Green Party leader Natalie Bennett has called for a General Election in November to select a Government to lead Britain into a decision on its future relationship with the European Union. The leader of the Green Party, who campaigned for Britain to remain a member of the EU, is calling for a period of calm and reflection.
Bennett said:
Bennett said:
“What we need is calm and time for reflection, not knee-jerk reactions. Despite the imperative of the half-hour Twitter news cycle, and the pressure to take definitive steps, what we really need is time for what’s happened to sink in, then sober consideration of what comes next.
“It is critically important that we resist pressure to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty, from European states and institutions and the financial markets. This is something we must not be bounced into. It is legally our decision, and one we can put off until the people’s wishes are clearer, until we’ve cleaned up our democracy.
“Before negotiations start, we need to know what we’re asking for.
“That has to mean a General Election – that’s the only way we can reach a mandate on a way forward. We’d have a minimum period of months (the earliest practical date would be early November) to debate, discuss, inform voters, who’ll then be able to weigh up the offers by various parties.
“Dissatisfaction with the status quo in this election is clearly closely related to the failures of our current electoral system, which disenfranchises the majority, who don’t get the representation they want.
“We need an election to deliver a way forward for Britain – and a fair voting system to deliver a government that truly reflects, and delivers on, the will of the people. That’s why progressives must now consider working together for our best chance of success in any coming election. Any sort of pact must be based on an agreement to implement a fairer voting system.
“What we need above all is for a chance for the people to decide, after a full, honest, open debate. To deliver that, we need a people’s government, not the tottering 19th-century structure we have now.