Adrian Ramsay's Speech to Green Party Conference

05 September 2009

Today Adrian Ramsay gave a compelling speech to the Green Party Autumn conference, where he called for the Government to "buy back the rip-off PFI hospitals" such as the Norfolk and Norwich.

Quoting research done by Chris Edwards, an economist at the University of East Anglia, Ramsay told the conference that PFI is like buying your house on a credit card, rather than on a mortgage. He vowed that the Greens would keep the NHS public, "with public money supporting valued public servants to provide a public service of the highest calibre".

Cllr Ramsay also criticised the Governement for the closing down of Vestas, and for failing to invest in Green technologies. He highlighted the downfalls of "the throw-away society", saying that "cheap goods are manufactured at a cost of health and human rights; they are shipped at an environmental cost to future generations; they are traded at a cost to sustainable local economies at both ends; and they don't disappear when they are put in the bin".

He also condemmned the old political partied for their part in the recent expenses fiasco, and called for real root and branch political reform. This would mean cleaning up political finance, guaranteeing transparency, ending corruption and ensuring an elected upper chamber. "These are reforms that must be carried out to drag our democracy into the twenty-first century."

For the full transcript of the speech, click here.

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