Party Policies Compare Labour policies against Green policies

We will require listed companies to report on whether or not they pay the living wage.

We will ban employers from requiring zero-hours workers to be available on the off-chance that they'll be needed.

We will make it easier to start and grow businesses. We'll create a British investment bank that will lend money to new and growing businesses.

We'll support small businesses by cutting business rates for 1.5 million small firms and freezing their energy bills.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Protect neighbourhood policing by safeguarding over 10,000 frontline police officers over the next three years

We will put visible neighbourhood policing back in its rightful place at the heart of our communities, with a Local Policing Commitment that gives a guaranteed minimum level of neighbourhood policing.

We will insist on new professional standards in our police service, with officers guilty of serious misconduct struck off, and a tougher Police Standards Authority.

We will abolish Police and Crime Commissioners and put the savings back into frontline policing instead.

We will take domestic violence and violence against women seriously, with a ban on the use of community resolutions for dealing with domestic abuse and sexual crimes, and the introduction of compulsory sex and relationship education in schools.

We will create a justice system with witnesses and victims at its heart, including the country's first ever Victims' Law.

We will put rehabilitation at the heart of a prison system which aims to reduce reoffending and cut crime, ensuring that prisons properly punish and reform while mobilising the talents and expertise of all agencies to cut crime.

Labour will consult on lowering the sentence threshold for EU migrants who commit crimes having only recently arrived in the UK, so that, for example, a migrant who committed common assault or robbery within a few months of arriving would be automatically considered for deportation - Labour Euro Manifesto.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Conduct a Strategic Defence and Security Review in the first year of government

Outlaw discrimination against and abuse of members of the Armed Forces

Enshrine the Military Covenant in the NHS Constitution

Reserving the right to act in national self-defence, as we did in government by intervening alongside our allies in Afghanistan following 9/11.

Using military force only after all peaceful and diplomatic avenues to avert conflict have been exhausted and within international law.

A commitment to preserving and protecting universal human rights and to doing what we can to uphold the internationally recognised principle of the responsibility to protect.

A commitment to effective conflict prevention as well as being responsible post-conflict stakeholders once a conflict has ended.

A commitment to helping others to help themselves and a capacity-building approach which might apply to states regional organisations.

A commitment to multilateral cooperation. The threats we face are global and therefore shared and so the most effective solutions will inevitably be joint.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Cut the deficit every year and balance the books as soon as possible in the next Parliament

Reverse the 50p tax cut so that the top one per cent pay a little more to help get the deficit down

Not increase the basic or higher rates of Income Tax, National Insurance or VAT

Cut and then freeze business rates and maintain the most competitive corporate tax rates in the G7

Abolish non dom status

Increase the National Minimum Wage to more than £8 an hour by October 2019 and introduce Make Work Pay contracts to provide tax rebates to firms becoming Living Wage employers

Ban exploitative zero-hours contracts

Guarantee an apprenticeship for every school leaver who attains the grades and require any firm that gets a large government contract to offer apprenticeships

Reduce tuition fees to £6,000 a year

Freeze energy bills until 2017 and give the regulator the power to cut bills this winter

Introduce a British Investment Bank and support a network of regional banks.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Introduce a new gold-standard Technical Baccalaureate for 16 to-18-year olds

Protect the entire education budget from early years through to post-16 education

Guarantee all teachers in state schools will be qualified

Appoint Directors of School Standards to drive up standards in every area

Cap class sizes for five, six and seven-year-olds

Ensure all young people study English and Maths to age 18.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Push for an ambitious target in Paris to get to goal of net zero global emissions in the second half of this century.

We will make life more affordable for millions of people. We'll freeze gas and electricity bills until 2017 and reform the broken energy market to stop the cost of energy bills soaring.

We will fix the broken energy market, increasing competition and transparency so that it works for consumers. This will include introducing a simple new tariff structure so that people can compare prices in place of the complex and confusing system that exists today.

We will abolish Ofgem which has failed to stand up for consumers, and replace it from January 2017 with a tough new energy watchdog.

We will unlock investment in clean energy by setting a firm 2030 decarbonisation target and giving the Green Investment Bank more powers.

We will stick to ambitious, legally binding targets for carbon reduction including the decarbonisation of our electricity supply by 2030, and full implementation of carbon budgets and we'll make Britain a world leader in low carbon technology and green jobs, creating a million new high technology, green jobs by 2025.

We will strengthen the Green Investment Bank with borrowing powers, ensuring it is better placed to support investment in small and medium green businesses seeking to grow.

We will prioritise flood prevention and introduce a new climate change adaptation plan to help us properly prepare for the effects of a changing climate.

We will protect animal welfare ending the inhumane and ineffective badger cull, maintaining the ban on hunting with dogs, and introducing a ban on wild animals in circuses.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Return Britain to a leadership role in Europe, but reform the EU so that it works for Britain

Guarantee no powers will be transferred to Brussels without an in/out referendum

A referendum on whether the UK should be in or out of the EU only if there is a proposed transfer of more powers from London to Brussels.

Labour are proposing a new Commissioner for Growth, bringing together some of the existing Commission portfolios on economic policy, to help ensure the EU is focused on growth and held accountable for progress.

Alongside this, Labour are proposing that the EU establish its own equivalent of the UK's Office for Budget Responsibility with the narrower mandate of auditing all EU spending decisions based on the impact that they have on promoting growth and jobs across the EU.

