Should I vote Green? Where Natalie Bennett's party stands on key issues for General Election 2015
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Version 0 of 1. The Green Party has seen a noticeable increase in their support in the most recent parliament, buoyed by disillusioned Liberal Democrats and Labour voters. Traditionally seen as an environmentalist party they have emphasised more left-wing egalitarian policies since winning their first seat in parliament under Caroline Lucas. The party has been polling ahead of the Lib Dems in a number of survey but only has a realistic chance of winning in three seats in Bristol, Norwich and Brighton. Economy and tax The Greens would increase the 45% top rate of tax to 60% and introduce wealth tax on those with millions in the bank already. They would introduce a Robin Hood Tax on banks’ financial transactions and say they would crack down on tax avoidance by multinational companies. Health The Green Party supports the NHS being free at the point of use and takes a hard line against private involvement in the health service. The party says it wants to end all private outsourcing in the NHS. Education The party wants to end tuition fees for all university students and is against academies and free schools Housing The Green Party says it wants to build hundreds of thousands of council houses paid for by extra borrowing. It would also provide subsidies retrofit existing homes to reduce energy bills and make them more energy efficient. Welfare As a long-term aspiration the Green Party wants to replace the benefits system with a universal basic income which all adults would get, unconditionally Immigration The Green Party says it supports migrants and says the best way to reduce unwanted immigration is better international cooperation Europe The party wants a referendum on the European Union but says it would campaign to stay in on the condition that the bloc reformed and became more democratic Foreign affairs/defence The Green party wants to get rid of the Trident nuclear weapons system and says having a large standing army is a waste of money because Britain is unlikely to be threatened with invasion The Independent has got together with May2015.com to produce a poll of polls that produces the most up-to-date data in as close to real time as is possible. Click the buttons below to explore how the main parties' fortunes have changed: All data, polls and graphics are courtesy of May2015.com. Click through for daily analysis, in-depth features and all the data you need. (All historical data used is provided by UK Polling Report) |