SNP, Plaid and the Green Party join forces to resist Tories' ‘toxic politics’
Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, has joined forces with the leaders of Plaid Cymru and the Green Party to call for progressive parties to work together to resist the ‘Tories' toxic politics’.
The leaders have released a statement ahead of Theresa May’s first major conference speech as Conservative Party leader.
In the statement - signed by Sturgeon, Leanne Wood of Plaid Cyrmu, Alice Hooker-Stroud of Wales Green Party, Jonathan Bartley and Caroline Lucas from the Green Party of England and Wales and the leaders of the Green Parties of Scotland and Northern Ireland - the politicians attack the Conservatives for the ‘the most toxic rhetoric on immigration seen from any government in living memory.’
The statement goes on to say:
“This is not a time for parties to play games, or meekly respect the tired convention whereby they do not break cover during each other's conferences. It is an occasion for us to restate the importance of working together to resist the Tories' toxic politics, and make the case for a better future for our people and communities.”
The statement was drawn up this morning between the parties as a response to increasingly hostile rhetoric from the Conservative Party Conference.
Wales Green Party Leader, Alice Hooker-Stroud, said:
“We need progressive parties to be working together to present a real opposition to the Conservatives. May's vision for 'hard brexit' threatens the harmony and wellbeing of communities in Wales. As a united group we can resist the legitimisation of prejudice which this conference has encouraged."
Hooker-Stroud also expressed concern about May's insistence that Wales will not be part of Brexit negotiations. She said: "For any Brexit deal to be best for the United Kingdom in its entirety, devolved nations should be active participants and deserve a seat at the negotiating table. Our needs are individually different, and we cannot be treated as a sideshow to the main attraction."
Full statement, signed by:
Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland
Patrick Harvie, Co-convener of the Scottish Green Party
Jonathan Bartley, co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales
Caroline Lucas, co-leader of the Green Party of England and Wales
Leanne Wood, Leader of Plaid Cymru
Alice Hooker-Stroud, Leader of the Wales Green Party
Steven Agnew, Leader of the Green Party of Northern Ireland
The countries of the United Kingdom face a spiralling political and economic crisis. At the top of the Conservative Party, the narrow vote in favour of leaving the EU has now been interpreted as the pretext for a drastic cutting of ties with Europe, which would have dire economic results - and as an excuse for the most toxic rhetoric on immigration we have seen from any government in living memory.
This is a profoundly moral question which gets to the heart of what sort of country we think we live in. We will not tolerate the contribution of people from overseas to our NHS being called into question, or a new version of the divisive rhetoric of 'British jobs for British workers'. Neither will we allow the people of these islands, no matter how they voted on June 23rd, to be presented as a reactionary, xenophobic mass whose only concern is somehow taking the UK back to a lost imperial age. At a time of increasing violence and tension, we will call out the actions of politicians who threaten to enflame those same things.
This is not a time for parties to play games, or meekly respect the tired convention whereby they do not break cover during each other's conferences. It is an occasion for us to restate the importance of working together to resist the Tories' toxic politics, and make the case for a better future for our people and communities. We will do this by continuing to work and campaign with the fierce sense of urgency this political moment demands.