Labour will continue to argue for the completion of the Single Market in digital, energy and services, providing potentially huge gains for Britain and helping deliver the economic recovery that Britain needs. The operation of the Single Market in existing sectors must also be protected in the face of possible closer integration between Eurozone states.

Labour will continue to support the conclusion of Free Trade Agreements as a means of promoting economic growth and development.

Tackle rising energy bills and climate change by reforming the European single market in energy.

Labour supports a proper framework for police forces to work together across borders.

Labour will seek to enhance our defence cooperation with allies in Europe where it is in our interests to do so, but we will not support the creation of a European Army.

We do, however, recognise that it is in Britain's interest for sovereign forces from European countries to engage in joint EU missions for peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance, in full coordination with NATO. And we will continue to lead the way in tackling global poverty, making sure that everyone has an equal chance in life.

Labour will continue to campaign for the wasteful second seat of the European Parliament in Strasbourg to be scrapped. Labour believes we can bring down the cost of the Parliament and reform the Commission to help it operate more effectively as well as reforming how the EU spends its money and how Britain gets best value.

From the 2010 party manifesto:

On the Euro, we hold to our promise that there will be no membership of the single currency without the consent of the British people in a referendum.

We support the enlargement of EU membership to include Croatia, and believe that all Western Balkan states should open negotiations on EU accession by 2014, one hundred years after the start of the First World War.

Turkey's future membership is a key test of Europe's potential to become a bridge between religions and regions; there must be continued progress on its application to join the EU.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Extend free childcare from 15 to 25 hours for working parents of three and four-year-olds, and ensure all primary schools guarantee access to wraparound childcare from 8am to 6pm

Double paternity leave from two to four weeks and increase paternity pay by more than £100 a week

We will renew and reinvigorate Sure Start, reforming the way local services work together to shift from sticking-plaster services to radical early help, to provide good quality support to all families that need it.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Set up a people-led Constitutional Convention to determine the future of UK’s governance

Replace the House of Lords with a Senate of the Nations and Regions

Pass an English Devolution Act, handing £30 billion of resources and powers to our great English city and county regions

Give new powers for communities to shape their high streets, including power over payday lenders and the number of fixed-odds betting terminals

Meet our promises to devolve further powers to Scotland and Wales

Give 16 and 17-year-olds the vote

Create a statutory register of lobbyists

Ban MPs from holding paid directorships and consultancies

Require large companies to publish their gender pay gap

Implement the recommendations of the Leveson Inquiry.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Invest £2.5 billion more that the Conservatives to recruit 8,000 more GPs, 20,000 more nurses and 3,000 more midwives

Guarantee GP appointments within 48 hours and cancer tests within one week

Join up services from home to hospital, with a single point of contact for all who need it

Give mental health the same priority as physical health, with a new right to access talking therapies

Repeal the Government’s privatisation plans, cap profits and put the right values back at the heart of the NHS

End time-limited 15 minute social care visits and recruit 5,000 new home-care workers to support people in their home

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Ensure at least 200,000 new homes a year are built by 2020, with first priority for local first time buyers

Provide security for renters by guaranteeing three-year tenancies with a ceiling on excessive rent rises

Abolish the Bedroom Tax

Labour will build the homes Britain needs by getting 200,000 homes built a year by 2020. We will get a fair deal for renters with longer, more predictable tenancies and a ban on rip-off letting fees.

We will change the law to make three-year tenancies the norm instead of the six or 12-month short-term tenancies that most renters have now so that landlords and tenants both have more stability, but with the ability to terminate contracts early with proper notice if they have to, just as they can now.

We will get 200,000 homes built a year by 2020. This will close the gap between the number of homes we build and the number of homes we need, as well as providing up to 230,000 jobs in construction.

We will unblock the supply of new homes by giving local authorities "use it or lose it" powers over developers who hoard land that has planning permission so that they can sell it on for a bigger profit, instead of building on it now.

We will deliver a new generation of New Towns and Garden Cities, and give a new "right to grow" to communities who want to expand but are blocked by neighbouring local authorities.

We will tackle empty homes by giving councils more power to charge higher rates of council tax on empty properties, and ensure new homes are advertised in the UK first, not overseas.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Ensure migrants will not be able to claim benefits until they have lived here for at least two years

Stronger border controls: we will make it easier to deport foreign criminals, check people in and out of the country, and do more to stop illegal immigration.

A smarter system of controls: so we get the top talent and investment we need, whilst controlling low skilled migration.

Fair rules at work: a new law to prevent employers undercutting wages by exploiting immigration, and banning agencies from recruiting only from abroad. Fines will be increased for companies who employ illegal immigrants.

Earned entitlements: people coming here won't be able to claim benefits for at least two years.

Integration, not divided communities: people working in public services in public facing roles will be required to speak English.

We will take action to better manage the pace of immigration, reform our economy to be less reliant on low skilled migrant labour, and do more to help migrants integrate into our society so they can play their part - Labour Euro Manifesto.

We will do more to cut illegal immigration, with tougher action including the reinstatement of fingerprint checks at the border and closing down loopholes that enable people to exploit short-term student visitor visas - Labour Euro Manifesto.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

From the 2010 party manifesto:

High-speed rail is not just about faster journey times. It will free up capacity on existing intercity rail lines, enabling more rail freight, commuter and local services

We will press ahead with a major investment programme in existing rail services, hugely improving commuter services into and through London, and electrifying new rail-lines including the Great Western Main Line from London to South Wales.

