The Green Party has said its call for a wealth tax on the richest 1% in the country is to “make our society more equal”.
At the party’s annual conference in Harrogate, co-leader Carla Denyer outlined an emergency £75 billion tax package targeting polluters and the country’s wealthiest individuals.
The money would be used to fund a nationwide insulation and renewable energy programme, the party has said.
Appearing on BBC Breakfast on Saturday, co-leader Adrian Ramsay said the policy could remedy some of the “economic chaos” wreaked by the Government’s mini-budget.
He also accused Labour of “going nowhere near far enough” on green measures and said his party was offering more radical action.
We could be saving hundreds, thousands of pounds through insulation - reducing energy wastage, cutting bills and emissions
Carla Denyer
Mr Ramsay said: “We’re calling for this at a time of economic and political crises. We’ve seen economic chaos caused by a mini-budget that has been making our society more unequal.
“This is about trying to make our society more equal.”
He added: “They (Labour) haven’t called for a wealth tax or anything like it.
“It’s the Green Party that’s saying we need much stronger action to create a more equal society. The Labour Party’s going nowhere near far enough on green measures.
“Yes, they might have copied our slogan that we had in the local elections in May and was very successful for us… but the policies need to follow through.
“And they might be looking to go moderately further than the Conservatives in renewable energy targets, but nowhere near far enough in terms of renewable energy we need to generate.”
Introducing the policy at the party conference, Ms Denyer said: “We’ve got the leakiest homes in Europe – losing huge amounts of energy through badly sealed windows and poorly lined walls.
“We could be saving hundreds, thousands of pounds through insulation – reducing energy wastage, cutting bills and emissions. It really isn’t rocket science. The cheapest bill is the one you don’t have to pay.”
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Mr Ramsay added: “Rich people are getting richer and everyone else is getting poorer and more anxious, and the new Prime Minister is, as we suspected, doing everything she can to maintain that status quo.
“She has doubled down on the Tories’ lack of compassion and awareness for people’s real-life concerns as the cost-of-living crisis is allowed to continue and gather pace.
“This Government is nothing short of dangerous.”
