This Election Could Change Everything

This time more people will be hearing from the Green Party than ever before - and far more will have a chance to vote Green. Much of the focus will be on the leaders' debates. But the Green Party campaign isn't only exciting because I get the chance to debate with the other party leaders on television. We're going to win record numbers of votes because we'll be knocking on more doors, in more constituencies, than ever before.

What's at stake is more than just 650 seats.

This election - more than any other in living history - is throwing up a genuine battle between different visions of how this country should be run.

This time more people will be hearing from the Green Party than ever before - and far more will have a chance to vote Green. Much of the focus will be on the leaders' debates. But the Green Party campaign isn't only exciting because I get the chance to debate with the other party leaders on television. We're going to win record numbers of votes because we'll be knocking on more doors, in more constituencies, than ever before.

It is on those doorsteps that our candidates and supporters will tell people about the principles that are driving us at this election. Firstly, our vision of an economy that delivers for everyone, not just those at the top. That means we will take action on poverty, repealing vicious policies like the bedroom tax and making the minimum wage a Living Wage.

It also means talking, openly and honestly, about tax. We're not afraid to say that we'd tax those with the broadest shoulders more - through a higher income tax, a wealth tax on the top 1% of households and a financial transaction tax on multimillion pound city trading.

An economy that works for the common good is one which sees the yawning gap between rich and poor narrow. It is worth noting that it is not just us saying this is essential - organisations like the IMF and the World Bank are saying that inequality is a threat to economic stability.

Our candidates will also be talking about the hope that we have in the Green Party of taking back our NHS from costly, damaging privatisation - and properly investing in healthcare. Our bold vision for the NHS would see us cancel PFI contracts, end the involvement of private companies in treating patients and bring free prescriptions, chiropody and dentistry to patients in England.

It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that we'll be focussing on the urgent need for real action on climate change. For us that means more than just upping investment in renewables. It means pledging to keep shale gas in the ground by bringing in a country-wide ban on fracking. And it means investing in the largest home insulation scheme this country has ever seen, cutting bills and ending the scandal of fuel poverty.

I know what will be in my mind every time I'm knocking on doors or going on the television: that the Britain I love can be better than it is today. We can replace the politics of fear with the politics of hope, and we can rebuild our country and our economy to work for all of us, not just those at the top.

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