We have just published this short video on YouTube and many other channels.
It is my reaction to what Rachel Reeves had to say today.
If you like it, please share it far and wide - because that helps get the message out.
I am afraid I do not have a trnascript. It has been hard enough just getting it out, having encountered YouTube issues (as you will note from the quality), the internet and failed trains.
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Thank you for working hard on a busy day. The power of your message is underlined by its simplicity – the current parties have no vision and no appetite to improve society.
That said, this is probably the right moment for the green party to be very clear about its policies. They bring a lot of perceived baggage (drugs, halal, extreme eco) and most of it is an unhelpful distraction.
Both the drugs and halal are far right or media distortion. Treating drug addicts as a health issue while cutting out the gangs and delivering heavy sentences for illegal dealers is just what health and most police have been advocating for years. Halal has been around for decades, and kosher for longer. Wonder why nobody’s gone on about kosher slaughter? Extreme eco? Nationalise water. Go for renewables (today 90% rise in gas thanks to Bibi and Trump) in the best country in the world to exploit renewables? You a ?
Thanks
Hi John. You’ve missed my point. The green party has a great deal of public *misconception* to overcome, and that will take a huge effort. The ground for that is now as fertile as it’s ever been.
In politics, perception can be more important than facts. Look at the nonsense drummed up by the right wing about immigration.
I thought Hannah Spencer struck exactly the right tone recently. Hopefully the party can attract enough donations/memberships to be able to amplify those messages.
Exactly Tom. It’s no good the Greens sitting on the win in Manchester. Absolutely NOW is the time to prove they know what to do. Indeed if they sit back for too long they will have missed their golden opportunity.
I see no evidence the Greens are sitting on the fence. I don’t know how Zack has the energy he has for the amount of media work he’s doing, but all the leadership are out working flat out. We’ve proved we can win a by election and the latest YouGov poll shows the Greens overtaking Labour and just under Reform. Watch the May elections which are largely for urban councils where the Greens are likely to do really well. Labour is likely to be decimated in London. Starmer has totally alienated his membership, but the Green party now has vast numbers of younger members keen to help, and if Labour are feeling threatened now, they haven’t seen anything yet.
I greatly admire Zack’s energy. I am energetic. I could not do that pace.
@ Hazel Murphy,
One has to hope – given their abysmal betrayal of their supporters, indeed of the whole of the UK – that Likud-Labour is more than decimated in its original meaning, even though there are prominent members of the Starmfuherer’s ramshackle old banger of a Party to whom decimation might be applied
– not literally, but politically.
For decimation was a particularly harsh Roman military punishment, whereby a disgraced military unit was divided up into units of 10, and the poor wretch who drew the short straw was beaten to death by his 9 comrades – a real test of army discipline.
So, decimation would mean a loss of only 40 of Labour’s 404 2024 gains, where this poll predicts what one might call anti-decimation, as Starmer’s apology for a Party is set to achieve only 1/10th of its current holding – much more in line with what it deserves for its betrayal of the needs of the majority of the inhabitants of the UK.
Andrew, “decimation” – the 1 in 10 part is normally ignored – but I had no idea about the “decapitation technique”. Truly barbaric.
Apologies for following for those wanting serious discussion, think of it as a satirical comment, instead…….
Of course, if we are to accept the race to the bottom, and maximise “every opportunity for growth”, in this age of concocted voyeur conspiracy competition we shouldn’t let a gift horse go begging ….. Of course it should educate, inform and entertain….. Claudia demands that!
We’ve to whittle 10 labour MPs down to 1. Multi-round elimination…. Sticking with tradition nine beat 1 in first round. Quiz on evolution of neoliberal labour: what year it was acceptable for labour to promote certain values. 8 beat up person who knows most (got a twist see?)…… 7 kill 1….
And some say that people don’t like engaging in political economy…. this format could go global!
I am sure there is something I do not understand here.
I have never watched Traitors. Is that it?
Yes!
It was just a daft extreme of celebrity reality tv …..
I expect it’s there same there as it is here across the pond in the US: They only talk about what people actually need in order to take care of themselves when they want votes. After election they talk about not having any money.
Bridget
What makes you think the Greens are sitting on the win in Manchester? We get that NOW is the time. On Friday we had 42 new members just in Cambridge. Across the UK we now have over 200,000 members. That’s not a political party; it’s a movement.
