German Greens are in Government, the English Have 1 Seat - TLDR News

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1 - www.ft.com/content/c6c0e8c6-0...
2 - yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/...
3 - www.electoral-reform.org.uk/w...
4 - www.theguardian.com/politics/...
5 - www.euractiv.com/section/elec...
6 - www.institutmontaigne.org/en/...

[@TLDRnews]

TWO QUICK THINGS: 1. We do know that there is no 'British' Green Party and that the one we're referring to is the Green Party of England and Wales (in fact I think that's noted in the video). In the title were just using UK as shorthand as having "the Green Party of England and Wales" is just too long for a YT title 2. I'm hoping that the people commenting this video is us being 'openly partisan' just haven't watched the video. Sure the thumbnail suggests that the greens "kinda suck" but the video itself is about electoral and party reform, serious topics which I think even green supporters would either agree with or at least acknowledge. Why then did we use a provocative title? Well we think this is a genuinely important issue for both UK democracy and the Greens more specifically, and as such we want to flag it as much as we can. Calling this video something like "vital reforms to improve the green party's electability" just wouldn't get as many clicks, which is both bad for business and bad for our attempt to bring this conversation into the mainstream - Jack

[@lamestreammedia3154]

You hate greens cos your a pro labour channel. Don't split them votes.

[@Annishark]

3. TLDR willl never learn that it is the SPD not the SDP

[@hrford]

@@lamestreammedia3154 you appear to have just proven the comment you're replying to, by thinking TLDR don't like the greens. 🤔

[@laurenjames1074]

I can see why you said it in the title, but you say it repeatedly in the video too. And no mention of Scottish Green Party or GPNI during the video at all.

[@eliasblum753]

Don't use UK as shorthand for England and Wales. It's incorrect and off-putting to Scottish viewers, especially as the Scottish Green Party *do* have significant parliamentary representation and are in a power-sharing agreement with the SNP. You might have at least mentioned that.

[@Jon-bu9ki]

I clicked because I wanted to know how the British had gained a seat in the Bundestag

[@someguy7723]

They are the elector of hanover

[@tordtjora3568]

There's a party representing the Danish-speaking minority that's represented in the Bundestag!

[@c4knowledge562]

​@@someguy7723awesome comment 😂

[@LucasBenderChannel]

Good point about the regional governments in Germany being a way for smaller parties to prove themselves in government!

[@bomschhofmann1644]

Best example are the "Freie Wähler"-free voters- which are an alternative conservative Party to the CDU/CSU Union This year's election, they tried to get into the parliament and while they weren't successful because of the 5% hurdle, they still managed to get a lot of votes for such an small party partially because they are in a government with the bavarian CSU. This makes them pretty attractive for people not radical enough for the AFD but dissatisfied with the Union.

[@Croz89]

@@bomschhofmann1644 I think if they play their cards right, they could pull votes from AfD. Present themselves as a solid right wing party that doesn't have the extremists and neo-Nazis and you'll probably attract hard conservatives who don't really want to be associated with such people.

[@cx5307]

It’s a chance and a risk. The far left party "Die Linke" is struggling in part because they have to make hard decisions in local governments.

[@bomschhofmann1644]

@@Croz89 definitely, I mean it is a phenomenon we see with left parties which usually devide into a hardcore left, a green and a social Democrat Party. If the FW's lobby as a right party and avoid extremism, they can grab away market conservatives and pretty much everyone who isn't extremist but openly considers himself right-wing (Tho of course I have to put up a disclaimer that I still wouldn't vote for anything more right than the FDP, just personal preference).

[@bomschhofmann1644]

@@cx5307 I mean there a ton of factors which influenced the decline of "Die Linke" But yeah especially here in Thuringia, the decision of the party made it more unpopular (tho I have no clue on how I should judge those decisions).

[@AsiniusNaso]

“First Past the Post” is the bane of functional democracy.

[@olibob203]

Yep needs to vote on proportional representation again

[@gHGhej]

@UNSCForwardontodawn literally anything one of them that is more proportional? After we dealt with the fire, we can discuess how to rebuild not well sitting in the fire.