We will complete the new east-west Crossrail line in London adding ten per cent to London transport capacity.

Rail passenger numbers have increased by 40 per cent in the last ten years and punctuality and quality of service are improving steadily.

We will encourage more people to switch to rail with an enforceable right to the cheapest fare, while trebling the number of secure cycle-storage spaces at rail stations.

Tackling road congestion is a key Labour priority. We will extend hard-shoulder running on motorways, alongside targeted motorway widening including on the M25.

Too much disruption is caused by local road works: we will increase tenfold the penalties on utilities who allow work to overrun.

We rule out the introduction of national road pricing in the next Parliament [2010-2015].

Heathrow is Britain’s international hub airport, already operating at full capacity, and supporting millions of jobs, businesses and citizens who depend upon it.

We support a third runway at Heathrow, subject to strict conditions on environmental impact and flight numbers, but we will not allow additional runways to proceed at any other airport in the next [2010-2015] Parliament.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

From the 2010 Labour Party Manifesto:

No young person in Britain should be long-term unemployed: those out of work for six months or more will be guaranteed employment or training through the £1 billion Future Jobs Fund, with mandatory participation after ten months. The fund will support 200,000 jobs.

All those who are long-term unemployed for two years will be guaranteed a job placement, which they will be required to take up or have their benefits cut.

More people with disabilities and health conditions will be helped to move into work from Incapacity Benefit and Employment Support Allowance, as we extend the use of our tough-but-fair work capability test.

We will reassess the Incapacity Benefit claims of 1.5 million people by 2014, as we move those able to work back into jobs.

For those with the most serious conditions or disabilities who want to work there will be a new guarantee of supported employment after two years on benefit.

We are radically reforming how Job Centre Plus helps lone parents: providing extra help with childcare, training and support to find family-friendly work, while requiring those with children aged three to take steps to prepare for work and actively to seek employment once their youngest child is seven years old.

Housing Benefit will be reformed to ensure that we do not subsidise people to live in the private sector on rents that other ordinary working families could not afford. And we will continue to crack down on those who try to cheat the benefit system.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Make it illegal for employers to undercut wages by exploiting workers

Introduce a compulsory jobs guarantee, paid for by a Bank Bonus Tax

Parents shouldn't face the prospect of taking a job that ends up costing them more than they'll earn. We will give working parents 25 hours of free childcare for three and four-year-olds per week.

We will increase the National Minimum Wage to £8 an hour by the end of the next Parliament to help ensure that those doing a hard day's work are rewarded for doing so.

We will increase fines for employers who fail to pay the minimum wage and give local authorities a role in enforcement.

We will introduce 'Make Work Pay' contracts, giving a tax rebate to those companies that sign up to become living wage employers in the first year of the next Parliament.

We will abolish exploitative zero-hours contracts, with rules introduced to give new rights to employees on zero-hours contracts.

We will create a clear route for the forgotten 50 per cent, with a new gold standard Technical Baccalaureate for 16 to 19-year-olds, with rigorous vocational qualifications, accredited by employers, a high quality work placement and English and maths to 18.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Push for global targets to tackle inequality and promote human rights

Conduct a Strategic Defence and Security Review in the first year of government

Return Britain to a leadership role in Europe, but reform the EU so that it works for Britain

Guarantee no powers will be transferred to Brussels without an in/out referendum

Appoint an International LGBT Rights Envoy and a Global Envoy for Religious Freedom

Outlaw discrimination against and abuse of members of the Armed Forces

Enshrine the Military Covenant in the NHS Constitution

Push for global targets to tackle inequality and promote human rights

Establish a Centre for Universal Health Coverage

Push for an ambitious target in Paris to get to goal of net zero global emissions in the second half of this century.

Source: Labour party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

We will require large and medium sized companies to carry out an independently audited annual audit of their social and environmental impact.

Current trends such as subcontracting are eroding employment rights and adversely affecting the most disadvantaged in society. Short-term contracts shall not be used as a way of avoiding statutory rights.

Registers of genuinely self-employed workers will be set up in appropriate industries e.g. construction. Businesses using non registered labour will be automatically deemed to be employers.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

A Green approach to crime reduction therefore places significant focus on the social causes of crime. As well as social crime prevention, this includes a broader range of social policies which will lessen the social pressures, such as poverty, inequality or addiction to illegal drugs, to commit crime.

We will introduce the principle of "restorative justice", which while denouncing the crime, deals constructively with both the victim and the offender. The primary aim will be to restore and, if necessary, improve the position of the victim and the community; the offender will be required to make amends.

Creation of Department of Crime Prevention: in addition to traditional modes of crime prevention, these departments will also promote social crime prevention.

Creation of Departments of Justice: in addition to responsibility for the judicial system, sentencing policy and practice, these departments will also sponsor services such as assistance to victims.

Ensuring universal access to high quality youth facilities and open spaces.

Improving street lighting and ensuring people-friendly street design.

Ensuring prompt repairs of public amenities and spaces.

Increasing resources for caretakers, attendants and staff on estates, railway stations, parks and other public areas.

Tackling drug related crime by pursuing measures.

