Green Party calls for 'Budget to make the UK affordable'

Tameside Green Party has called on the Chancellor to deliver a Budget that tackles the cost-of-living crisis, taxes extreme wealth, and invests in climate resilience.

The Green Party is warning that families across Tameside need meaningful action to make everyday life more affordable.

With the Chancellor’s first Budget due this week, the Greens have warned that further restrictions on welfare and cuts to vital home insulation programmes risk putting additional pressure on households already struggling to make ends meet, while the wealthiest continue to escape meaningful taxation.

In Tameside, where the cost of housing, energy, and other essentials puts pressure on household budgets, the Green Party says residents need a Budget that delivers tangible improvements to their lives. Rising energy bills, the condition and energy efficiency of homes, and the growing impacts of climate change are challenges that require urgent, long-term solutions.

The Party argues that promises of change must be matched by action. Working hard should provide people with a decent standard of living, yet too many families are finding it increasingly difficult to afford the basics.

Green MPs and Party leaders have written to the Chancellor setting out proposals to tackle the cost-of-living crisis and build a fairer, more secure future. Next week, Green MPs will take these demands into Parliament and onto the airwaves, calling for a decisive break from business as usual.

The Green Party is urging the Chancellor to deliver a Budget that makes the UK affordable, with measures that would benefit communities across Tameside and beyond.

These include:

• Fairer taxation: introducing a windfall tax on banks, ending tax breaks for fossil fuel companies, and ensuring multimillionaires and billionaires pay their fair share.
• Lower energy bills: taking action to bring down household energy costs permanently, helping families across Tameside keep more of their income.
• Affordable housing: introducing an emergency brake on rents to ease the pressure on private renters and give households greater financial security.
• Public ownership: bringing water companies into proper public ownership, putting accountability and the public interest ahead of private profit.
• Warmer, greener homes: funding a nationwide home retrofit programme to improve insulation, reduce energy waste, and help residents keep their homes warm in winter and cool in summer.
• Climate resilience: investing in measures that protect communities, green spaces and the local environment from the growing impacts of climate change.

The Greens say investment in energy-efficient homes would be particularly important for local residents, helping to reduce wasted energy, tackle fuel poverty, and improve living conditions while contributing to the UK’s climate commitments.

The Party also argues that protecting green spaces and preparing communities for the effects of a changing climate must be central to long-term economic planning, rather than treated as an afterthought.

Tanveer Ahmed, a local Green Party campaigner and spokesperson said:

“People across Tameside work hard, contribute to their communities and want the security of knowing they can afford their bills, heat their homes and pay their rent. But for too many people, that security is slipping further out of reach.

“Hope has to mean more than a slogan. It must mean making life affordable again, ensuring the wealthiest pay their fair share and investing in the homes and communities we need for the future.

“This Budget is an opportunity for the Chancellor to make a real difference to people’s lives in Tameside. That means bringing down energy bills, taking action on rents, ending unfair tax breaks for fossil fuel companies and funding a major programme to make our homes warmer and more energy efficient.

“We cannot keep asking ordinary households to shoulder the burden while extreme wealth goes undertaxed and fossil fuel profits continue to soar. We need an economy that works for people and protects the places we call home.

“Tameside deserves investment in a fairer, healthier and more sustainable future. The Green Party is calling for a Budget that puts people and the planet first, and delivers the scale of change our communities urgently need.”

The Green Party is calling on the Chancellor to use this Budget to take radical action to address economic inequality, reduce the cost of essential goods and services, and invest in a sustainable future for communities across Tameside.