06:10.hosting this launch in this amazing place. Since 2012 they have
:06:11. > :06:13.supported the creation of 160 new start-ups. They have been getting
:06:14. > :06:15.behind bold, creative new ideas and sharing the future through brave
:06:16. > :06:17.leadership. And by being here today, we're choosing a future of
:06:18. > :06:19.opportunities for pioneers and innovators like them. We are here
:06:20. > :06:21.choosing a new kind of economy that meets people's needs and makes sure
:06:22. > :06:24.we protect the environment. A confident and caring Britain, that
:06:25. > :06:32.reaches for a bigger future that we can be proud of. The Green guarantee
:06:33. > :06:38.is about hope and we need hope now like never before. I can't remember
:06:39. > :06:56.a time in my own lifetime where the future has felt more uncertain. With
:06:57. > :07:08.Brexit, with accelerating climate change, with an NHS in crisis.
:07:09. > :07:12.We face challenges that we can't possibly pretend to fix in the next
:07:13. > :07:14.100 days or the next 1,000. Threats to our economic future, threats to
:07:15. > :07:17.our security, threats to our planet. But ours is a message of hope
:07:18. > :07:21.because we believe that if we stand together for what matters, we can
:07:22. > :07:26.change the course of history. We can meet these enormous challenges. So
:07:27. > :07:28.while other parties ignore the environment, Greens will protect it.
:07:29. > :07:31.We will continue to set the agenda with bold policies to transform
:07:32. > :07:33.peoples lives with things like a pilot for a basic income scheme and
:07:34. > :07:36.a shorter worker week. We'll protect the NHS. We'll properly fund it,
:07:37. > :07:38.yes, but crucially, we'll take the private sector out of it. We'll
:07:39. > :07:47.repeal the Health and Social Care Act and replace it with the NHS reap
:07:48. > :07:50.statement act, that's a bill that I've had the honour of presenting to
:07:51. > :07:52.Parliament a couple of times now already as Private Members' Bills.
:07:53. > :07:57.We'll proudly stand up for free movement. We'll give the British
:07:58. > :08:01.people an explicit option to remain part of the EU, as part of a
:08:02. > :08:08.ratification referendum on the Brexit deal. Let me say a few more
:08:09. > :08:10.words about Brexit, this huge challenge that's facing us. In our
:08:11. > :08:13.view, the huge threat that is facing us, in terms of the extreme Brexit
:08:14. > :08:16.which Theresa May is pursuing. Let us make no mistake. She has no
:08:17. > :08:23.mandate for the kind of Brexit she is pursuing, out of the single
:08:24. > :08:24.market, out of the customs union, leaving key social and environmental
:08:25. > :08:35.protections behind, leaving free movement. That was not on the ballot
:08:36. > :08:40.paper. Yes, there was a rote leave. But it's not clear what that leave
:08:41. > :08:43.looks like in practice, which is why we say it is right for the British
:08:44. > :08:46.public to have a final say on the deal not just MPs as Theresa May
:08:47. > :08:49.would have it. It was the British people that set off this process. It
:08:50. > :08:52.is the British people who should be able to look at the small print of
:08:53. > :08:54.the final deal and if they like it, then fine. But if they don't, then
:08:55. > :08:57.they should have, we should have, that right to remain inside the EU.
:08:58. > :09:00.That is what the Green Party is offering. We are also saying to EU
:09:01. > :09:08.nationals, who have made their lives here, in good faith, that of course
:09:09. > :09:09.your future here should be guaranteed immediately now, not
:09:10. > :09:13.using them cynically as bargaining chips, as Theresa May is doing. We
:09:14. > :09:24.are the one party that is proud to stand up for the wonderful gift that
:09:25. > :09:29.is free movement. It is an extraordinarily precious gift to be
:09:30. > :09:32.able to work and travel and live and learn and to love in 27 other member
:09:33. > :09:35.states. My kids, I want them to benefit from that. I want everyone's
:09:36. > :09:37.kids to benefit from that. I want to broaden that out so that everyone
:09:38. > :09:40.can benefit. You know, what I feel in particular it is young people
:09:41. > :09:48.betrayed by this Brexit vote. We know the majority of young people
:09:49. > :09:50.want to stay inside the EU. In our manifesto, in our Green guarantee
:09:51. > :09:53.today we are talking particularly to young people. We are making a pitch
:09:54. > :10:00.to them saying not just that we think they've been betrayed by the
:10:01. > :10:03.decision on this extreme Brexit, but also they are being burdened by
:10:04. > :10:05.debt, which is why we'd scrap tuition fees. We're delighted Labour
:10:06. > :10:08.has caught up with us on that one. It's why we want to see a genuinely
:10:09. > :10:12.affordable housing, including rent caps and longer tennancies. We would
:10:13. > :10:17.set up a living rent commission to see what would be a reasonable rent
:10:18. > :10:29.given the cost of living in different areas rather than making
:10:30. > :10:32.it clear that young people are never going to be able to save enough for
:10:33. > :10:34.a deposit because they are constantly paying over the odds
:10:35. > :10:37.rent. Also, one of the biggest ways we are letting down young people is
:10:38. > :10:50.on the environment. Last year was the hottest year on record.
