Green Party Proposes Water Nationalization and Rent Controls

The Green Party announced a series of policy initiatives to combat social inequality and the cost-of-living crisis during its conference in Brighton. The proposals target essential services, housing, and youth employment.

Deputy Leader Rachel Millward called for the immediate nationalization of South East Water and Thames Water. Millward argued that the companies are insolvent and should be taken into public ownership without compensation for shareholders, describing the Burnham government's 10-year renationalization plan as insufficient.

Party Leader Zach Polanski introduced a proposal for a three-year emergency brake on private rents, which would limit increases to the lower of 2% or CPI wage growth. Simultaneously, Deputy Leader Mothin Ali proposed a youth jobs guarantee that would provide employment for 18- to 24-year-olds for up to two years, focusing on the green transition and the care economy.

These policy shifts occur against a backdrop of national instability, including rising fuel costs caused by global shipping disruptions and planned anti-immigration protests organized by South Coast Patriots in Dover and Southampton.