I am not a great fan of the Green Party. I believe that more can be done to achieve its more sensible aims through Liberal Democracy. It is not only too extreme, but also of recent years has attracted an authoritarian socialist element which is not able to make headway in any other English party.
However, I also believe that it is a more coherent and relevant organisation than UKIP. The decision by Ofcom that UKIP is a "major party" for electoral broadcast purposes but that the Greens are not suggests a worrying bias, either conscious or unconscious. The Greens run an English council and are challengers in at least one other. UKIP's highest council representation is at 29% according to this Channel 4 News analysis. The Green Party is longer-established (founded 1985 as against UKIP's 1993) and its predecessor, the Ecology Party, goes back ten years further. Only in its slavish following in our corrupt media is UKIP ahead of the Greens.
If we are to have TV and radio debates featuring the party leaders - and it is not certain that they shed any more light than heat on electoral issues - then surely the only criterion for inclusion should be whether a party can theoretically form a government, i.e. that they field candidates in a substantial majority of Westminster seats. I suggest that it is too early to rule parties in or out.
2 comments:
Stephen Tall's take is here.
I'm a Labour voter, but I agree with you. The Greens have a bona fide national party. I can't see why they should be excluded.
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