October news from Green House

Green House at Green Party Conference

The heat and noise around the ‘Zionism Is Racism’ motion at the Green Party’s Autumn Conference have meant that some really significant policy updates have not received the attention they deserved.

Several of the Green House team were in Brighton for the conference (welcome to all those new subscribers we met at our stall!) and they report here on some of the important new policies and debates you may have missed.

Changemakers: Maggie Chapman

This month, our Changemakers series of long-form interviews features Scottish Green MSP Maggie Chapman, who calls for a radical decentralisation of power as an essential part of a green transition, and talks about what gives her hope that positive change is possible.

Green House response to EAC inquiry published

After Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) launched its inquiry into the role of HM Treasury in shaping decisions on climate and nature earlier this year, Green House submitted a detailed response that has now been published. This may seem like a dry, technical area, but the way that fiscal and public spending decisions are made has a crucial bearing on the UK’s ability both to curb carbon emissions and to become more resilient to the severe climate impacts we’re already bound to face.

Want to talk about wealth tax?

So does Green House’s Prashant Vaze, and we’d like to invite you to be part of the conversation. Prashant writes:

Radical plans to reform wealth taxes remain economically necessary, but politically contentious. No one expects Chancellor John Healey’s first Budget later this month to make any major changes. The Green Party’s proposal, introduced four years ago, focuses on individuals with wealth greater than £10 million.

In March, we published a paper, ‘Dipping into the rich jar – how much money could the UK raise from wealth taxes? ’, which examines the case for radical wealth-tax reform. Large enough to redistribute wealth and provide the government with a significant new revenue stream.

We also want to use this discussion to look outside the UK. With better data-sharing arrangements between tax authorities, firm action against tax havens through the OECD, and large fiscal gaps in countries’ spending plans and tax-raising capacity, pressure is growing to tax wealth across most jurisdictions. California and China are discussing proposals. India, where I live, taxes worldwide capital gains and income at the same rate as domestic income.  

We plan to hold the event on a Sunday afternoon (exact date to be confirmed). Can you let us know if you are interested in attending? Email: events@greenhousethinktank.org.

End Times Fascism – our next Book Club read

Recent developments around AI, geopolitics, the accelerating impacts of climate breakdown and the controversy over Zionism mean that our next Green House Book Club read – End Times Fascism and the Fight For the Living World, by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor –  could hardly be more topical. We’re hosting an online discussion of the book at 4:30pm UK time on Sunday 15 November, and if you’d like to join us do let us know by emailing events@greenhousethinktank.org.

Green House Think Tank is a not-for profit organisation, but not a charity. It undertakes some policy work on commission, and has some funding from charitable trusts for activities that are charitable, but it is very difficult to get core funding whilst maintaining our political independence. We therefore rely on your support - any donation would be greatly appreciated as would be time given by those who support our work on a voluntary basis.