Appointment of more community and part-time police.

Recruitment to police forces emphasising selection of candidates with previous experience in other walks of life.

More local police stations.

A comprehensive strategy will be adopted to tackle, significantly reduce and ultimately end hate crime.

We will bring to an end the disproportionate targeting of ethnic minorities through stop and search.

The Green Party calls for the repeal of the Vagrancy Act 1824 because it is open to abuse by police and government. It discriminates against homeless people and wrongly labels them as criminals when their plight is a social problem.

Prisoners will be granted the right to vote. Any decision to deny a prisoner the vote will be taken only by a judge, taking into account the particular circumstances of his/her case.

When individuals fail to make reparation or to pay taxes, maintenance, or other moneys where the present penalty for non-payment is imprisonment, they will be required to make reparation for their default through service to the community if no other way of recovering the money is effective.

The physical and social standards of prisoners will be improved so that as far as possible the only limitation on the dignity of their lives will be the denial of freedom of movement outside the prison.

Existing women's prisons should be replaced with suitable geographically dispersed, small, multi-functional custodial centres.

Cannabis would be removed from the 1971 Misuse of drugs act. The possession, trade and cultivation of cannabis would be immediately decriminalised, roughly following the Dutch model.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

On inspection, there is little or no threat of direct invasion of the UK by any nation. Commitment to a large standing army, a navy of large warships around our coastline, squadrons of fighter planes and a cripplingly expensive missile defence system is therefore unnecessary.

Similarly, the unhelpful and aggressive concept of nuclear deterrence (with the inherent dangers of handling concentrated radioactive substances) is also redundant. As such, immediate nuclear disarmament would be a priority of a Green Government.

The role for military personnel in defending sensitive establishments would also be reduced by the fact that they would be severely reduced in number. At present the military has a sizeable commitment to defending itself, particularly facilities related to nuclear weaponry.

A residual role for military personnel would exist in detection and apprehension of criminals attempting to by-pass customs and immigration.

All serving personnel will be required to sign a pledge that they will not obey any order which would entail any breach of international law. In particular they will be able to disobey any order that required them to fire on unarmed civilians of their own or any other country.

We would reform the Territorial Army to become a body of both civilian and military volunteers, willing to contribute their services in times of domestic and international crisis. As such doctors, nurses, civil engineers, heavy plant drivers and administrators (for example) would be encouraged to make themselves available for reserve work.

The minimum age of recruitment to the Armed Forces will be 18 or older. All members of the Armed Forces will be entitled to the same rights as any civilian employee, including the rights to refuse orders on grounds of conscience and trade union membership.

Some military training areas should be decommissioned and used as nature reserves, with suitable provision for access by the public.

Weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons and biological weapons must be dismantled and banned by international agreement.

Sales of military equipment to other countries will be tightly controlled by a stricter licensing system involving the Foreign Office, Ministry of Defence, Department for International Development, and Revenue and Customs.

It is deeply regrettable that the EU has taken the first steps towards militarisation, by the formation of the so-called Rapid Reaction Force. Our primary aim is to reverse this process.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is a military-oriented body, which imposes conflict cessation rather than encouraging peace building. As such, it is not a sustainable mechanism for maintaining peace in the world. We would take the UK out of NATO unilaterally. We would also end the so-called "special relationship" between the UK and the US.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

A 50% income tax would be payable by those that earn more than £100,000 a year.

People worth £3m or more would pay a wealth tax of 1%-2%.

Railways and energy companies would be renationalised.

Interest rates on the lending of money should be capped at a reasonable rate linked to the Bank of England interest rate. Any money lent should always be preceded by sufficient credit checks.

We would introduce limits on the sizes of banks: no bank operating in the UK would be permitted to have access to more than 10% of the domestic market or 5% of the global market.

A Green government will create a Green National Investment Bank out of one or more of the currently 'nationalised' banks. This bank would focus on funding the move to a green economy by investment in green technologies, renewables, energy efficiency programmes, and providing funds for worker-led buyouts of medium and largesized companies.

Personal tax-free allowances will be abolished, having effectively been replaced by the Citizen's Income. Income Tax will be levied on all income above the Citizen's Income. A Citizen's Income sufficient to cover an individual's basic needs will be introduced, which will replace tax-free allowances and most social security benefits.

Under a green taxation system, National Insurance will be abolished as a separate entity and merged into general Income Tax.

Capital Gains Tax exemptions/thresholds will also be removed with the exception of a person's only or main home which will continue to be exempt.

Inheritance Tax will be reformed so that it is calculated on a "recipient basis" (i.e. with reference to the circumstances of the person receiving the inheritance rather than the donor).

The Green Party would close any existing loopholes so that company profits earned in the UK were taxed here, even where this would mean that profits of trans-national corporations may be taxed twice - once in the UK and again in a foreign country.

The Green Party would phase out VAT over a period of time and replace it with a system of environmental taxation measures ("eco-taxes").

We will explore the feasibility of a tax on superstar performances which is hypothecated to local cultural enterprises.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

We will move towards a system in which early years education extends until the age of 6. This will mean that academic learning is not introduced until the age of 6. That does not preclude those who wish to enter their children into school earlier from doing so.

There will be greater health involvement in these [early] important years and health visitors will make regular visits to all early years establishments.