[@JottoHearthStone]

@UNSCForwardontodawn Tbh basically anything would be better. AV or STV would be a good alternative that doesn't mess with things too much. AV is what we already use for local elections anyway so parliment is the odd one out here. Yes I know we have a ref on AV already but if you go and look at how that ref was run it was a farse, both major parties campaigned against it with frankly reprehensible adverts like the "No to AV" set of ads which is a masterclass in how disgusting and misleading political ads can even be.

[@eventhorizon6140]

Well, it keeps the greens out, so that's a plus...

[@gHGhej]

@@eventhorizon6140 It does not, it kept UKIP out, it keeps the Lib dems from being able to be represented properly (see how well that going for the Tories?), it hurts new ideas and proper representation.

[@darraghflynn4335]

The Irish Greens are actually in government at the moment too, they’re the smallest party in a 3 party coalition with Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael

[@MrAhYesh]

And they are a hypocritical failure on any climate action

[@William2669]

The green parties in Belgium are in the federal government too.

[@jackharold8379]

And they will get demolished in the next election

[@joshuaelder8983]

Same with Scotland

[@aranmcdonagh255]

True, but there's no point they gave up all thier stances just for power, they are as corrupt as Fine Gael

[@bm5931]

One small mistake: The map of Germanys federal goverments is outdated: Mecklenburg-Vorpommern switched from Red-Black (SPD + CDU) to Red-Red (SPD + Linke) after it's last election (parallel to the federal election this year).

[@MelindaSordinoIsLiterallyMe]

MV commie state

[@mad0131]

@@MelindaSordinoIsLiterallyMe No? Though Die Linke is quite far left

[@ricardobarahona3939]

@@mad0131 Maybe some members but when it’s in government it really isn’t. Body Ramelow is definitely not far left. The most far left die linke members are probably in Berlin, where it’s easier to organize and they don’t have to compete with the far right unlike the rest of east Germany.

[@mad0131]

@@ricardobarahona3939 If I remember correctly it's the remnants of the DDRs Socialst Unity Party

[@ricardobarahona3939]

@@mad0131 Yes

[@op4000exe]

It's almost as though first past the post isn't really a very democratic system when it comes down to it. Due to many claims that FPTP is democratic. Go watch CGP Greys videos on The Animal Kingdom. It explains why FPTP isn't democratic.

[@tobilandsfried8083]

Never was and was never the intention.

[@lamestreammedia3154]

@@tobilandsfried8083 Democracy is an illusion.

[@yaraelpoof7242]

Better than extremist parties getting into government

[@alcabone1126]

Proportional representation helped the nazis get in charge, so nto having PR is useful

[@bartelvandervelden9894]

@@yaraelpoof7242 you can also turn it around: fptp means extremists need to be part of the major parties, which most clearly happened in the American Republican party

[@jakob7751]

As a German, this video feels a bit like: "Why British Democracy Bad"

[@CacklingAntagonist]

As a Brit... Yes

[@catmonarchist8920]

Because there were no political parties in 1295 just representatives of local areas and nothing has changed since

[@jamesoakley4570]

as a Brit, correct. First past the post has been an issue for decades and its why the Tories have and always will be in power.

[@alexguiness7035]

FPTP has its faults it isn't good for smaller parties electorally, on the other hand it isn't good for radical leftist or racist right wing parties either.

[@jamesoakley4570]

@@alexguiness7035 which is why Labour and Tories are the main ones.

[@clarkf6648]

It’s almost like FPTP is an awful thing for our country and all of our futures? ☺️

[@lamestreammedia3154]

It is for the losers.

[@MrMediator24]

Awful for any country. Awesome to keep status quo and lazy politicians in power

[@MikkelKjrJensen]

@@lamestreammedia3154 Sadly it isn't even for them, because under FPTP the losers get nothing.

