10 March 2023 , 00:01
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Environmental activists tonight piled pressure on Labour over a wealth tax and “green jobs guarantee”.
Youth campaign group Green New Deal Rising said the party “has to be bolder” with its “commitments to offer hope to young people”.
Launching its “Labour: Be Bold” crusade, the group demanded greater public ownership, a new “National Nature Service” and an “expanded, permanent and progressive windfall tax on polluters”.
Green New Deal Rising’s Tim Hickish said: “We can’t just sit on the sidelines and watch as politicians create plans that don’t take our futures seriously and decide the vision for our country.
“We want to see ourselves in the vision politicians are setting out and we want a reason to vote in the next election for a party that truly addresses our concerns and stands up for us as our generation faces up to the future challenges we will have to tackle.
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The campaigners called for bolder plans to tackle climate change (Getty Images/iStockphoto)“We want to know, Labour - are you on our side or are you on the side of the billionaires and fossil fuel giants?”
The group’s co-executive director Fatima Ibrahim warned that if youngsters “want a different future we need to build an unstoppable groundswell of youth power that politicians can’t ignore”.
She added: “Most of us want thriving communities, our friends and family to have happy and healthy lives and a government that puts people first.
“But right now the Tories, big corporations and the wealthy elite are running this country and our world into the ground; profits boom for a select few while bills, work-hours and NHS waiting lines stack up for the rest of us.”
She challenged Keir Starmer’s party that if it “wants to lead us to the ‘greener, fairer future’ it’s promising it must show us how”.
She called on Labour to “commit to creating fairness through expanding publicly owned services, taxing exorbitant wealth and corporations to deliver plentiful green jobs and a living income for all”.
Ms Ibrahim vowed: “From now until the election, we are going to be taking every chance we can to demand bold action from the Labour party, and secure a vision we can believe in.”
Backbench Labour MP Nadia Whittome, 26, supported the campaign, saying: “The climate crisis and high levels of inequality are set to define the lives of our generation, so it’s more important than ever for young people to have a real say over the direction of our country.
Labour MP Nadia Whittome (Tom Maddick SWNS)“As we head towards a general election, our party should be listening carefully to young people's fears and hopes.
“By bringing in policies such as a wealth tax, a green jobs guarantee and public ownership we could truly transform our economy and our country, creating a safer, cleaner and brighter future for us all.”
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Shadow Climate Change and Net-Zero Secretary Ed Miliband said: “Labour will transform Britain with our world-leading Green Prosperity Plan, which will create good jobs across our country as we decarbonise our economy.
"We have led the way on calling for a windfall tax on the oil and gas giants making record profits, so that those benefiting from the energy crisis are forced to pay their fair share.
Shadow Climate Change and Net-Zero Secretary Ed Miliband"From becoming the first major economy in the world to reach a clean power system by 2030, to establishing GB Energy, our publicly owned energy company, to delivering Warm Homes upgrades to every home that needs it, Labour has put bold climate action front and centre of our mission to change Britain for good.”
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