Greens confident of gaining MEPs

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The UK is set to elect more Green MEPs, the party's leader has predicted ahead of the European elections.

Caroline Lucas said anger at MPs' expenses was leading voters to look beyond the main Westminster parties.

She added: "I think also there's a real desire to see something different that's positive, not the politics of hate of the BNP."

She said the Greens, who won two MEPs in 2004, had proved themselves capable enough to make further gains.

"What the Greens can offer now is a really strong track record of what we've achieved in the European Parliament, whether that's on environmental issues, whether it's on safety issues, whether it's on social justice and equality issues," Ms Lucas added.

Spokesman Spencer Fitzgibbon said the party were in buoyant mood, claiming that the party's own polling put them ahead of the Liberal Democrats.

He argued that the party had developed credible plans for a "Green New Deal" to create a million jobs, and said the integrity displayed by Green MEPs Ms Lucas and Jean Lambert would attract support from voters angry at the Westminster expenses scandal.

"We believe our MEPs' track record has been exemplary," he added.

Mr Fitzgibbon said that the Greens were on course to beat the British National Party to a European seat in the North West, arguing that the BNP had been shedding local councillors in the region since 2004 while the Greens had gained.