Green Party Election Questions

Welcome to Bristol. This is a special programme, Election

Questions. The studio audience here tonight will be putting their

questions to the current leader of the Green Party. Please welcome

Jonathan Bartley, ladies and gentlemen. CLAPPING.

Welcome to the programme. In the light of the tragic events last

night, the reason may held a special meeting with Downing Street. --

Theresa May. She said the country needs to change its position on

terrorism. I just want to say my thoughts are very much with those

that were hurt, those that were killed, and their families, last

night. I want to pay tribute to the emergency services that did amazing

work last night. I think... I watched what Theresa May said and I

think she is right to call for a review. And I think that needs to

have two very important aspects to it. The first is the Prevent

strategy We have seen a certain degree of success in the Prevent

strategy, the counterterrorism strategy the government has in the

suing for a couple of years, but it is clearly toxic to some communities

and is alienating some communities. Not building bridges and getting

intelligence we need to be the second area I want to look at is

police. 20,000 police officers have been lost since 2010. That has to be

addressed. It is not just about police numbers, but police

themselves. We set priorities for local policing. I know police

officers cannot be in every place at every moment. They required the

wonderful tradition we have in this country, policing by consent. We

need intelligence from the community. I want to see that front

and centre in the Theresa May review. You actually called the

Prevent strategy xenophobic. Why is it xenophobic? It is xenophobic

because it is alienating communities. We need to be clear

that those tarnishing the Muslim committee with these atrocities,

this was not the Muslim community, this is a perversion of Islam is. --

community. I am sorry you said rubbish, I disagree with you. We

will get to you in a moment and you can question him. It is alienating

the very communities we need to be building bridges with. If you are

building a family and you are worried about Islam

, what can you do? Will you bring it to the authorities' attention? We

need evidence -based approach is. There is no clear answer as to why

people become radicalised. We are just getting to the bottom of it.

Theresa May raised the issue of changing the whole strategy. The

first question. Following the attack last night, should we be armed to

protect ourselves? The answer is... Knee-jerk reactions are not the best

way to respond in a context like this. It is good the Prime Minister

has started to talk about reviewing the strategy. We have armed police

officers on the street. The question we have to face in this election,

will we elect a government that will look at these issues about whether

we arm police officers further? My instinct is let us see what comes

out of this incident. The police reacted quickly in this example

would be but we do need to arm all of our police, but let's see what

happens. Does anyone want to come in on the back of what Jonathan Bartley

has said in response to what he calls no knee-jerk reactions? You

were booing at the beginning. I don't think it is a knee-jerk

reaction. The BBC Two years ago carried out a survey of Muslims in

this country. Two. They said 76% of Muslims in this country supports

terrorist attacks in this country and hold our rant democracy in

contempt. -- own. It needs to be sorted. I am not familiar with that

survey. There are liberties and freedoms in this country I am

passionate about protecting. I think that is what the terrorist want to

do away with and that is what they want to attack to be when it comes

to having a knee-jerk reaction which is to suddenly clamped down on civil

liberties... Donald Trump elected in America. Having someone of that

calibre elected in this country, it is out of the question. What could

they do with powers to clamp down on civil liberties? Why have the Green

Party not supported the terrorist legislation put forward by the

government over the years? You are not prepared to take any action, are

you? We are very much about scrutinising the government's plans

and see what we are doing. That is what we have done. When you have

groups like Liberty and the National Union of Teachers and civil society

groups coming forward saying this is not working and lawyers are saying

this is an attack on civil liberties. We have to be led by them

and represent them. So you would not be in favour, for example, for

taking away safe spaces on the Internet for extremists to publish

some of their hateful ideology. Two issues come up about this.

