SerpApi.Org
In-fighting has broken out in the Green Party over plans to toughen their stance on defence.
A group of members, academics, veterans and serving members of the armed forces drew up a motion this month proposing an overhaul of the party’s approach to the military.
The proposals called for an end to its support for a ban on anti-ballistic missile-related activity in the UK and for drones to always be controlled by a human.
It also argued for an expanded reserve force and voiced support for military apprenticeships.
However, the motion has been abandoned after a backlash from party members, one of whom claimed they undermined the message that the “greatest threat” to the UK was climate change.
The Spectator reported that Lloyd Russell-Moyle, a former Labour MP who defected to the Greens last November, opposed proposals for supporting military apprenticeships, saying “the militarisation of young people is something Greens should be challenging, not accommodating”.
Another member reportedly called for the motion to be “comprehensively rejected” if it was debated at conference.
A third said: “The greatest threat to the future of people in this country is clearly climate change.
“This falls into the trap of going along with the prevailing and ridiculous idea that the UK is under serious threat of being invaded by Russia.”
Zack Polanski has previously advocated for the UK to leave the Nato alliance and instead create an “alternative alliance” with Europe and without the US.
The Green Party leader also said in March that he would seek to build a relationship with Vladimir Putin so that the UK could “keep pushing for diplomacy” to end the war in Ukraine.
He told Matt Forde’s Political Party podcast: “If you’re not going to negotiate with someone, then you’re accepting that you’re going to war with them at some point.
“And I don’t think anyone is calling for a war with Russia or a war with Iran.” However, he later added that he would not trust Putin “for a second”.
The Green Party defence policy also says that the UK should sign the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and “immediately” begin to dismantle Britain’s nuclear deterrent.
The Greens oppose the Trident programme and would work to remove “all foreign nuclear weapons from UK soil”.
