A Green Guide to the Cuts
The Con-Dem government has just announced big reductions in public spending that are bound to affect local services and jobs in the district. So what’s the Green Party’s response to the cuts crisis?
Clearly, the budget deficit needs to be eliminated. But we think that the Government should focus less on slashing the public sector, and more on raising taxes from the wealthiest people and companies. For example, we would like to see a 50% tax on incomes above £100,000; a crack-down on tax avoidance; an empty property tax; and a ‘Robin Hood tax’ on currency speculation.
We would cancel the Trident nuclear missile system, saving £100billion over the next 30 years.
We would separate retail banking from investment banking, and we do not support Government bail-outs of failed investment banks.
Locally, we will continue to look for imaginative ways for the City Council to save money and invest in a low-carbon economy, instead of losing vital jobs and services.
The Greens will continue to try to defend funding to help vulnerable people (eg. grants to the Citizen Advice Bureau), and to fight for better youth services and provision for people with mental health problems.