Key Green Party insurance policies from medication, Gaza and pay to scrapping nuclear weapons

Green Party leader Zack Polanski described Hannah Spencer’s victory in the Gorton and Denton by-election as ‘seismic’ – here we look at what the Greens believe in

The Green Party has “torn the roof off British politics” after a resounding by-election win heaped pressure on Keir Starmer.

Hannah Spencer became the party’s fifth MP after overturning a massive Labour majority in Gorton and Denton after a bitterly-contested by-election. The result has been branded a wake-up call for the PM, with dozens of seats up and down the country now vulnerable to Zack Polanski’s party.

Mr Polanski himself declared: “This is a seismic victory. We have torn the roof off British politics.” The defeat will spark calls for Mr Starmer to veer to the left in a bid to nullify the threat from the Greens.

There are clear divisions – with Mr Starmer branding his left-wing rivals a danger to national security because of their desire to do away with nuclear weapons. And Mr Polanski’s call for drug laws to be redrawn has been a major flashpoint.

Here we look at some of the Green Party’s key policies, from regulations on how much bosses can earn to bans on short domestic flights and a sweeping tax shakeup.

Drug law shake-up

One of the big divides during the by-election campaign was the Green pledge to look at drug laws – with a view to relaxing them.

In an extraordinary attack Labour claimed this would turn playgrounds into crack dens and make date rape drugs readily available. Mr Polanski branded these attacks desperate.

The Green Party manifesto called for a National Commission to look at ways to reform UK drug laws. This would pave the way to what it described as a legally-regulated market.

Asked about plans to legalise drugs like heroin and crack cocaine, Hannah Spencer, Green candidate in the Gorton and Denton by-election, this week told the BBC: “I think decriminalising is a conversation we need to have.”

Taxes

The Greens have committed to an overhaul of the tax system, arguing for a wealth tax for the super-rich.

This would include a wealth tax of 1% annually on assets above £10million and of 2% on assets above £1billion. The party would also order reform of Capital Gains Tax (CGT).

It would also change tax rates on investment income and remove the upper earnings limit, which restricts the amount of National Insurance paid by the highest earners.

Opponents argue these steps would stifle growth, but the Green manifesto said the plans would raise additional revenue of between £50 and £70bn per year. The party also wants a carbon tax set initially at £120 per tonne of carbon emitted, rising over ten years to a maximum of £500 per tonne. It says this would raise up to an additional £80bn.

Workers’ rights

One of the key things the Greens want to bring in is a maximum 10:1 ratio for all employers – meaning bosses’ pay must not exceed 10 times that of the lowest-paid worker.

This would be an enormous realignment – analysis last year showed some leaders get 122 times the average salary. The Greens also want to get rid of anti-union legislation passed by the Tories and create a new Charter of Workers’ Rights – which would have the right to strike at its heart.

And the party believes the minimum wage should be £15 an hour regardless of a workers’ age – offset by reducing small businesses’ National Insurance payments.

The Green manifesto said MPs would also fight for a four-day working week.

Gaza and Israel

The Greens have commited to ending arms sales to Israel. The Government has suspended some export licences, but has faced calls to go further.

The Green manfesto in 2024 called for an immediate bilateral ceasefire and redoubled efforts to secure the release of hostages taken on October 7, 2023. It also demanded an “urgent international effort to end the illegal occupation of Palestinian land”.

And it called on the Government to support South Africa’s submission to the International Court of Justice, which accused Benjamin Netanyahu’s regime of genocide.

Abolishing nuclear weapons

Keir Starmer has repeatedly attacked the Greens over their desire to dismantle nuclear weapons.

In its 2024 manifesto, the party said its MPs would push for the UK to sign the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). After doing this they want to immediately begin the process of dismantling the UK’s nuclear weapons.

This will include cancelling the Trident programme and removing all foreign nuclear weapons from UK soil. The Government argues these are an important deterrent. The Greens also want NATO to focus more on global peacebuilding and commit to a ‘no first use’ of nuclear weapons.

Reform of voting laws

The Greens want to overhaul the voting system, scrapping the current ‘first past the post’ with a proportional voting system.

It would also replace the House of Lords with an elected second chamber, and give votes to 16 year olds – the latter of which Labour is implementing.

Immigration

The Greens could not be further from the current Government or its right-wing opponents on immgration.

The 2024 manifesto pledged to end the ‘hostile environment’ toward migrants. Proposed steps included scrapping the minimum income requirements for spouses of those holding work visas. It also vowed to offer more safe routes for those fleeing persecution and end immigration detention for those not deemed a danger to public safety.

And those seeking asylum and protection would be allowed to work while their application is decided. Human rights groups have long called for this step, but the Government warned this would draw more people to the UK.

Housing

The party manifesto committed to a street-by-street retrofit programme to insulate homes as part of a 10 year programme. This would inclued a £9billion schemes to roll out low-carbon heating systems, such as heat pumps.

It also pledged to create 150,000 new social homes every year, and would end the individual right to buy to keep social homes in communities forever.

It would also push for rent controls.

Assisted dying

While other parties have said assisted dying is a matter for individual MPs to decide,

Elected Greens will support a change in the law to legalise assisted dying for people suffering from terminal disease who wish to avoid prolonged unnecessary suffering, if this is their clear and settled will. Proper safeguards would be put in place.

Benefit changes

The party pledged to abolish the two-child benefit cap, which the Government has done. It also wants to tear up the ‘bedroom tax’, brought in by the Tories – which deducts benefits for people with spare rooms in social housing.

At the time of the 2024 election, the Greens wanted a £40 increase to Universal Credit and legacy benefits per week. And they called for a 5% lift in disability benefits and reforms to PIP tests, which they branded ‘intrusive’.

Transport

In its manifesto, the Greens called for a ban on short domestic flights – which would take less than three hours by train. The party also said it would push for a levy for frequent fliers and an end to airport expansions.

It also said MPs would push for free bus travel for under-18s and investing £19billion in improving public transport. They would be looking at ways to get people out of cars, including an investment drive in cycle paths and pedestrian areas, it stated.

Water companies into public ownership

The Greens have repeatedly called for water companies to be taken back into public ownership.

The party argues this will “end the scandal of sewage pouring into our rivers and seas”.