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IEA - The Green Party is unrealistic when it comes to the deficit
Reaction to the launch of the Green Party's Manifesto
Commenting on the Green Party’s manifesto, Mark Littlewood, Director General at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said:
“When the UK’s annual deficit remains at £90 billion, committing to ending austerity is economically illiterate.
“Far from fostering a fair economy, proposals for renationalisation, a higher minimum wage, and the removal of private operators in healthcare would be detrimental to the population and the public purse.”
On raising the minimum wage, Mark Littlewood said:
“Raising the minimum wage would hit the most vulnerable hardest. Youth unemployment is still precariously high and the best way to combat this is by making young, unskilled workers more attractive to employers. A minimum wage of £10 an hour will achieve the opposite.”
On renationalising the railways, Mark Littlewood said:
“The appalling mismanagement of the nationalised rail infrastructure network demonstrates the total folly of the Green Party’s proposal to renationalise the train operating companies.”
On removing the private sector from healthcare, Mark Littlewood said:
“Hostility towards the role of the market in healthcare is misplaced. The success of Social Health Insurance systems in Europe shows that, rather than being at odds with high quality care, combining different sources of funding has led to empowered patients and superior performance. Embracing more market orientated models of healthcare would dramatically improve the state of the NHS.”
Notes to editors:
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The mission of the Institute of Economic Affairs is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems.
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