Cllr Gareth Kitchen

I was elected as a lowly district councillor on a manifesto that clearly stated: "Trans men are men, trans women are women, and non-binary identities exist and are valid." I stand firmly behind these principles.

However, I'm often asked: "Why can't members be kicked out for being transphobic?"

The reality is complex but this is my personal understanding of the law, not a statement from the party.

Under the Equality Act 2010, gender-critical beliefs are legally protected philosophical beliefs. The EHRC's own guidance for political parties is clear: a party cannot expel a member because of a protected characteristic and that includes holding those beliefs.

Expulsion is only lawful where it's for conduct or a genuine rule breach, not the belief itself, for example:

1. Specific actions taken while expressing those views violate party rules on harassment or bullying.

OR

1. Removing someone from a spokesperson or officer role may be permissible where it's about party presentation, but even that must be handled fairly and for genuine non-belief reasons, as the courts have already reminded us.

In any court or tribunal, once a claimant shows facts suggesting discrimination, the burden shifts to the party to demonstrate the expulsion was due to conduct, not the belief. This principle has been established by the courts since 2021, and it aligns with the European Convention on Human Rights.

Also, this isn't theoretical. My party is currently navigating live legal challenges on exactly this issue, and courts have already ruled against it once and we need to be honest about that.

So, this is the uncomfortable landscape we all have to navigate. We must balance protecting our trans members from harassment while respecting the legal rights of members who hold differing philosophical views. But let me be clear. I know that for our trans members, this isn't some abstract legal puzzle, it's alarming, exhausting and personal. I'm listening and I'm learning, every day, but my commitment to you hasn't wavered, and it won't.

#EqualityAct #ukpol #TransRights #GreenParty

🌿 Did you know Nigel Farage used to vote Green? 🌿

Yes, really! Before UKIP existed, Farage cast his ballot for the Greens, way back in their late-1980s Eurosceptic era. A lot has changed since then.

This article in The Political Quarterly traces the remarkable journey of the Green Party of England and Wales over the past decade. From a niche protest party to the strongest local election results in our history in 2026 (587 council seats won, 1,357 councillors, six Green-led councils, including my own Stroud!).

Along the way we’ve layered anti-austerity politics, pro-Europeanism and a growing voice on international justice onto our enduring environmental core. But we remain the most ideologically distinctive party in England by some distance.

And it turns out Farage’s old vote wasn’t the only surprise in this story. The Greens are winning in rural areas too. Like my own ward, a market town in the heart of Gloucestershire. The eco-populist turn under Zack Polanski had us briefly polling above both Labour and the Conservatives? 📈

Read the full piece to see how a party founded in 1973 as the “Ecology Party” became a permanent fixture of British politics:

🔗 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-923x.70119

#ukpol #GreenParty #GPEW #farage #FromProtestToPluralism 🌍

A false news story originating in the Times was peddled by a host of right-wing outlets yesterday including GB News, the Telegraph and Express. The story was about a motion to conference allegedly calling for a ban on police carrying tasers and pepper spray.  

The Green Party comms team hit back, demanding the stories be withdrawn.

A statement said:

The Times published a false story based on an outdated draft of a policy motion which The Times contacted us about over six weeks ago. The wording on tasers and pepper spray was withdrawn from the draft motion back in May. The final motion presented to conference includes no mention of tasers or pepper spray. The Times contacted us for right of reply on 10 July and the Press Office responded letting them know it was a draft policy. The Times did not contact us prior to publishing this story to check whether it was still accurate… Unfortunately these falsehoods have been repeated… in many other outlets… Anyone who has repeated these claims online or in print - should retract them as soon as possible and issue a correction and an apology.

This led to a number of publications altering their articles. We are still waiting for apologies.

#ukpol #GBNews #GreenParty #ukpol

There are around 200 berths at that marina where Zack and his partner lived. Over the last 35 years, that would mean many hundreds of different boats ⛵.

Apparently, only ONE ever registered for council tax 😳 whilst nine people had registered to vote at a bungalow on the property.

So, Zack Polanski was one of the hundreds who didn’t realise the rules applied. The council never chased anyone there. He’s now contacting them to sort any shortfall ✅.

What was sold as “Zack Polanski dodging council tax” is actually a story about hundreds of boaters not understanding the rules, not paying, and a council not enforcing them. A genuine mistake that’s being fixed.

This really does seem like a concerted effort to tarnish Polanski over an error that hundreds of others at the same marina have also made.

#GreenParty #ukpol

See the facts, not the fiction; read our real policies below.