It will continue to be compulsory for all young people to be educated between the years of 7-16. From the age of 14 this may be provided through a variety of contexts including through skills and practical training, vocational placements and at Youth Schools.

The Green Party will abolish external SATS exams and the Year 1 Phonics Test.

The Green Party will abolish league tables in their current form as they give an over-inflated impression of schools with a higher ability intake which can contribute towards problems with admissions.

The Green Party will instate a system of local accountability using continuous, collaborative assessment of schools. We would replace OFSTED with an independent National Council of Educational Excellence which would have regional officers tasked to work closely with Local Authorities.

We will conduct pilot projects to explore the benefits of all-year- round opening of schools; at the same time, we will also encourage greater community use of school buildings and equipment.

In the long run we would work towards class sizes of 20 at both secondary and primary level.

We would also work towards having smaller schools with a maximum size of 700 for secondary schools. There is evidence that smaller schools have a more positive ethos which can reduce behavioural problems.

Existing large schools will be supported to reorganise internally into smaller communities ('mini-schools').

Schools which remain in the private sector would be classed as a business and have all charitable status removed; they would pay all relevant taxes such as VAT and Corporation Tax.

The Green Party is opposed to creating more Academies and Free Schools and will support community, school and parent campaigns that share this aim. The Green Party will integrate Academies and Free Schools into the Local Authority school system.

The Green Party will allow no new grammar schools and gradually integrate grammar and secondary modern schools into the comprehensive system.

Where parents still choose to educate their children at home this would be supported by Local Authorities which would work to ensure that all young people have a broad and diverse education of a high quality.

We will abolish the requirement for a compulsory daily act of worship. Schools which choose to continue to hold acts of worship will provide an alternative activity for learners who choose not to take part.

It will be a minimum requirement that all children are provided free of charge with a balanced nutritious lunch including local and organic non-GM food, free from additives.

The Green Party opposes the introduction of performance related pay in education.

Under a Green government there would be no student loans as there would be no tuition fees and living costs would be met by Citizen's Income.

There will be a minimum requirement for Universities and Higher Education Institutions to offer a free creche to students and staff, nappy changing and breast-feeding facilities as well as religious facilities such as prayer spaces to cater for people from a wide range of ages, religions and ethnic backgrounds.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Ban fracking, phase out coal power stations and say no to new nuclear.

The Green Party calls for the establishment of annual targets for global and national greenhouse gas emissions reductions, and for the establishment of effective enforcement mechanisms. The Green Party policies shall be consistent with the UK doing its fair share in achieving RCP2.6 greenhouse gas level targets or similar pathways described in the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Emissions Gap Reports.

The Green Party calls for the establishment of a number of targets for global and national greenhouse gas emissions reductions, and for the establishment of effective enforcement mechanisms. All targets herein relate to a baseline of emissions in 1990, as in the Kyoto Protocol.

We should aim steadily to reduce all UK greenhouse gas emissions to 10% of their 1990 levels by 2030.

The Green Party calls for urgent replacement of the Kyoto Protocol with a new protocol which meets the requirement for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in line with prevailing science and which has an equal focus on safeguarding carbon sinks.

In line with party policy on applying the precautionary principle, the Green Party calls for an immediate moratorium on agrofuels from largescale monocultures - a period for scientists and policy makers in the EU and western nations to gain a greater understanding of the true impacts on the social, human rights, land rights, climate impact, and biodiversity impact issues.

he Green Party also calls for a moratorium on the use and development of genetically engineered crops and trees, microbes and fungi for the production of any biofuels including agrofuels, due to the high environmental risks involved in GM technology.

The Green Party calls for an emergency international agreement to stop global deforestation. This must be developed as a priority and implemented in full consultation with the local and indigenous communities recognising traditional land rights.

The Green Party believes that we all have an obligation to live within the natural limits of our environment and to adopt lifestyles that will not irrevocably damage the environment for future generations.

Increase the area and quality of woods, orchards, agroforestry, hedges and other tree cover.

Ensure food security, integrating human health and wellbeing, environmental protection, animal welfare and decent livelihoods for farmers, farm workers and growers.

The Green Party will make it a general offence to cause cruelty to wild animals or suffering where it can be practicably avoided.

The Green Party will ensure that wildlife-rich sites are adequately protected and extend a basic level of habitat protection to the whole countryside. We will ensure that there are sufficient resources to enforce the legislation.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

We will resist all attempts to introduce a 'barrier round Europe' shutting out non-Europeans or giving them more restricted rights of movement within Europe than European Nationals.

While remaining opposed in principle to the Single Market as currently envisaged, the Green Party believes that Greens in Europe must attempt to mitigate its effects.

A Europe wide and co-ordinated attack on corporate tax evasion, including offshore banking centres, and the regulation of corporate investments in a manner involving the wishes of the affected community.

The Green Party supports the closure of all nuclear programmes in the EU and elsewhere as soon as technically feasible.

Enforce restrictions on fishing within the Common Fisheries Policy, and where necessary take appropriate action to prevent the destruction of fisheries by over exploitation.

The Green Party does not wish the European Union to become a continental military power. The EU should neither adopt the WEU as its military arm nor become the European pillar of NATO. We seek the dissolution of both those military alliances.

