The Green Party have released their full manifesto ahead of the 2015 General Election on 7th May, calling for increased public health regulation and the replacement of business rates with land value tax.

The Green’s manifesto focuses heavily on their plans to implement further regulation on public health matters. They would seek to introduce a minimum price on alcohol of 50p per unit; increase alcohol and tobacco taxes by £1.4bn each year they are in Parliament; and extend VAT at the standard rate to less healthy foods, including sugar, and spend the money raised on subsidising one-third of the cost of fresh fruit and vegetables.

The party have also pledged to introduce Land Value Tax (LVT) to replace the current business rates systems, which would be set at a local level. They also want to increase the National Minimum Wage to £10 an hour by 2020; whilst encouraging small businesses to pay the living wage by reducing employers’ National Insurance in the longer term to 8%.

Additionally in their manifesto, the Green Party seek to give more powers to local authorities. This would allow local authorities to levy new local taxes, such as supermarket taxes; and give them planning powers to support local shops and businesses through planning policies, including business conservation areas, ensuring basic shops are available within walking distance in all urban areas, and restricting the power of supermarkets.

The Green Party would also seek to reintroduce the fuel duty escalator, which allows petrol duty to increase by the level of inflation plus 1p per litre.

The full Green Party manifesto can be viewed here: https://www.greenparty.org.uk/assets/files/manifesto/Green_Party_2015_General_Election_Manifesto.pdf