[1] “Greens want to abolish air travel”. This is false. We’re not proposing to abolish air travel. We advocate for a frequent-flyer levy, a ban on domestic flights for journeys that could be completed by train in less than three hours, and a halt to airport expansion

[2] “Greens want to end meat and dairy”. Wrong. We support improved animal welfare in the meat and dairy industry, but we’re not calling for any kind of ban. Our position emphasises sustainable practices and British-sourced farming above all.

[3] “Greens want to force home degrowth”. Wrong again. Our housing policy is to invest £29 billion over five years; insulating existing homes to slash the cost of living, building new social and affordable housing, and improving energy efficiency.

[4] “Greens want to abolish capitalism”. Another media smear, headline lie. We advocate for greater regulation, public ownership of key utilities (like rail, water, and energy), and to tax extreme wealth. We are not calling for the abolition of capitalism or the free market. Who makes up this garbage?

[5] “Greens want to disband NATO”. Nope. We support NATO reform, a “no first use” nuclear weapons policy, and reducing spending while supporting international laws that protect us, but we have not called for NATO to be disbanded.

[6] “Greens will abolish the police”. More lies. We propose restoring youth services, community-based policing, rehabilitation programmes and ending violence against women and girls; we’re not calling for the police to be abolished.

[7] “They will open the borders without controls”. Our policy calls for a fair and humane system of managed immigration, whilst supporting the ending of hellish detention centres for most migrants.

[8] “They will redefine family and gender”. Wrong. We support self-identification and oppose discrimination against trans and non-binary people, that’s all.

[9] “Greens will force Universal Basic Income”. False again. We support TRIALING Universal Basic Income, but as part of a broader reform of welfare to ensure economic security.

[10] “They will ban nuclear energy”. Not really, no. We oppose new nuclear for safety reasons, high costs and waste issues, instead prioritising renewables such as wind, solar, and tidal, which are cheaper, quicker to implement and more efficient in the long term.

[11] “Greens want to legalise crack cocaine”. One last time… WRONG. We want to decriminalise, not legalise drugs. This means supporting those victims of drug addiction, rather than penalising them; it’s even been proven to work in a number of European countries. Drug supply will still be illegal.

#GreenParty #ukpol

The Holborn and St Pancras by- election will be a referendum on ending rip-off Britain. Only the Greens have a real plan for real hope and change. Keir Starmer’s legacy is not a legacy to be proud of, it is a legacy of shame - one that only the Greens can draw a line under and offer a real alternative.

#GreenParty #ukpol #KeirStarmer #ZackPolanski

My favourite Green Party graph. Simple but VERY clear on how things are going. :)

https://join.greenparty.org.uk/

#GreenParty #ukpol

GB News has announced it's cutting up to a third of its workforce, as losses mount and advertisers steer clear of its toxic content.

https://www.thenewworld.co.uk/rats-in-a-sack-gb-news-faces-a-swathe-of-job-cuts/

#ukpol

https://join.greenparty.org.uk/

#ukpol #GreenParty #BacktrackBurnham

The establishment are losing control of the narrative, the thrashing out is increasing, the spell is breaking, the fear they feel tells them they are losing power.

VOTE GREEN.

https://join.greenparty.org.uk/

#ukpol #GreenParty

🐥 🐕‍🦺 Skylarks are nesting and now is a crucial time to help protect them. These ground nesting birds are easily disturbed, and even a brief interruption can cause nests to fail.

From 1 March to 31 July, dogs must be kept on a lead no longer than 2 metres on open access land like many commons. This requirement is part of strengthened dog control laws that came into force on 18 March 2026, with tougher penalties for irresponsible behaviour in the countryside.

Please help skylarks and other wildlife thrive by keeping dogs on leads during the breeding season and following the Countryside Code.

A small action can make a big difference 💚

🌿 Good news for Gloucestershire communities! 🌿

The Community Climate Adaptation Fund is now open for applications — supporting local projects that help communities prepare for and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

💰 Grants available: £2,000 – £4,999 📅 Deadline: Wednesday 30th September 2026

Whether it’s flood resilience, green infrastructure, or community-led sustainability projects, this fund could help make it happen.