[@humphreygokart2135]

@@MikkelKjrJensen What Rooper K means is that the current leaders in Britain are lazy politicians who only are in power due to the current non-proportional election system. (He's right, too.) The British only have themselves to blame, though. They had a referendum on this about 10 years ago and most people didn't even bother to go and vote. I think there was a football match on telly that day or something. How are the Greens doing in Denmark today? Not too well either, I seem to recall, but that's another story.

[@MaelPlaguecrow6942]

Well considering it is keeping the Greens out of power. I'd say it is a godsend that is keeping strong nations from utter destruction.

[@FortyTwoification]

Scottish greens are doing fantastic, the PR system makes your vote actually count

[@guff9567]

"Doing fantastic"? Why, then, do we have do.many drug addicts?

[@caseysmith4206]

Yeah - no mention of the greens actually being in government in Scotland. This video is really about England & Wales as there is no ‘U.K. Greens’.

[@julianshepherd2038]

@@guff9567 a problem that dates back decades and the Scottish Greens have been in government for months. If you Google it you will find a consensus in the Scottish Parliament on what to do about it but the London government has blocked the measures.

[@dubster82]

@@caseysmith4206 and its not the first time they've failed to make this distinction. You get used to that as a Scot in the UK.

[@MrElmi]

@@caseysmith4206 what

[@Mister_Rosco_to_you]

There is no "UK Green Party", the Scottish Greens are completely independent from the England and Wales counterparts

[@caseysmith4206]

And the Scottish Greens are in government!

[@umbrodiscord8265]

@@caseysmith4206 Albeit more of a C&S agreement

[@TLDRnews]

Don't worry, we do know that there is no 'British' Green Party and that the one we're referring to is the Green Party of England and Wales (in fact I think that's noted in the video). In the title were just using UK as shorthand as having "the Green Party of England and Wales" is just too long for a YT title - Jack

[@umbrodiscord8265]

@R GB has 3 green parties one in England and wales, one in Scotland and one in Northern Ireland

[@goteamgaz]

Sure, that makes complete sense in the title. There are countless times during the video where it would have been appropriate to clarify for viewers who won’t know, a lot of the comparisons v the German greens were equally true of Scotland and a close to home example of voting systems. I appreciate how this seems, a bunch of people from Scotland moaning about nothing but this is the exact way journalists and politicians have been using shorthand to erase us that has gotten people so frustrated. Using your own shorthand it would also be true to say the UK Green Party are in Government in the UK, I suspect you’d have been laughed out the office for suggesting that.

[@Sven806]

TLDR News and calling the SPD the 'SDP' name a more iconic duo

[@LuminalSpoon]

TLDR News and not understanding that there are 4 nations in the UK

[@bremenize3987]

@@LuminalSpoon Yup. For all the disclaimer above, TLDR really needed to bring Scotland into the discussion. The Greens there are indeed "in government", but have not moved significantly towards the centre. Indeed, they are widely seen in Scotland as a "correction" for the much more centrist SNP. As for the centrist policies of the German Greens, I'd argue it's more a case of the effect of coalition partners on the final coalition agreement. Just look at their transport policies, then compare them with the current coalition, where the transport minister is from the car-friendly FDP.

[@Doso777]

@@LuminalSpoon Isn't it three countries, one region?

[@-Skywalker01-]

"Social Democratic Party"

[@Sven806]

@@-Skywalker01- I guess that makes sense to someone who doesn't know the party's actual name

[@iliketobewithpeople9821]

In my country (Australia) the Greens are the third largest party (they get about 10% of the first preference vote), but they dont get many seats in the lower house due to the IRV system with their preferences mostly flowing to Labor, but in the senate they are a lot more influential, and would be a critical piece in any Labor government for getting legislation passed through the Senate.

[@talideon]

Preferences still matter, mind: those who get in see where the transfers are coming from and that influences their behaviour.

[@imnotnotgameiacmaniac5327]

thats still atleast better than uk cus those votes are being transferred over to their second choice instead of being completely wasted

[@Ruddpocalypse]

The Aus Greens don't care about climate change, they only care about fucking over Labor

[@ryanspencer6809]

@@Ruddpocalypse no. To be fair, your username does tell the whole story. We don't want to f*ck over Labor, it's just that your CC policies are incompatible with our party's views.