:10:51. > :11:21.state of nature report said 60% of species in the UK are in long-term
:11:22. > :11:23.decline, 15% at risk of disappearing from our shores all together. We
:11:24. > :11:26.launched an environment manifesto, a specific environment manifesto last
:11:27. > :11:27.week in. That we pledged a new environment protection act, which
:11:28. > :11:30.would safeguard and enhance the environment upon which we depend for
:11:31. > :11:32.literally everything. It set out our approach to key threats like air
:11:33. > :11:36.pollution. Air pollution is a public health emergency. It is linked to
:11:37. > :11:39.the premature deaths of 40,000 people in this country. Yet, it
:11:40. > :11:42.hardly even made it into the Tory manifesto. It sets out as well the
:11:43. > :11:43.kinds of policies we have around investment, renewables, energy
:11:44. > :11:49.efficiency, keeping fossil fuels in the ground. It crucially sets out
:11:50. > :11:51.how we would protect that body of EU law that currently protects our
:11:52. > :11:53.environment and which we need it to have safeguarded and enhances in a
:11:54. > :11:55.post Brexit world. What we're talking about there is making sure
:11:56. > :11:58.that legislation is not only transferred from the EU to the UK
:11:59. > :12:09.statute books, but that it is properly enforceable. We need the
:12:10. > :12:12.legal ark checkure there to make sure in the absence of the European
:12:13. > :12:26.Commission or European Court of Justice we can enforce that law.
:12:27. > :12:28.Brexit, the environment, the NHS in crisis, we face huge challenges,
:12:29. > :12:31.huge questions. I'm proud that the Green Party is at least is asking
:12:32. > :12:34.those questions and is beginning to get some of the answers as well. We
:12:35. > :12:36.want to have that debate with you about the answers to these major
:12:37. > :12:39.questions we face today. This election is about what kind of
:12:40. > :12:41.future we want for our children. It is about protecting our values of
:12:42. > :12:43.openness, compassion, cooperation. It's about our promise that a
:12:44. > :12:45.confident and caring future is possible, if we work together, if we
:12:46. > :12:48.do politics differently, and if we dare to be more ambitious. The
:12:49. > :12:50.guarantee says we're ready and we hope you'll join us by voting Green
:12:51. > :12:54.on June 8. APPLAUSE
:12:55. > :13:00.Would anyone like to ask a question? REPORTER: ITV news. Many of your
:13:01. > :13:03.policies seem very, very close indeed to Jeremy Corbyn's Labour
:13:04. > :13:07.Party, are people really getting a choice in this election? Well, they
:13:08. > :13:11.certainly are. First of all, of course, they say don't they
:13:12. > :13:18.imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. We're glad Jeremy Corbyn
:13:19. > :13:32.has been looking at our 2015 general
:13:33. > :13:37.election manifesto and taken lots of our policies, like bringing rail
:13:38. > :13:39.back into public ownership, cancelling tuition fees. But Brexit
:13:40. > :13:42.is the obvious thing that he's not doing. I feel so let down by the
:13:43. > :13:44.fact that Labour has not been a rigorous Opposition when it comes to
:13:45. > :13:47.Brexit. They have allowed the Government to have a blank cheque on
:13:48. > :13:50.a hard Brexit. Not only that, they helped them cash it in at the bank
:13:51. > :13:53.as well. On Brexit, we are very clear that we want as close a
:13:54. > :13:55.relationship to the EU as possible. We want to stand up for the free
:13:56. > :13:58.movement, Labour is not offering that. On the environment and climate
:13:59. > :14:05.change, they don't go nearly as far as we do. They can be not be
:14:06. > :14:08.champions of renewable energy and support money for Hinckley Nuclear
:14:09. > :14:11.Power Stations. -- power station. Sadly we feel there is a long way to
:14:12. > :14:20.go from Labour and we're proud to be offering something very distinct.
:14:21. > :14:29.Is there a danger people might understand and respect your Remain
:14:30. > :14:35.message but but put off by more costly things like paying off
:14:36. > :14:39.student debt? We need to have an honest conversation about taxation
:14:40. > :14:45.in this country. Look at Germany. Spends 44% of its gross domestic
:14:46. > :14:50.product on public expenditure. We are heading down from 40%. It is
:14:51. > :14:56.absurd the Conservative Government said it would cut corporation tax,
:14:57. > :15:02.how is that going to work? They have no economic credibility, we can be
:15:03. > :15:04.like Germany, we can find 775, perhaps ?100 billion, of proper
:15:05. > :15:08.investment, the money is there, the problem is that the money is in the
:15:09. > :15:12.wrong hands. It needs the political will to make those decision, the
:15:13. > :15:19.Resolution Foundation estimates that because just the corporation tax
:15:20. > :15:27.cuts since 2010, through to today, cutting from 27, 28 percent, wanting
:15:28. > :15:32.to go town do 17%, we could have ?125 billion more, 235 billion more
:15:33. > :15:35.if we carry on. It gives you an idea how much money there is, but it
:15:36. > :15:39.requires the political will to do it. I think people are getting that,
:15:40. > :15:44.responding to that and we are seeing over social care the Conservatives
:15:45. > :15:47.have scored a massive own goal politically about pursuing this
:15:48. > :15:50.policy where people will lose their home, anything over 100,00 pounds.
