Our analysis of the Green Party manifesto

Green Party Manifesto 2024 

Manifesto launches continue with the Green Party issuing its prospectus that, as would be expected, zeroes in on a range of environmental causes. The manifesto displays open hostility to rural pursuits, stating: 

“The Green Party is fundamentally opposed to all blood sports and would campaign to introduce a ban on all hunting in the first year of a new parliament. This includes trophy hunting, trail hunting, where dogs are used to track foxes, and the commercial shooting of game birds. Government subsidies will no longer be given to maintain artificial landscapes designed only for hunting (such as grouse moors)… 
“Where necessary for ecological reasons, or for animals described as pests, humane culling will be licensed by Natural England and carried out by trained professionals.” 

These pledges ignore and, indeed, fly in the face of several important facts:  

• Trail hunting is a simulation and does not involve the intentional pursuit or killing of any wild animal, including a live fox.  

• UK heather moorland is a habitat of such global rarity and importance that it won recognition as far back as in the 1992 Rio Convention on Biodiversity. 

• There has never been any public subsidy for the management of moorland for grouse shooting. 

• The wildlife management activity of deer stalking, for example, which is essential for nature restoration and the protection of biodiversity, would derive no benefit from being restricted to professionals licensed and paid by a state body. This would also apply to the management of other species. 

It is hard to reconcile them with the party’s claim, in the manifesto’s introduction, that “As a political party, we believe in… following the science and speaking the truth, too.” 

Other policies of importance to rural communities include: 

Crime and Policing: The Green Party plans to scrap legislation it views as restricting protest and free expression, which could affect changes the Countryside Alliance previously won that enable police officers to require protestors to remove face coverings being used to conceal identity. 

Net Zero / Climate Change: Aiming for a zero-carbon electricity supply, the Green Party proposes making all cars and vans electric and eliminating fossil fuel usage in homes and buildings. 

Natural Environment: The party pledges to introduce a Rights of Nature Act that would grant legal personhood to ‘nature’ as an abstract concept, in practice allowing activist groups to launch legal challenges on its supposed behalf. It would secure access through a right to roam that would apply universally with some exceptions. It would protect 30% of land and seas by 2030, and heavily regulate pesticides. 

Food and Farming: Financial support for farmers to transition to eco-friendly practices would nearly triple. Policies focus on improving biodiversity, soil health, and cleaner rivers, while reducing pesticide use. Additionally, schools would involve children in growing and preparing food. 

Animal Welfare: Stringent animal welfare measures would include bans on country pursuits, badger culling, factory farming and the close confinement of farm animals. 

Housing: The Green Party plans to protect green spaces and promote small, dispersed developments. Its strategy involves significant investment in low-carbon heating systems and a mandate for new homes to meet high energy efficiency standards, including solar panels and heat pumps. It also proposes ending the ‘right to buy’ to preserve social housing for local communities. 

Communities and Local Government: Public ownership of railways, water, and major energy companies is proposed, along with local community ownership of sustainable energy infrastructure. 

Transport: A £19bn investment would be made in public transport, electrification, new cycleways and footpaths. Control over bus services would revert to local authorities to enhance connectivity and reduce traffic in residential areas. 

The Countryside Alliance will review and communicate the rural impacts of all major parties’ manifestos, setting the agenda on rural policy through the general election and beyond. To support our work, please consider joining the Countryside Alliance today.