I’ve interviewed the Green Party leader Caroline Lucas, who is tipped to win a Westminster seat in Brighton Pavilion on 6 May. We discuss her party’s left-wing manifesto, and Lucas’s claim that the Greens are now the party of social justice. Some lefties, however, might balk at her suggestion that Green MPs would not be averse to voting in favour of Tory proposals, if the circumstances were right:
So, in a dream scenario for the Greens, a newly-elected Lucas holds the balance of power in Parliament. Which way would she turn? Her response is guarded: “we would be supporting proposals on a case by case basis, not going into a formal coalition.”
Presumably, then, Lucas could envisage voting alongside the Conservatives in some cases? “In the unlikely event that the Tories come up with some proposals that we could support, yes. For example they were against the Heathrow airport expansion so Greens on the London Assembly supported them there.”
That seems like a tricky strategy for a party that also pledges a commitment to social justice. “Our direction of travel is very much on the left,” says Lucas. We would be likely to support measures that would promote our aims of a fairer, greener Britain. Addressing inequality through [economic] growth and accumulating more and more stuff on a planet of finite resources isn’t going to be sustainable into the future. Therefore the role of redistribution is even more important to the Green agenda.”
You can read the rest of the interview here.
Content from our partners
Related