:15:51. > :15:54.People are saying hang on. It doesn't have to be this way, there
:15:55. > :15:57.could have been investment in social care, there is only a crisis in
:15:58. > :16:00.social care because of under investment. The ageing population is
:16:01. > :16:03.coming but the crisis now is here, because of Tory mismanagement of the
:16:04. > :16:07.economy, and making the wrong choices over the last seven years,
:16:08. > :16:10.people are getting that and wanting that progressive taxation, they
:16:11. > :16:14.realise the money has been sucked out, it has gone for excess profits
:16:15. > :16:36.and it doesn't have to be like this. Manufacture Do you believe there is
:16:37. > :16:39.still 48%... But, I think the critical thing here is there is two
:16:40. > :16:43.to be period of time for the negotiation, the next 18 months or
:16:44. > :16:46.so, and, at the end of that at the moment, it is proposed that should
:16:47. > :16:52.come back to Parliament, to sign it off. The distinction we making it
:16:53. > :16:54.should come back to the British public, so we are not suggesting
:16:55. > :16:59.that the negotiations should go on any longer than Theresa May is. We
:17:00. > :17:03.are saying that democracy has to be at the front and centre of decision
:17:04. > :17:07.and it is right that British people get to see what the the final deal
:17:08. > :17:11.look like. Already,er we are seeing so many of the promises that we were
:17:12. > :17:16.made, unravelling, I mean the famous of course the 350 million for the
:17:17. > :17:19.NHS, weekly has been, you know, it was evaporated within a couple of
:17:20. > :17:24.days of the referendum result. But things like the threats of Turkey
:17:25. > :17:27.joining the EU, or all kinds of other threats that were made, which
:17:28. > :17:30.are now unravelling at the same time as thing like inflation is going up
:17:31. > :17:34.and people are beginning to realise that it is going to cost them, to
:17:35. > :17:39.leave the EU, so given I think we will have a lot more information
:17:40. > :17:48.about what leave looks like, I think it is right that people get the
:17:49. > :17:59.right to look at that small print. There was another hand at the back.
:18:00. > :18:14.Is it your impression... Well, I think
:18:15. > :18:19.that the latter of to easy two options seems to be rather more
:18:20. > :18:23.likely, there is a real fight on our hands to be serious about what will
:18:24. > :18:27.happen to the Paris climate agreement and so forth, even if the
:18:28. > :18:32.worst happens and Trump turns his back on it, I think the good news is
:18:33. > :18:35.there are so much momentum behind the green economy, behind green
:18:36. > :18:40.energy, behind renewables and green technology, it is already telling
:18:41. > :18:43.its own economic story, which is it is cheaper 19 fossil fuel
:18:44. > :18:47.alternatives. I think it will be too late to turn that back, so yes, at
:18:48. > :18:52.this critical moment it will be wonderful to have more real
:18:53. > :18:56.champions of shifting to that greener society, greener energy,
:18:57. > :18:59.greener economy, we need that, but the worst case scenario that some
:19:00. > :19:02.are painting, that Paris could collapse because of Trump, I don't
:19:03. > :19:05.think will happen because I think the economics are speak for
:19:06. > :19:11.themselves. It makes economic sense to be investing in green energy, not
:19:12. > :19:30.just environmental sense. I think it is too late for that.
:19:31. > :19:37.Have you got a idea what it will look like? What else can you do to
:19:38. > :19:44.try and get the message over to people? The metric, it is
:19:45. > :19:47.disappointing. The Labour leader and Liberal Democrat leader didn't
:19:48. > :19:52.respond to our joint letter at the beginning as a priority to come and
:19:53. > :19:56.talk, to have conversations about this, there is a insurrection going
:19:57. > :20:00.on, that is what the metric is, in 30 seats round the country people
:20:01. > :20:03.are talking, green dabbed at thes have shown leadership and stood
:20:04. > :20:08.aside. And if there are wins in the seats it will be the greens what won
:20:09. > :20:12.it, absolutely clear. This election is the beginning not
:20:13. > :20:18.the end. We are looking at system which is creaking, under the strain,
:20:19. > :20:23.1950, 95% of people voted toer the two big parties. Now we are down to
:20:24. > :20:28.two thirds. The system has not caught up. The Green Party is ahead
:20:29. > :20:31.of the curve and looking at what kind of control and democracy we
:20:32. > :20:45.want for the 21st century. Have row done it again? I am proud of the
:20:46. > :20:50.party, for making that stand, and leading the way.
:20:51. > :20:59.Any more questions. No?