He said the Tories have the'stench of corruption'

The ‘stench of corruption’ runs through ‘everything this government does’, Green Party of England and Wales deputy leader Zack Polanski has said. Polanski made the comments during his keynote speech to the party’s autumn conference in Brighton today. 

Speaking to the conference, Polanski laid into the government, its priorities and policies. He told attendees: “We know this Conservative government – the stench of corruption and entitlement holds with everything they do. And they try to claim that Liz Truss was some kind of diversion, but actually she was the inevitable conclusion of a free market ideology that protects big corporations, protects tax loopholes, and ultimately stands for the super rich whilst millions of people live in poverty and desolation.

“And then, now we have Rishi Sunak. He’s no real change – he’s just a slower march towards collapse. He is flying around in his private super jet while he mocks those in poverty beneath him. One in four children in this country are living in poverty. One in four.

“And the Conservatives – they think it’s just a game. But the Labour Party – they think it’s some sort of acceptable status quo that doesn’t need to be challenge. But friends, we will challenge it. We will continue to challenge it. And we will keep challenging it until every child in this country has food in their tummy and heat in their homes.”

Polanski later went on to criticise the government’s – and the Labour opposition’s – economic policies. He told the conference: “There’s a story being told in this country right now that compare our economy to a household budget which is totally economically incoherent. It’s a story that puts GDP as this big aim and objective, even though the person who came up with the concept of GDP says this is a terrible way to measure happiness and wellbeing. We all remember the moment where Keir Starmer – when challenged by young climate activists on the very future of this planet. His response, his instinct? ‘I’m on the side of economic growth.’

“Economic growth and neoliberalism has not created the free markets it promised. Instead, it is undermining our democracy and it has created an economy that’s moving profit to big corporations who have no interest in the poorest and most vulnerable.”

This article is jointly published with Bright Green

Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward

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