In the long-term The Green Party wants to see the disbandment of NATO, and its replacement by a well resourced Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The Green Party opposes the creation of a European Army and its precursors such as the Rapid Reaction Force, and the use of the EU to sustain military adventures. We are particularly opposed to suggestions that there should be "Eurobomb" nuclear capability.

The best structure at the European level through which to pursue basic human rights is the European Convention on Human Rights, with its own Court and Commission.

The Green Party believes that any European country which wants to join the European Union should be able to do so if it the country is a democracy, respect human rights, have a free press, an independent judiciary, a commitment to environmental standards at least equal to those demanded in the EU, civilian control of the military, and be at peace both outside and within its borders.

Whilst the Green Party is opposed to the objectives, structure and policies of the EU as currently constituted, as long as the U.K. remains a member of the EU the Green Party will stand in elections to the European Parliament and elected Green MEPs will work for fundamental reform of the EU from within.

Any UK decision to withdraw from the EU shall be subject to a referendum.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Nannies will be registered on a national register, enabling families to check the suitability of their potential employee. The treatment of au pairs will be regulated to stop them from being exploited by their employers.

Provide a comprehensive, free family planning service, available to everyone, in convenient high-street locations, funded by a separate budget within the NHS. This will include information, facilities and the materials necessary for people to plan their families.

Ensure that condoms are supplied free on demand from chemists and at a subsidised price from machines in public places.

The age of consent should be the same for everyone irrespective of their sexual orientation. It should be 16 years of age.

The Green Party deplores the ban on same-sex civil marriage and is committed to repealing it. We support civil marriage equality and believe that a same sex couple should have exactly the same right to get married in a registry office as an opposite sex couple.

The Green Party also supports an end to the ban on civil partnerships being conducted in places of worship whilst recognising it is up to religious bodies to make this decision and not for the state to dictate to them prohibitions on civil partnerships.

The existing [BBC] licence fee will be abolished and in the first instance replaced by a guaranteed inflation linked payment from general taxation.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

The Central Parliament needs to be prepared to surrender many of its traditional powers, and actively assist in the process of decentralisation. To this end, Parliament has a number of key roles to play - first, to devolve functions to more local bodies; second, to lift its hold over councils and enable them to realise their potential; and third, to work with the Constitutional Commission to meet demands from local Government to take on responsibility for resources and functions which are currently dealt with at too high a level by central Government and the private sector.

A Bill of political rights will be enacted at the earliest opportunity to prohibit oppressive actions by unrepresentative Governments and inaccessible bureaucracies.

Legislation will be introduced to provide for referenda to be held on any government decision at the instance of a prescribed percentage of that body's electorate.

When a Bill of Rights has been enacted, a prescribed percentage of the citizens of any area shall be able to take a Citizens' Initiative, whereby they place a proposition on a ballot paper for popular vote. Should the proposition succeed the result will, subject to the law, be binding on the relevant government body.

The right to vote and stand in elections will be based on residence rather than nationality.

The voting age for all elections, and the age at which people may take seats at any level of Government, would be reduced to 16.

All terms for elected representatives to all levels of Government shall be fixed in length, except when a seat is taken following a by-election. Each Parliament at Westminster should normally be for a fixed term of four years, but if the Government loses a vote of confidence in the House of Commons before the end of the fixed term then an earlier General Election should be held.

UK political parties will be funded by the State. Such political funding will be calculated and administered on a regional basis, and funds allocated in proportion to the number of votes cast in the region in the last round of proportional representation elections held across the entire region.

The Green Party will work for the abolition of the City of London Corporation and the special statuses it enjoys, including its international ambassadorial role for the finance industries, its special status under freedom of information legislation, the postition of "City remembrancer" within the House of Commons, and its right to demand meetings with democratic institutions and the monarchy.

In a Green society, the UK central government will have less power than it currently has - with many of its functions being taken over by local authorities or the regions.

Central Government currently revolves around the Prime Minister and the Cabinet, with the role of Parliament greatly diminished. The most important reform needed to redress this imbalance is the move to proportional representation. This will help to bring an end to the traditional dominance of two political parties in Britain.

A First Minister would also be elected by the central Parliament as a whole, who would be responsible for chairing a committee, the Coordination Committee, of all the convenors of parliamentary committees.

The House of Lords, as presently constituted, has no legitimate mandate because it is not elected. It should be abolished and replaced by a second chamber directly elected by proportional representation.

Members of the second chamber would be elected to serve for a period of ten years.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Funding will be diverted away from centralised facilities towards community healthcare, illness prevention and health promotion.

Community Health Centres will be the focal points for self-help and community-based initiatives and will also provide a wide range of services including primary healthcare, and health education and health promotion programmes.

A variety of specialist services, in particular midwifery, obstetrics, family planning, counselling and psychiatry, will also be available.

It becomes an offence to stop nursing mothers from breastfeeding their children in public places (including the breastfeeding of toddlers in premises where children are already allowed). Businesses that break the law, or whose employees break the law, will face significant fines.

Councils are required to provide breastfeeding facilities in all their significant buildings open to the public, such as town halls and libraries.

The Green Party is opposed to the development of "Foundation Hospitals" which, although argued to be locally controlled, could actually result in reduced democratic accountability given that they will be unanswerable to parliament or local authorities.

Foundation Hospitals are in fundamental opposition to the Green Party policy of the public health service remaining fully funded by public taxation, given that they are required to produce a profit and are able to seek commercial partnerships.

