New Thinking From The Green Party

- The UK Drug Policy Commission has found that Britain has the worst level of drug abuse in Europe and the second-highest rate of drug-related deaths. The study found that the number of heroin users in England alone is estimated at 281,000, compared to just 5,000 in 1975. Longer jail sentences and more arrests have not cut the number of addicts, nor the availability of drugs. Drugs policies in Britain aren't working. The Green Party is in favour of taking drugs, such as cannabis, out of the hands of criminal mafia. Mafia compete against each other, making drug supplies more and more potent to keep their customers. Legalisation would break that cycle.

- The national minimum wage does not allow many workers to escape poverty, so why not have a Green policy like a Citizen's Income? Barring that, the Green Party is involved in living wage campaigns, notably around the Olympic contracts in London. In the UK, 4.25 million adults, from aged 22 to retirement, were paid less than £6.50 per hour in 2006. Two thirds of these were women. We can't have a sustainable society without social justice.

- New buildings, such as secondary schools, have to have environmental transparency built into them. This means schools with display panels to show students can see how much electricity is being generated from renewable on-site sources. It would mean school meals cooked on site with local produce and schools with their own recycling centres. It would mean desks made from recycled yoghurt pots, more solar panels, water monitoring systems, and biomass boilers.