Politicians sometimes get nervous about technology, because they don't

know much about it. Do you include yourself in that? I do include

myself in that. We need to call providers of these services,

platforms like Facebook, also publishes, we need to call them to

account. We need to see details of what they kick down and when they

take it down. Theresa May talked about that in her speech. 26% of

Muslims agree with whatever. That is a large amount of people to be it is

getting bigger by the minute. In 35 years, people are going to be

shocked, the Muslim population, they will be the majority in this

country. If we have two children and they have ten... That is a lot of

assumptions. This is a perversion of Islam. It is not a problem Muslims

have to deal with, it is a problem we all have to deal with. Look. I

live in an area that is diverse. I live close to two mosques. I spend a

lot of time going to them and talking to people. There are people

in those mosques that hate what is going on as much as I do. I worry

for their children as much as my children. But 74%! You still have

26% of Muslims that agree with Islamic State and killing... I just

do not accept that. Another question from the lady in the front row to be

I have to say that first and foremost I completely empathise with

people is fear of terrorism,.. This is not something restricted to a

religion. Islamic State is indoctrinating criminal people to

act in a way affecting our society now. But it is dangerous to apply a

rigid framework just to one religion when in Norway future politicians

were murdered and no one called him a terrorist because his skin is

white. Thank you very much for that important point. One in four

referrals in counter-terrorism procedures are from the far right

terrorists. Was Jo Cox's murder a terror incident? Yes. It was done to

inspire terror. Another subject after this. Islam has been here for

600 years. It hasn't been a problem for 600 years. I am more interested

in your view on Saudi Arabia and the Wahhabi influence and arms sales. I

think foreign policy has been raised by Jeremy Corbyn and I think we need

to take that into account. Yes, I want to see to make the Green Party

wood and commercial arms sales to Saudi Arabia. CLAPPING. But the

Green Party has been against pretty well every foreign intervention. You

would not even support the idea of a drone taking out an extremist jihadi

if they were British somewhere aboard. -- abroad. That could be

illegal. You have to go buy a case-by-case basis. Those incidents

do not happen in isolation. They have consequences far beyond that

particular act and someone may replace them. But you would not

support, if you had information... Depends on the situation. The next

question. So, your party is proposing a four-day working week.

What I want to know is what evidence do you have this will benefit the

economy? It is a great question and I am glad you flagged it because it

is something we need to talk about in this election because it is very

short-term. We need to look at the long-term. Automation in 20- 30-40

years that will take away millions of jobs to be what is interesting is

we work and people will be watching this at home with that rising

feeling in their stomach right now they have to go into work tomorrow

morning on Monday. Think about that. You might not have to have that with

me in government. How much would it cost? We want to phase it in over a

long time. Amazon is already talking about doing it to be France is going

to a 35 hour week. Flexible working. It won't happen overnight, but 100

years ago, Gerald Ford, he said let's have a five-day week, not a

six-day week. When you said it will not happen in a... It will...

Slightly different, 100 years? Are people voting for something that

will not happen? We need a bigger question about the economy. It will

not happen overnight. But if companies say we have the lowest

productivity in Europe, we work the longest hours, we are racking up a

huge bill for the NHS in terms of stress and substance abuse because

of overworking, it doesn't have to be like this. We need to think in

new ways and have that session. Does anyone favour a four-day week? Do

people in the audience think it is affordable? Back to that point about

automation. This started 40 years ago. Back when I started work, there

were jobs for typing. Now it is all done on a word processor to be going

forward, we cannot create any more jobs. They are being taken by

technology and robots. They build most of the car now. Can you tell me

where these jobs are supposed to be coming from in the future? We will

take a few more comments and then we will answer that. The gentleman in

the first row. Do you think increased income will be a way

forward? The idea is getting through. It is an idea that has

come. Universal basic income. We can fix the welfare state which was set

up in 1945 after a different set of assumptions. We are seeing a real

attack on the welfare state by the government, dismantling it. On the

other side it is not fit for purpose in many senses because of the

assumptions it was based on. People are going to food banks because of

problems with the benefits. How much would be? It depends on how much

progressive taxation you want... You mean how much you want. Who would

pay for this? Two it would be a change in the welfare state. In

Ontario, Canada, places on the continent, they are doing this. That

is how you have to do this. Iain Duncan Smith talk about Universal

Credit. He fell 6-7 years behind schedule. You need to work out how

it is affordable and do it. You are talking about a four-day week, but

this country is run like a small business. Who will compensate small

businesses having to pay the same wages but with less activity? The

idea is you get more productivity per worker when you don't work such

long hours. That is why companies are thinking this is a good thing.