We lament the disappearance of the School Nurse and would therefore bring back a dedicated NHS School Nurse in every school, both at primary and secondary level.

Prescription, and other charges, are wrong in principle, unfair in practice, and generate little income for the Health Service. They will be abolished as soon as possible.

The Green Party will support a change in the law to remove the requirement for two doctors to approve a woman's decision to have an abortion, and will support a change in the law to allow the procedure to be carried out by appropriately trained nurses and midwives up to three months of pregnancy.

The Green Party will not support any change to the current laws on abortions which would aim to make it more difficult for women to obtain them.

Assisted death presents moral and legal concerns to health care professionals and the public. We believe that people have a right to an assisted death within the following framework.

The Green Party recognises that suicide is the biggest killer of young men in the UK. We would ensure that local authorities took preventative action in terms of well-known suicide spots. For example, installing barriers and anti-suicide nets on bridges where suicides have taken place.

The Green Party would also introduce a complete ban on the promotion of tobacco and alcohol products, including sponsorship, advertising (direct or indirect) and product placement on remuneration or reward.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

National government has considerable powers to alleviate the housing crisis. However, many of the policies required are more suited to implementation locally, enabled and assisted by national government.

The Green Party proposes introducing LVT (previously known as Community Ground Rent) as a tax payable on the annual value of land. The valuation would be of the land alone, exempting all buildings on it, recent and future improvements to it, or minerals extracted from it. LVT would therefore not be a tax on the rent of buildings, the value of crops, manufactured products or the product of other forms of work.

Disincentives to the speculative ownership of housing will be introduced, including higher rates of Council Tax for unoccupied properties and second homes.

The Green Party seeks to increase the amount of social housing and commonly owned housing as representing the best way of ensuring an availability of affordable housing.

All new houses will be built to improved standards for accessibility, space and facilities, ergonomics, sound and thermal insulation, and energy efficiency. Design standards shall also include consideration of social factors, such as the need for privacy and the need for community focal points.

All new housing will be designed for low energy use, and the same standards applied retrospectively to existing houses where practicable. All sellers of houses will make energy use estimates available to buyers.

Self-build schemes will be encouraged. When unemployed people work on such schemes they shall not be subject to withdrawal of social security benefit.

A duty will be placed on local authorities to provide suitable sites for travellers.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

The Green Party would progressively reduce controls on UK immigration.

We will replace existing British Immigration law with an Immigration law which does not discriminate directly.

We will allow the partners, prospective partners, immediate families and prospective families of British residents to join them without excessive delays or unreasonable requirements for proof of relationship.

A person's right to stay will not be linked to that of partners or families but will be independent. Families will not be divided by deportation unless the deportee poses a serious danger to public safety.

We will abolish the 'primary purpose' rule under which partners are refused entry if it is thought that the primary purpose of relationship is for them to gain entry to the UK.

We will allow the victims of past errors in immigration decisions to come to the UK where these decisions have resulted in continuing serious deprivation.

Migrants illegally in the UK for over five years will be allowed to remain unless they pose a serious danger to public safety.

We will aim to ensure that UK immigration control takes place primarily at ports of entry so that no resident is required to carry proof of residence.

No prospective immigrant will be held in detention for migration-related reasons, other than in the most exceptional circumstances, eg a prospective migrant who poses a serious danger to public safety.

We will provide advice and assistance in appropriate languages at ports of entry and provide legal aid for immigration cases.

The party would introduce additional legal rights for asylum seekers.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

HS2 (High Speed 2) rail network would be scrapped.

Councils would be allowed to impose additional business rates on 'out-of-town' supermarkets in order to fund other local businesses.

Rail and bus fairs would be cut by an average of 10%.

The most obviously sustainable fuel is human muscle power, which is used when walking and cycling. Therefore, these two modes appear at the top of our hierarchy. Animal powered transport, in particular horse powered transport, is also sustainable provided that sufficient care is taken to ensure animal welfare.

The Green Party seeks to dramatically reduce the production of carbon dioxide from all methods of transport. The principle means of doing this are by demand reduction and modal shift.

The Green Party would increase road fuel tax incrementally until the revenue of fuel tax covers a high proportion of road traffic's external costs, with adjustments for transport use and the nature of the fuel.

The Green Party supports the introduction of fuel tax on aviation fuel and emission charges and increased landing charges on aircraft.

The Green Party will introduce a vehicle purchase tax on the purchase of all new vehicles, which would be steeply graded according to a vehicle's pollution level, fuel consumption and type of fuel.

In the short term, road charging should be introduced where road space is most congested and where traffic causes most pollution. These would be expected to be in urban areas and in areas that attract large numbers of tourists.

Maximum permissible lorry weights to 38 tonnes and adopt increasing taxation on vehicles of more than 20 tonnes. Lorry movements on Sundays should be prohibited throughout the EU as a first step to cutting long distance road freight.

There would be no new road building or widening schemes implemented except for essential access.

The Green Party would introduce a 20 mph limit throughout built up areas, including villages.

In rural areas, apart from trunk roads, the maximum speed limit would be 40 mph. Local communities would be encouraged to set lower limits on country lanes where pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders would be particularly vulnerable.

A national network of longer distance cycle routes will be encouraged, within which local networks will be connected. However, the priority in cycling provision will be for local needs.

