STAR BIRTHDAYS

Chuck Norris, actor, 81; Garth Crooks, broadcaster and former footballer, 63; Sharon Stone, above, actress, 63; Neneh Cherry, singer, 57; Prince Edward, 57; Edie Brickell, singer, 55; Chris Sutton, former footballer, 48; Colin Murray, radio and television presenter, 44; Rafe Spall, actor, 38; Olivia Wilde, actress, 37.

IT’S right people should be protected from mass unemployment and that businesses should be supported in delivering a ‘levelling-up’ agenda as the UK seeks to recover from the economic damage from the pandemic and Brexit.

The shock to the UK economy has been enormous and the virus has exposed a large inequality gap.

We will recover. However, a bigger threat to life and to the world is from the climate emergency. It’s utterly unacceptable to see no major investment in the Chancellor’s Budget for a green new deal, a green recovery with skilled jobs, which polls show the public want, not austerity.

The UK is hosting the United Nations COPT26 in November and will be embarrassed when other countries commit to deep cuts in carbon emissions to deliver on the Paris 2015 accords.

The Green Party is calling for a net zero carbon energy target by 2030 based on science and a moral case. The UK’s net zero carbon target by 2050 is too late.

We need to get away from endless growth. This doesn’t mean living in a cave, losing your job and being miserable! It is about shifting growth with emphasis on re-use, products lasting longer and not keep on making so much stuff.

We’ve exported carbon-intensive manufacturing, sometimes to where there are human rights abuses, so the UK can enjoy a less polluted environment and cheaper products.

The government’s Climate Change Committee estimate the costs of a low-carbon revolution will be an annual £50 billion by 2030.

Over nine years that’s about the same amount as the £400 billion plus recently spent by the government in pandemic support.

We face a climate emergency and the enormous mistake made by the Chancellor not to invest in a green recovery should be reversed so that the UK is on a path to be net zero carbon by 2030.

Leicester Green Party