There is a bigger question to. 30 years ago when I was growing up not

so long ago, we were told we would have huge growth in wages and be

able to work less hours. We have had wealth and automation, but there is

growing inequality. It does not have to be that way. CLAPPING. How do you

explain the high levels of employment? There are criticisms

that it may not be the right kind of employment. Are you saying high

levels of employment are not desirable? That is what we have.

Look at what we have at the moment. Zero-hours contracts, really low

wages, insecure employment, access to tribunal is taken away because we

cannot afford to go to them. What will happen with Brexit? Potentially

with this government they will use it as an opportunity to once again

have a fresh assault on the rights of workers. We are in a new age of

insecurity. We have to do something different. Do you know what, there

is the money, but it is in the wrong hands. It takes the political will

to make something happen. CLAPPING. The gentleman here. The 35 hour week

in France has been done for some years. The new president in France,

Emmanuel Macron, wants to stop it. Why will it be successful here? I am

not familiar with what Emmanuel Macron said about the 35 hour

working week and what his reasons are for it. The idea of the working

week being shorter is that there is a lot of wealth that we have not

seen in this room. Big corporations are making excess profits.

Corporation tax is going lower and low and they are getting more and

more of the pie. We cannot see the benefits. We can have good jobs.

That is the important thing the Green Party is also saying we need

to transition the economy down the resilient local economies with money

flowing through them rather than being sucked out by multinationals.

The majority of the money saved flowing in the local economy but

when it goes to a chain store it leaves the local economy. It makes

sense to do this in the face of legalisation. You are talking about

creating good jobs, and we all want them, but what will be Green Party

do to create these? How will a four-day week as opposed to a

five-day week create good jobs? It is good in opposition to say that.

But what will you do? Rate question. How do you create good jobs? --

Great. Renewable energy revolution and green industrial strategies. We

can generate over six times, six times, our annual electricity

consumption just from offshore renewables. Were going to put a ?30

billion subsidy into nuclear power generating in the long-term 800 job.

Take that subsidy and put it into renewable energy and rejuvenate the

UK and create tens of thousands, not hundreds of thousands, of new jobs.

A five-day working week? Why not push up the living wage. Have you

talked to business about these? You get savings from a living wage

because you get less in work benefits, increased tax and that

money could be circulated to support businesses. The next question from

Mitchell. You mentioned you want subsidies for nuclear power that is

not contribute to climate change so how can you justify wanting to be

green when we have a perfect solution generating huge amount of

power? It is not really a perfect solution when you think about the

massive investment. Locking into a deal that for years to come it is

already more expensive than offshore wind. It keeps control in a small

place and makes us security wise quite vulnerable. Will it be great

like in my local community, you have a community project like Brixton

Sola, get a return, you put solar panels generating clean energy and

goes back into the community and profits put into it shall Asian and

cutting fuel property. That makes sense. -- the community. One of the

biggest problems for voters is the energy bills are going up and they

do not like green subsidies on their bills. That is alive. From the pit

of hell. ?6 billion this government subsidises the fuel. Every time the

wholesale price of energy goes up, they put up their prices. They do

not drop their prices when it goes down. We were told Robert says Asian

was going to cut the bills. It has not. Time to bring back into public

ownership. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE. You say it is cheaper to go

renewable but is it any where near as nuclear power? The mass amounts

of power we need because we cannot ask everybody to change their lives.

