The Green Party released its manifesto for the May election on Tuesday.

The main thrust of the Greens’ manifesto centred on restoring and strengthening public services and on combatting climate change.

Under its campaign banner, encouraging people to vote “for the common good”, the party - which came in fourth in last year’s European Elections - described climate change as “the greatest threat of our time” and claimed that the Greens are the only party “Determined to tackle [climate change] by taking serious action to limit our emissions at home and fighting for a fair global deal that secures humanity’s shared future.”

The Greens promised to reverse creeping privatisation of the NHS and increase healthcare spending, ensuring it remains publicly funded and free at the point of use. The party also said it would increase taxes on the richest, introduce a ‘Robin Hood tax’ on banks (which has now been implemented in 11 European countries) and crack down on ‘tax dodging’ which it claimed would raise £75bn.

Under a Green government, a 60% top rate of tax would apply to people earning over £150,000. The party claims that promises made in its manifesto have all been fully costed.

The party said that, on top of reclaiming the NHS, it would work to renationalise the rail network and create a million more public sector jobs that pay the living wage; the Greens intend to oversee a dramatic increase of the national minimum wage, raising it to £10 per hour by 2020. Earlier this week, Labour pledged to increase the minimum wage to £8 over the same period.

Party leader Natalie Bennet said, "Austerity has failed and we need a peaceful political revolution to get rid of it. Our manifesto is an unashamedly bold plan to create a more equal, more democratic society while healing the planet from the effects of an unstable, unsustainable economy."

Shortly before the release of the Greens’ manifesto, Bennet said, “This is a politics founded in humanity in a caring Britain, but also a politics that doesn’t deny – as the other parties continue to do – the physical limits of our natural world.”

Green Party MP Caroline Lucas has said the party would not forge a coalition with any of the major political parties.

Food and Farming

The party promised to focus on transitioning to renewable energy generation, ban fracking and nuclear energy and phase out coal power stations.

In terms of food and farming, the Greens would seek to reform the Common Agricultural Policy and domestic Agri-Environment schemes to support farmers producing sustainable food and enhancing biodiversity. The Greens argue that past agricultural policy has incurred massive ‘external costs’ for the environment, the public, farmers and animals.

In its manifesto, the party also promises to:

• Support research into greener food production, and promote public, rather than private interests, in the country’s research regime;
• Ensure the industry operates on fair trade principles, guaranteeing a decent income for farmers at home and abroad;
• Prevent development on productive land, and review the current classification system for farmland;
• Promote local food production, and work to reduce imports of food that can be grown in Britain;
• Strengthen the powers of the supermarket ombudsperson and allow farmers to leave disadvantageous contracts with players further up the supply chain;
• Improve food procurement by public sector bodies;
• Support a moratorium on growing Genetically Modified (GM) crops;
• End badger culling in the South-West

A more detailed look at the Greens’ policies, which include animal welfare commitments, proposals to tackle food waste and promises to revitalise public funding for research and development are available here.