Find out more and apply here: 🔗 https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/planning-and-environment/greener-gloucestershire-dashboard/climate-adaptation-fund-2026

#Gloucestershire #ClimateChange #CommunityFunding #GreenGloucestershire #ClimateAdaptation #GreenParty

Nice :)

As Labour, Daily Mail, Spectator and all other vested interests ramp up their attacks on us we find that our message of hope breaks through….. :)

https://join.greenparty.org.uk/

#GreenParty #ukpol

Just caught up with Jeremy Corbyn speaking with Zack…… Even praise (sort of) for Thatcher right at the end!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRO6XuEmqR4

#ukpol #GreenParty

Measures to tackle the cost-of-living, climate change and inequality Hannah Spencer MP said:

My Green colleagues and I are so incredibly disappointed in this King’s Speech, but it’s not a surprise. In the wake of a devastating set of local election results for the Labour Party, the Prime Minister and the government should have used this opportunity to lay out an urgent, transformative, progressive programme to redistribute wealth, tackle the nature and climate crisis and make life affordable for everyone.

My Green colleagues and I will seek to amend the government’s plans to include the urgent action needed to bring down people’s bills – rent controls, nationalising water, freezing energy prices, and taxing wealth. We need to see these measures despite the Labour Party’s drama, and even if there’s a different Prime Minister this time tomorrow!

I’m disappointed that instead of using this opportunity to get behind the Green Party’s demands, the government has laid out more of the same fiddling around the edges. There’s some positive movement on democratic reform and EU alignment, but also worrying double-downs on airport expansion and their cruel, unworkable immigration policy.

I was elected to give a voice to a politics that represents everyone. This is the first King’s Speech I have been in Parliament to hear, and I haven’t heard anywhere near enough to make meaningful changes to people’s lives. It’s a missed opportunity, it’s disappointing, and it’s out of touch. The people of this country deserve so much more.

The amendment will include:

• Freezing energy prices in July to stop them going up by over £300
• New powers to control rents
• Funding for councils to buy existing homes from private landlords
• Water utilities to be brought back into public ownership
• Free bus passes for under 22s
• Universal free school meals
• Further measures to tax fossil fuel companies and the extreme wealth of billionaires and multimillionaires

#GreenParty #ukpol

Clive Lewis MP:-

Morgan McSweeney’s resignation should not be treated as a cleansing moment. He was not an aberration. He was the tip of an iceberg.

What he represents is a political culture that has dominated Labour for a generation. A culture forged under Blair and Mandelson that taught the party to be relaxed about extreme wealth, comfortable in the orbit of billionaires, lobbyists and corporate power, and increasingly detached from the lives of the people it was created to represent.

The Mandelson scandal matters because it exposes that culture in its rawest form. Proximity to wealth and power was not a by-product. It was the point. Access was normalised. Influence was laundered as ‘serious politics’. Moral judgement was dulled by the belief that being close to money and power was a sign of maturity rather than capture.

That mindset hollowed Labour out. It replaced a party rooted in working-class life with a professional political caste fluent in donor networks, private dinners and elite reassurance, while communities were told to accept decline as the price of ‘responsible’ government. Politics became about managing optics and markets, not challenging vested interests or redistributing power.

McSweeney’s departure changes none of that on its own. Unless Labour confronts the culture that rewarded closeness to wealth, blurred ethical lines and treated democratic accountability as an inconvenience, this will amount to little more than damage limitation.

Remove one operator and the system that produced him remains. And unless that system is dismantled, Labour will continue to lose its moral authority, its social base, and ultimately its right to govern, leaving the ground clear for forces far worse to exploit the wreckage.

It really is hard to see how Labour, let alone Starmer, can recover from this.

#ukpol

The Green Party’s co-deputy leader, Mothin Ali, has told Middle East Eye he fears for his life and has faced death threats after Conservative MP Alec Shelbrooke made a false claim about him in parliament which Keir Starmer appeared to agree with.

They will get me killed. Over the last couple of days I’ve received about 20 death threats. He can say what he wants in there and get away with it. I want to see how brave he is. Will he repeat this outside parliament?

#ukpol #GreenParty #MothinAli

We’re living in Labour’s head and running their campaign strategy. :)

I’d love to meet the genius who came up with “The Green Party does not deserve your vote.” Great work lads!

https://join.greenparty.org.uk/

#GreenParty #ukpol

Whoop-de-do. The OPCC have referred me to the Monitoring Officer over my report on this months Police & Crime Panel. :( Sigh. I don’t think they understand that Greens do politics differently…..

@eco_g@listed.to

#ukpol #police #gloucestershire

Pitching a draft for the next manifesto.

#GreenParty #ukpol

Some of the UK’s most critical industries are also its most exposed. Its banking and telecommunications sectors (both at 95%) are the two most dependent, and nearly 90% of publicly listed utilities companies use US tech. Basically, if Britons want to make a phone call, withdraw cash, or turn on a light, the overwhelming odds are that the infrastructure behind it runs on foreign tech. That’s a critical weakness for any nation’s infrastructure.

https://proton.me/business/europe-tech-watch