Can we discuss the Green Party?

[sheisaba]

I pretty much have lost my faith in all the major parties. I cannot vote lib dem again after this coalition debacle. Labour are a lost cause and I can't see myself voting for them again.

Their inability to meaningfully oppose the coalition at this time is terribly disappointing. TBH, I think they are too in the pockets of big corps to be an effective opposition party.

So who is left? I like the Green party's official line, especially about creating a fairer society. So any one who knows more about politics able to tell me if they are really worth a shot? Will they be another lib dems that would sell their souls at the first sniff of power?

I want to be able to vote for a party that won't disappoint that would at least make a credible opposition to the mainstream.

sheisaba

I'm with you entirely there, and I agree with your feelings about the Lib Dems and Labour.

I don't really know how the Greens would be if they were in power. I can't predict their future. Their manifesto seems sound. I also wrote to Caroline Lucas recently, and I got a long, considered reply - which was very nice.

I can only say that I would sooner vote Green than any of the other large parties anyday.

ttosca, I would really be interested in the gist of their response. Realistically, I know that they will be a tiny minority after the next election. I am at a point right now of getting apathetic and opting out like a lot of people which is when dangerous people get in power.

I did an online test and discovered I was 100% Green - I love their policies and their language on the website seemed real, unlike the false language used by the other parties.

The Greens have my vote in the next election - even if it is a protest/wasted vote. I love them!

The Green Party's policies are authoritarian (in that they believe that the power of the state is more important than that of the individual) and strongly socialist. Not for nothing are they nicknamed watermelons.

Their taxation policy is (IMO) wholly unrealistic and based upon the assumption that, if they raise taxes on the rich, the rich will just sit there and suck it up. Their spending commitments are far higher than their purported tax take. Their industrial policy is not only unrealistic but also illegal under EU law. Their energy policy would ruin the country.

Given that socialists are the ones who pan out to be the biggest crooks (note today that Francois Hollande's minister in charge of tax evasion is a tax evader), I think that you're going to be disappointed if you want principle.

Eliminate fuel poverty? Pay a living wage? Make the highest polluters pay? Effective welfare benefits for all?

Hadn't finished but I don't agree. They want to address equal pay, promote maternity and paternity leave, they want to make sure that food is distributed fairly so no one starves. They don't sound Authoritarian at all.

Just one more thing - I've got to get back to work! But if the Greens are Authoritarian why do always have some Tory breathing down my neck since the day they got in by the skin on their teeth?

Authoritarian is exactly how I would describe the Tory party!

I've been looking into joining, but the website of my local Greens hasn't been updated since 2011.

LittleTyga

Eliminate fuel poverty?

Pay a living wage?

Make the highest polluters pay?

Effective welfare benefits for all?

Hadn't finished but I don't agree. They want to address equal pay, promote maternity and paternity leave, they want to make sure that food is distributed fairly so no one starves. They don't sound Authoritarian at all.

Some of those actions are compatible with governments which aren't authoritarian. The ones you've listed there are popular rallying cries of socialist parties across the world. They all require an aggressive intervention in to the economy in some form. Fuel poverty, the living wage, higher costs for 'polluters', maternity and paternity leave, fuel distribution, equal pay. They all say "We, the government, know best."

Just one more thing - I've got to get back to work! But if the Greens are Authoritarian why do always have some Tory breathing down my neck since the day they got in by the skin on their teeth?

Authoritarian is exactly how I would describe the Tory party!

So would I. The modern Conservative party isn't libertarian, or interested in the freedom of the individual, at all. It's just that the Greens would be worse in their bullying nanny-statism.

flatpack is a libertarian capitalist - you know the sort, low taxes, deregulate everything, privitise everything, no social security, etc...

If flatpack doesn't like the Green party, that's just about the best sort of endorsement you can get.

It's like you don't know me at all. Not that it'll stop you flapping your yap.

'I pretty much have lost my faith in all the major parties. I cannot vote lib dem again after this coalition debacle. Labour are a lost cause and I can't see myself voting for them again.'

,,,,

So who is left?'

You failed to mention the Conservative Party.

lol!

The 'People's Party', right? ;)

The party the people voted for, yes.

But not as in tune with the people as the people's paper, alas.
There is too much talk of carbon credits, windmills and greenhouse gases unfortunately.

Actually, the people didn't vote for the Nasty Party. That's why they're in a coalition govt. They certainly didn't vote for the destructive policies they are currently undertaking.

Just to be clear, though, if, at the next general election more people vote for Labour, will that make Labour 'The People's Party'?

Wild talk of wobbly windmills on windswept walleys will fail to win the public wote. A Dear John letter is all the public wrote. Am I wrong or am I wright?

'Just to be clear, though, if, at the next general election more people vote for Labour, will that make Labour 'The People's Party'?'

The Progressive Party, certainly. The People's Party, no. A Party Trick, possibly.

It's funny how confused and incoherent you are.

I love the Green Party's policies and wish they had more power. I would vote for them in a heartbeat, but I live in the middle of Tory-Land and they have absolutely no standing here whatsoever.

If they were canny, they'd be leaping on this current disillisionment of most of the electorate with the "Big Three" and upping their profile. If UKIP is emerging as a new party to reckon with, the Greens certainly should too, and politically they are far preferable to UKIP as an alternative party.

'If they were canny, they'd be leaping on this current disillisionment of most of the electorate with the "Big Three" and upping their profile.'

Annie, if they "upped their profile' and explained their policies, they might end up losing more votes than if they kept quiet. I am sure their strategists have thought this all through.

'I love the Green Party's policies and wish they had more power.'

Found this link, entitled

Excepts from Green Party of England and Wales 'Manifesto for a Sustainable Society'

Have a read of it and see how you like it.

www.sci.sdsu.edu/salton/Immigration_PopGreenParty.html#Population

Craig, I realised years ago that we have no common ground between us for reasonable discussion. I will not be engaging with you on this thread.

Sorry, autocorrect of claig.

OK, but please read the document and see if you agree with it.