Leader of the Isle of Wight Green Party, Vix Lowthion, shares this latest news. Ed
The Green party of England and Wales has written to the leaders of Labour, the Lib Dems and Plaid Cymru to propose an alliance to oppose the formation of a Conservative-UKIP government in any snap general election.
The letter argues that centre-left parties club together to avoid challenging each other in certain constituencies, as the best way to counter the iniquities of the first-past-the-post electoral system, which allowed the current government to be voted in by a significant minority (24%) of the electorate.
A need to ‘build bridges’
Vix Lowthion, leader of the IW Green Party and their national Education spokesperson, came in third place behind UKIP and the Conservatives in the 2015 Election on the Island with 9,404 votes (a 1000% increase from 2010).
She says,
“Whilst there are great challenges to overcome in terms of building an alliance nationally and also on the Island, now more than ever we must build these bridges. The Green Party are leading the way in reaching out to the centre-left parties across the country, and we hope that they will respond in a positive way.”
An online petition calling for the ‘Progressive Alliance’ has been launched.
The Letter
Dear all,
In a spirit of openness and transparency, we are writing to you as Leaders of parties which oppose Brexit, to invite you to a cross-party meeting to explore how we best rise to the challenge posed by last week’s vote to leave the EU.
Britain is in crisis and people are scared about the future. Never have we had a greater need for calm leadership to be shown by politicians.
We have a UK Government in chaos, an economy facing a crisis and people up and down the country facing serious hardship. There is an urgent need to make a stand against any austerity and the slashing of environmental legislation, human and workers’ rights that may come with Brexit.
With the growing likelihood of an early General Election, the importance of progressive parties working together to prevent the formation of a Tory-UKIP-DUP government that would seek to enact an ultra-right Brexit scenario is ever more pressing.
This is an opportunity to recognise that a more plural politics is in both the Left’s electoral and political interests. This crisis exposes the absurdity of our first past the post electoral system. Just 24 per cent of those eligible to vote elected the government that called the referendum. The only fair way to proceed is to have a proportional voting system where people can back the politicians who they believe in, rather than taking a gamble and not knowing who they will end up with.
The idea of a progressive alliance has been floated for several years, and proposals have once again been put forward in the context of the current crisis. We believe that the time has come to urgently consider such ideas together in the context of a Westminster Government. We recognise the very different political situation in Scotland, given the strongly pro-EU majority there. We hope that co-operation between progressive parties their can ensure that this mandate is respected, and we will support them to keep all options open.
We look forward to your response,
Natalie Bennett, Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales
Alice Hooker-Stroud, Leader of Wales Green Party
Steven Agnew MLA, Leader of the Green Party of Northern Ireland
Caroline Lucas MP, Brighton Pavilion