When it stops being windy we don't get wind power, but we can all is

smashed a couple of atoms into each other. With the greatest respect,

that is a 20th century argument. Every house and community can be a

powerhouse. I went to visit Cardiff Bay where we could have used of the

bay to create a... You use the water to create as much power. It does not

talk about consistency. You drop water when you need it. How much

would it cost? Could not give you a figure at the top of my head. You

develop policy that you haven't costed. At another note is in front

of me but I can happily look it up. It is the right thing to do it in

terms of accountability. It is not a panacea, it is something we should

be moving towards. Let's look at Germany, we know it gives back to

the community. Donald Trump has pulled America out of the Paris

agreement, an agreement which was voluntary. Clear where you stand on

that issue. What is the point of those international agreements? The

point of the Paris agreement and when you had Theresa May on the

debate on the details of the conversation with Donald Trump, I

think that is such a weak, weak leadership. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE.

Donald said eye leaving the Paris agreement but we are not. What would

you have done. I cannot repeat it here. But I think you have to say

this is totally an excerpt of all. It is economically Bilic at,

scientific, politically illiterate. We have to work with other countries

if we are to get those commitments. It sets a direction for local

business and for those people making the transition. It was the big

corporations that went to Trump and said you are throwing us of course.

If we are going to make this transition we need American

involvement at the table. The next question is whether the Green Party

can enact any of the proposals in the manifesto. Should Green Party

voters vote Labour to stop the Conservatives winning a majority?

Your Progressive alliance has died on its feet. In 30 feet around the

country we have stood aside. I proud that we look beyond tribal politics

and we believe we should act in the interest of the country.

APPLAUSE . You know what, in this election,

where there is a Green candidate, I want you to be voting Green because

I think we are at fault in the road. Paul Nuttall is taking the country,

even though he does not have an MPs in Westminster, it is taking the

country down the wrong road. They are pursuing an extreme Brexit which

will take us in the wrong direction. The country which is inward looking.

If you want an inclusive vision standing up for freedom of movement

and making decisions about nuclear weapons, vote for the Green Party.

This is what is at stake. Why are the other parties not be on

progressive alliance? No one has signed up to it. You're standing

outside in about 30 seats. It is the point in. I wrote to Jeremy Corbyn,

Nigel Ty Roush but they did not reciprocate. -- Nigel Farage. I

proud we showed that the leadership. How big a problem is it that your

proposals in many ways are so similar to Jeremy Corbyn's? There is

a common ground. Most of it. No, not most of it. Proportionate

representation. Why is is spending ?110 million renewing nuclear

weapons which is said he would never use which we could be giving a kiss

of life to the NHS. You cannot tackle a pollution and... Y 80

standing aside? We believe in this current contest, this government

would decide bad for the future of Britain that we although painful

need to do it. Your polling figures are extremely low. You are not

cutting through. We know what is happening in this election. It is a

very tactical. A broken system which pushes towards the two parties. When

you have an extreme situation, with this government pursuing an extreme

path, and to his credit, Jeremy Corbyn's bold manifesto shakes up

the debate. We were the only ones saying is Derry is necessary and now

Labour is also saying it. -- posterity. Someone sits in Bristol,

very marginal. I respect some of the policies but it seems so close that

voting Labour seems the reasonable thing to do. You can vote with your

heart there. As greens, we will work with Labour if there is a minority

Labour government where the risk common ground. In real life, when

you seek common ground you work with other people to further the common

interest and I do not know why he would you not do it in politics.

Does that mean if you have MPs you would push a proportional

representation system? When you get Green MPs in Parliament, we would

hold Conservatives to account. If it is a Labour, we would push them

towards the bold ideas like the four-day week, scrapping Trident, if

you want a vote that matters you vote Green. Given that the Green

Party are not going to be forming the next government, what different

will it make to have some extra MPs? I will say probably I will not be

walking into ten Downing St on the night. Thank you for being a

realistic. It's a thousand 15, under a fair voting system, we would have

had 24 - imagine 24 Caroline Lucas, it would shake up politics. By your

logic, and I support it in part, how many Ukip would we have? I am a

democrat. We are at the antithesis to Ukip. If you want to finish Ukip

forever vote Green. That is all we have time for. Johnathan Bartley,

please show your appreciation. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE. Thank you

Johnathan Bartley to. That brings us to the end of our elections

programmes. It listening to say good night from Bristol. -- leads me to

say.