The GPEW has ceased to be a serious environmental/energy campaigner

By dropping its opposition to nuclear power, the Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW) seems to have cut off its roots, which lie in opposing nuclear proliferation. This is at a time when the dangers of nuclear proliferation are at their peak in the Middle East. The role of nuclear power in providing, or encouraging, nuclear weapons possession in Israel, Iran and now, it seems, also Saudi Arabia, is central to the current Middle Eastern conflict. How can the UK encourage more nuclear power and set such a bad example when this is going on? None of the main parties talk about this, and neither can we now expect the GPEW to do so.

It is not as if new nuclear power stations are unavoidable requirements, or economic and quick to deploy. They are not, so why not say so?

No doubt my senses will be assaulted to see, at some time in the future, Green Party spokespersons even falling into the nuclear fantasy world to affect that small modular reactors are a serious future or that Sizewell C will be installed before the year 2040. The Guardian quotes Carla Denyer MP as saying, ‘ if I were energy secretary, my evidence-based approach would be to keep existing nuclear plants in operation, but to consider proposals for new nuclear power very carefully, bearing in mind the cost, speed and environmental impacts.” Her comments strike a different tone from her assessment in 2023, when she described nuclear energy as “incredibly slow and incredibly expensive”. See HERE

There is a list of preferred technologies – offshore and onshore wind and rooftop solar PV- put forward by the new GPEW policy. Interestingly, ground-mounted solar PV is not on the list. Apparently, according to Green Party policy, SMRs are now to be treated on the same level as solar farms, with Green Party spokespersons free to express preferences.

In taking this pro-nuclear policy stance, the Green Party of England and Wales has departed from the advice of key members of the green movement, including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. They have both, along with others, signed a letter criticising the new Party policy. See HERE. However, given the GPEW’s priorities these days, the lack of a policy connection with green NGOs may not be a surprise. I have just looked at their website (20th October), and out of 15 media announcements listed, only one can be said to be clearly on an environmental issue. Energy certainly does not feature. Even the one environmental issue that did get a media release, on ‘extreme heat’ (see HERE), actually failed even to mention the word energy even once!

This actually contrasts with the Labour Party, where two out of the eight biggest topics – ‘clean power’ and ‘the warm homes plan ‘- feature prominently (See HERE). Yes, there are various shortcomings in these policies, including the colossal sums being spent on carbon capture and storage and nuclear power. But the GPEW appears incapable of making serious interventions on such issues. By contrast, apart from the rubbish, the Labour Government is actually taking some important positive steps. The Liberal Democrats also seem to be more serious about energy and climate compared to the GPEW, as evidenced by Ed Davey’s recent keynote Conference speech; see HERE . Is the GPEW a party that can be taken seriously by green energy campaigners now? I invite thoughts on this.