The mask has slipped in British politics. Divisive politics are openly back on the ballot paper. Labour is capitulating to the anti-migrant talking points of Reform, all while talking the language of decency and fairness. It makes my toes curl.
But I am here to do what others won’t. To tell the truth about what makes our country great and what makes it not so great. While others thrive on creating scapegoats, I am here to tell you a different story.
The tapestry of cultural life in Britain is what makes our nation strong. From the doctors, nurses and carers who staff our NHS and who look after our elderly people, to the entrepreneurs, artists and teachers who enrich our culture and economy. Migration is our DNA as a country, it is our superpower.
Britain has always been built on the contribution of people who’ve arrived here to build a better life, and our future depends on us embracing that truth, not denying it. Until we do this, we will always be handwringing and trying to ineffectually factcheck Nigel Farage’s claims about migrants.
But we also need to understand the fears and worries that sit at the heart of Reform’s rise in popularity. Our rents are high and our wages are low. Our services are crumbling while our debt is growing. But these crises weren’t caused by migration. They were caused by political choices made in Westminster. It was austerity that stripped our communities bare, privatisation that handed public goods to people seeking profit, and tax breaks that showered wealth on the very richest.
And yet, what makes this moment even more dangerous is that Labour, though claiming to challenge Reform’s poisonous narrative, is in fact echoing and enabling it. From Keir Starmer’s “island of strangers” speech, for which he apologised and claimed ignorance to its similarity with the language of Enoch Powell, to Shabana Mahmood’s new stricter conditions on people’s right to remain in this country, Labour is indulging a politics of fear.
Meanwhile, in villages, towns and cities across the UK, people are facing the same problems. Families wondering how they’ll pay the rent or the gas bill. Tenants living in mouldy homes terrified of another rent hike or eviction notice. Pensioners cutting back on heating while energy companies rake in astronomical profits.
Labour directs them to be angry at those who have less than them – making demonstrably false claims that “cheap overseas labour” is driving down wages. I say the opposite. We are now one of the most unequal countries in Europe. The richest 1% hold more wealth than the bottom 70% combined. Public services are stretched to breaking point, but private shareholders keep cashing in. It is not a lack of resources. It is a lack of political will from the very politicians who take money from the richest 1%.
There is an alternative. One set out this weekend in Bournemouth, where a record number of Green party members are expected to attend our annual conference. A wealth tax on the richest 1% to fund public services. An end to rip-off privatisation so water, rail and energy work for people, not shareholders. Universal free childcare, to give every child the best start, and every parent real freedom. Rent controls and investment in warm, affordable homes. Real investment in green jobs and infrastructure, and a Green New Deal that doesn’t just cut carbon but transforms communities, lowers bills and creates opportunity.
This isn’t just possible. It is essential.
And that’s why the elections in May 2026 matter so much. Because when Farage’s politics of division are rising, and when Labour is too timid to resist, it falls to the Greens to fight for something better. To stand up for hope against fear. To make the case for bold investment in people and planet. To celebrate those who choose to call Britain their home and who help to make us the great country we are.
The truth is simple: Britain is not broken because of migration. Britain is broken because of inequality. Because of an economy that allows billionaires to hoard wealth while millions struggle to get by. Because of a political class that has lost its nerve and forgotten its purpose.
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We are meeting this weekend to change that. We are organising. We are growing. This is our moment. We need you to help us seize it.
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