The Green Left is an anti-capitalist and

eco-socialist Eco-socialism (also known as green socialism or socialist ecology) is an ideology merging aspects of socialism with that of green politics, ecology and alter-globalization or anti-globalization. Eco-socialists generally believe that the expansi ...

grouping within the

Green Party of England and Wales The Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW; cy, Plaid Werdd Cymru a Lloegr, kw, Party Gwer Pow an Sowson ha Kembra, often simply the Green Party or Greens) is a green, left-wing political party in England and Wales. Since October 2021, Carla ...

. It seeks to constitute a network for "socialists and other radicals" in the Green Party, as well as "act ngas an outreach body that will communicate the party's radical policies to other socialists and anti-capitalists outside the party." It includes some prominent members of the Green Party of England and Wales, and held its first meeting on 4 June 2006. Green Left members were early supporters of an "ecosocialist international", such as the Ecosocialist International Network (EIN) Green Left publishes the 'Watermelon' a publication promoting eco-socialist policies to Green Party members on an array of issues. Green Left has a social media presence including on Twitter and Facebook. The Facebook site is very busy and has 9,000 members. Green Left engages the wider left with the aim to build for real change with eco-socialist policies and including just transition and supporting workers struggles. Green Left is very supportive of the Green Party Trade Union Group.

Formation

Green Left was launched on 4 June 2006 by members of the Green Party of England and Wales. Those who supported the group included various members of the Green Party of England and Wales Executive. Some members of Green Left then went on to be leaders of the party.

Aims and beliefs

Green Left formulated its beliefs, agreed on at the meeting, in the

Headcorn Headcorn is a village and civil parish in the borough of Maidstone in Kent, England. The parish is on the floodplain of the River Beult south east of Maidstone. The village is 8 mi (13 km) southeast of Maidstone, on the A274 roa ...

Declaration ( below), which stated that Green Left hopes "to raise Green Party politics to meet the demands of its radical policies". The statement criticised the "

New Labour New Labour was a period in the history of the British Labour Party from the mid to late 1990s until 2010 under the leadership of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. The name dates from a conference slogan first used by the party in 1994, later seen ...

government's abandonment of the policies of the left" and claimed "that the Green Party's progressive agenda makes it the natural home for the left".

The Headcorn Declaration

In June 2006, a number of members of the Green Party agreed to the core beliefs and policies of the Headcorn declaration which became a launch statement of the Green left. The launch statement included the following points: *Green Left is critical of capitalism, and sees capitalism as incompatible with ideals like sustainability,

peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

and

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...

. As such it places itself in the tradition of

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

, the British ecosocialist who operated within the Marxist Social Democratic Federation and Socialist League. *It seeks to unite all

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

s, anti-capitalists and radicals, in and outside of the Green Party. *It welcomes and wishes to continue the

grassroots democracy Grassroots democracy is a tendency towards designing political processes that shift as much decision-making authority as practical to the organization's lowest geographic or social level of organization. Grassroots organizations can have a va ...

within the Green Party of England and Wales, which should remain a "bottom-up" organisation. *Green Left wants to apply the slogan '' think global, act local'' to its own party, by increasing international contacts, while also seeking to create local coalitions, made up of various groups such as

trade unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

faith-based communities The description person of faith (plural: people of faith) refers to any person who can be delineated or classified by an adherence to a religious tradition or doctrine, as opposed to those who do not publicly identify or in any way espouse a reli ...

and other

minority group The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...

References

External links

*Green Left faceboo

*Green Left blo

*Green Left twitte

Twitter handle @UKGreenLeft {{DEFAULTSORT:Green Left (Uk) Anti-capitalist organizations Eco-socialism Green Party of England and Wales History of the Green Party of England and Wales Left-wing politics in the United Kingdom Political party factions in the United Kingdom 2006 establishments in the United Kingdom

Formation

Aims and beliefs

The Headcorn Declaration

See also

References

External links