The Green Party believes that the rail system, including track and operators, needs to be publicly owned, and would seek to bring the service back into public ownership.

The testing of drivers will also be made more comprehensive and stricter to include hazard awareness and environmental aspects and knowledge of working of vehicles. Driving tests would be done at regular intervals (e.g. 5 years) to ensure that drivers remain competent.

The Green Party will reduce the permitted level of alcohol [for motorists] to as close to zero, allowing for natural levels.

All speed limits would be rigorously enforced, as would any other regulations relating to drivers of vehicles (including public transport). Greater use will be made of automatic cameras and other speed measurement.

Driving without a valid licence or insurance will be penalised with immediate confiscation of the vehicle.

Vehicles would not be permitted for road use that had the ability to travel at greater speeds than the majority of EU national maximum speed levels.

All major airports should be taken into public ownership.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

In the short term the Citizens' Income will provide for a proportion of housing costs. To allow for regional variations, this will be supplemented by a specific housing benefit. This will be payable to all, regardless of their forms of tenure. It will be means tested, and related to rent or mortgage repayments.

In the long term the Citizens' Income will be sufficient to cover basic housing costs. Other benefits and tax reliefs will be gradually phased out.

The use of inappropriate short term accommodation (including hostels and bed and breakfast accommodation) as a way of complying with the duty to the homeless will be ended.

Better use of empty privately owned property will be achieved by empowering local authorities to use Empty Property Use Orders.

In the short term the Green Party would restore Income Support to people aged 16-25 to the same level to which those over 25 years old are entitled. In the long term the Citizens' Income Scheme is designed to eradicate poverty throughout society.

Retirement means that people no longer get paid for the work they do but that does not mean they stop working. The Green Party's Citizen Income scheme would enable retirement age to be completely flexible recognising that some want to retire as soon as possible and others want to continue working.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

Citizen's income of at least £72 per week given to all citizens.

The Green Party supports a national minimum wage until a Citizens' Income scheme has been fully introduced.

Minimum wage raised to £7.65, which is the same as the living wage.

The Green Party will support and improve legislation to make it an offence to harass or discriminate directly or indirectly against people at work, on grounds of race, sex, family status or responsibilities, disability, sexual orientation, religious belief, age, political opinion or physical appearance. This will include people who are disadvantaged by reason of resistance to discrimination.

Every person should have an opportunity to challenge an employer who has "wrongly & unfairly refused to employ them", or failed to provide equal access to training & promotion.

CVs should be anonymised during the hiring procedure to prevent pre-interview discrimination on the basis of an individual's race or gender.

There should be a legal right to at least 28 days (or 196 hours) paid holiday in a calendar year, in addition to public holidays, for those employed at least 35 hours per week. This should apply pro-rata for those employed less hours per week or for shorter periods; it won't apply to people working fixed term contracts of less than 60 days.

We are committed in the medium-term to a reduction in working hours to an average of 35 hours per week. The Green Party will enact legislation in order to bring about this change.

Someone wishing to leave their current employment shall not be disqualified from claiming unemployment or other social benefits.

We support the right to join a trade union, and condemn discrimination by employers against union members.

Dismissal of a worker for refusing to cross a picket line shall be unfair. Lockouts shall be illegal.

We will grant employees the legal right to buy out their companies and turn them into workers co-operatives. Buy outs would be funded by a Green National Investment Bank and contingent on the co-ops following green and ethical policies.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.

The United Nations should be reformed and democratised. The current national basis for membership should be extended to include regional (sub-national) representation and all representatives should be democratically selected. The WTO, International Monetary Fund, World Bank and similar bodies should also be reformed, democratised, or replaced.

Expertise in the UK military in disaster support will continue to be offered for UN operations and harnessed in the training of civilian volunteers. We will aim to put a standing body of unarmed units, under the aegis of the UN, ready to respond to civil disasters such as floods, earthquakes and hurricanes.

All permanent seats on the UN Security Council should be abolished, all nations should take a seat in turn, continents should be represented in proportion to their populations, and decisions should be made by a 2/3 majority.

All foreign debts owed by countries officially defined as "Least Developed" should immediately be written off by concerted international action, as well as those of all other countries which need such support in order to meet their MDG targets.

British aid should become 0.7 percent of Gross National Product (GNP) within five years and 1.0 percent of GNP within ten years. Emergency aid, aid to dependent territories and debt relief should be an addition to this.

British emergency and recovery aid should be allocated in proportion to objectively assessed needs. UK-funded humanitarian action should be guided solely by the principles of humanity, neutrality and impartiality, and should be independent from political, military, economic or other objectives.

The British Government should institute capital controls to ensure money made by trans-national corporations in Britain is re-invested here.

The Green Party believes that all Israelis, Palestinians, and their families should have and be able to exercise full human and civil rights throughout Israel, Palestine and the occupied territories in Palestine. Israel must be subject to the Geneva Convention concerning the rights of individuals and communities, in the same way that other states are.

The Green Party calls for the implementation of United Nations Resolutions 194, 242 and 338, which addressed the problems created by Israeli conquests in the wars of 1948, 1967 and 1973.

The Green Party calls on Israel to evacuate the illegal settlements within the occupied territories of Palestine.

We would promote town twinning, exchange visits, and Internet-based methods for learning about other countries and cultures by direct contact.

Source: Green party website, existing manifesto or officially-published policies.