UNITED KINGDOM: Green Party England and Wales launches election campaign, manifesto to include Basic Income
The Green Party England and Wales launched its election campaign yesterday with leader Natalie Bennett confirming in a radio interview that Basic Income, also known as Citizen’s Income, would be included in the manifesto, to be launched closer to the election. The manifesto, she said, would include a fully costed Basic Income proposal.
There had been some confusion about whether or not Basic Income would be included in the manifesto when at least two news sources, the Telegraph and the New Statesman misreported Green party MP Caroline Lucas as stating that the policy would not be in the manifesto. She actually said that it would not be in the manifesto as something to be introduced after the next election, scheduled for May 7th.
Ms Bennett re-affirmed these comments in her interview, saying that the policy was not something the party intended to introduce overnight “or even within the term of the next Parliament”, instead saying “It’s something we want to consult on, offer over time”.
The next UK election is expected to be very close, with minor parties such as the Scottish National Party, the Green parties and others possibly holding the balance of power, putting them in a strong position to influence government policy.
The surge in support for the Green parties in the UK reflects the increasing support Basic Income is receiving in the political sphere recently, with the most popular party in the polls in countries such as Finland, the Netherlands and Spain supporting Basic Income.
If you would like to support the Green Party’s election campaign you can visit their website https://greenparty.org.uk/
For more information, see:
BBC News, “Election 2015: Green leader Bennett launches campaign”, BBC News, 24 February 2015
Liam Upton, “Basic Income makes unprecedented political progress”, Basic Income News, 15 December 2014