Right now there is an army of volunteers working to win big at the May elections. Here in Cambridge we even have an outside chance of becoming the largest party on the City Council – something that would have been unthinkable only a few months ago. Please don’t doubt us!
In fact do you wanna help?
Regards…Bob
Can I have James back after May?
Of course!
Very cogent and to the point Richard. But please add the BBC , whose interviews and analysis only reinforce the message ‘there is no money’ and the ‘we are a household’ falsehood.
Please keep reinforcing the point – that we create money by doing things. Mobilising unused resources like our unemployed doctors, and unemployed young people would boost gdp.
Reeves said the average household would be £1000 better off ….. not that thousands of households would be £10,000 better of and millions would be only £100 better off.
No way do I think the Greens are sitting back. I voted Green many times and will again. My point was made, badly I now see, that this is the right time to engage even more. I would help in my area but I’m 79 and caring for a husband with L B Dementia which is quite time consuming.
Hi Bridget
Helping comes in many ways. You are doing your bit. But I also know moral support helps. And thanks for your comments. Good luck to you and your husband. I know how hard your task is.
Richard
Thanks for clarifying Bridget. I obviously misunderstood what you were trying to say! We appreciate your support. Please rest assured that the effort the Greens are putting in now is way higher than it has ever been, thanks to the huge increase in membership and the money they bring! Sorry to learn about your husband – it must be difficult for you. Best wishes…Bob
Thank you Richard
In Sheffield green party membership is up from just over 1000 to over 3000. We have 14 Green Councillors on the city Council out of 84. 1/3 of the council is up for election this year. In my ward the Labour leader is up for re-election. It will be a hard fight but, with Labours record, particularly their refusal to acknowledge the genocide in Gaza, they are unpopular with activists.
Our members are out in large numbers across our target and development wards. There are a lot more young members enjoying canvassing as well as delivering newsletters. Many of them helped out in Manchester.
We focus on delivering a positive message supporting our local communities, particularly in inner city poorer, multucultural areas.
As a member since 1977, and having been a city councilor for 8 years, due to Parkinsons Disease and family set backs, I can no longer get around. However I give advice and support where I can.
I keep having to pinch myself at our sudden exponential growth after years of slog. The years of struggle are comming to fruition, life’s sacrifices have been worth it. If we can get PR we can make sustained progress and bring real hope.
Exciting times.
Thanks, Bernard.
Ansd thanks too for what you have done and still do.
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Thank you.
Good luck with it.
A question. I’m trying to boil an idea down to a short explanation I can put in comments.
Please see if I got all the pieces in there:
The way the system works, the money supply grows as debt grows, but when there is a downturn or crisis, lending slows, and the repayment of debt can outpace new lending.
Just as lending adds money to the economy, paying off debt subtracts it. It disappears. So when payment of debts outpaces new lending, the money supply shrinks.
That’s why austerity doesn’t work—it shrinks the money supply even more, bringing on more unemployment, more businesses cutting back, and a shrinking of the economy itself. It’s a vicious cycle. That’s why the money seemed to disappear during the Great Depression—because it did disappear.
And that’s why the government needs to inject money during a downturn. Businesses will not invest or hire more workers when they see no demand to pay for that investment. People can’t spend money they don’t have when banks won’t lend it, and they don’t lend to the unemployed.
They dig a hole they can’t get out of, and need help from outside–an injection of funds to prime the pump.
Thanks
You have the core idea broadly right, although a little clarification might help.
In a modern banking system most money is created when banks make loans. When a loan is issued, a bank creates a deposit in the borrower’s account. When that loan is repaid, the deposit created by the loan is effectively extinguished. In other words, bank lending expands the money supply and loan repayment contracts it.
During downturns this process can become destabilising. Banks become cautious and reduce lending, while households and businesses try to pay down existing debt. When repayment begins to exceed new lending, the amount of money circulating in the private economy can shrink. That contraction reduces spending, which weakens businesses, increases unemployment, and further discourages lending.
That dynamic was very clear during the Great Depression, when large parts of the banking system collapsed and the money supply contracted dramatically.
Where government comes in is precisely at that point. When the private sector is unwilling or unable to borrow and spend, the state can sustain demand by running a deficit — spending more into the economy than it withdraws in tax. That injects new financial resources into the private sector and helps stabilise employment and output.
This is why austerity during a downturn is so damaging. If the private sector is already cutting spending and the government does the same, the contraction is intensified.
In short, when private credit creation stalls, public spending often has to step in to prevent a downward spiral.