4th July 2007

You report David Cameron's talk entitled, "Is Blue the New Green?" at the recent Cheltenham Science Festival was a sell out. Greens welcome moves by other parties to green themselves, but we are long way from answering 'yes' to Cameron's question.

Nationally Tories and Labour both support more road building, doubling airports, Trident, the war in Iraq, GM crops, nuclear power, blocking key EU Environmental legislation and the insanity of ever more economic growth. Scottish Friends of the Earth recently researched all the parties 'green' policies and found the Tories have the least firm commitment to environmental policies and that only Greens have policies to address the issues like Climate Change.

Market bases policies that are so enthusiastically endorsed by the three main parties will continue to drive climate chaos: markets work when we consume more yet this is what we need to change.

The Green Party has long called for a return to more redistribution and greener taxes by simply replacing VAT with green taxes. We also need an end to road building and airports expansions. Local production for local need, a huge expansion of public transport and renewables, zero waste and the rest are possible. The most important part of change will be the demand that policy is governed not by the needs of more economic growth but on the basis of what is good for humanity and the rest of nature.

Phil Blomberg, Stroud District Green party