[@peter1448]

@@Ruddpocalypse Fed Labor does such a good job of f*cking itself over in Australia. In the ACT Greens and Labor have been sharing power for years and only jurisdiction already aiming for 100% renewables and decarbonisation. As the vote for both the major parties has been reducing over decades it is likely that minority govts including Greens should become more common in Aust, no matter how embittered some Labor hacks get. Considering Greens are the only party with serious science based climate policy, no new coal and gas, this will benefit the country and the world. Cheers

[@Micha-qv5uf]

I'm voting green in Germany. I wouldn't vote for a party that wants to outright dissolve the ministry of defence. That's insane..

[@nileman9907]

Aren't the Greens the one who fucked up nuclear energy in Germany?

[@mogreen19]

@@nileman9907 That was the lobbyist Angela Merkel from the conservative CDU - her "Ausstieg aus dem Ausstieg aus dem Ausstieg", so "leaving leaving leaving nuclear energy" cost the German tax payer billions of euros.

[@CS_____]

they want to replace it with a new security ministry though, just one fundamentally more oriented to peace

[@ltbq]

It isn't insane, it's actually sensible for a tiny island nation of little strategic value to not spend billions upon billions on 'defence' when we have almost nothing to defend against

[@sarmeister1699]

@@CS_____ That's still stupid... incredibly stupid... You don't need to dissolve the ministry of Defense to instead focus more on peace.

[@reiteration6273]

I read the pinned comment, so I know you're only referring to the English & Welsh Green Party, but as a Scot, I still find it funny how little of this applies to our Greens up here.

[@tobydawes6007]

Aren't they like the lib dems of the coalition?

[@reiteration6273]

@@tobydawes6007 In some ways, yes, but unlike the Lib Dems, they're not willing to do everything they're told without complaint, so the SNP have to consult with them when it comes to making legislation, particularly when it relates to environmental matters, since the Scottish Greens will join the opposition parties in voting against anything that they don't approve of. In theory, the Lib Dems should have been able to do that too when they were last in government, but they never used their power, even though the Tory policies were in some cases directly opposite the Lib Dems' manifesto promises (like raising tuition fees instead of scrapping them).

[@kierenbuckley370]

Scotland doesn't want to be lumped into the UK

[@tomthumb2361]

It's good to see, as someone who has prioritised electoral reform for 46 years of voting and has regarded the pro-FPtP Tories and pro-FPtP Labour - essentially minority parties - as two sides of the same anti-democratic, power-hogging coin, that so many people are now agreed that FPtP has to GO!!!

[@bomschhofmann1644]

It still confuses me why labour back then lobbied against a voting system reforms during the referendum

[@ejbh3160]

As soon as the GPEW adopted "Leaders" model, it lost its Eco-libertarian status and became an Eco-authoritarian party - more like the other parties than differing from them. The anti-Blaire leftists and anti-Clegg centrists who joined when those parties strayed from their own ideologies, only undermined the libertarian principles of the old Ecology Party/GPEW (pre-leaders) still further. Now there is no center left libertarian party and ideas of 'freedom of speech' etc are left to the likes of Farage. If the AWOL libertarian center left don't find a voice soon, the voters will end up voting in Farage's lot... and all bets are off for the 'environment' at that point.

[@Red1Green2Blue3]

@@bomschhofmann1644 Because they benefitted from it.

[@catmonarchist8920]

As long as it is replaced with something that is actually better. AV+, AV, AMS, SV , party lists or a second ballot are dogshit systems and are the most likely to get put to us in a ref. I'd vote against them all (and only party lists achieve proportionality)

[@bomschhofmann1644]

@@catmonarchist8920 what would be a system to your pleasing?

[@danrudge5997]

This is me for a decade now. Tactically vote Labour. Wish I could vote Green without it being wasted.

[@ruinerblodsinn6648]

Vote green and get wasted. Simple as.

[@lamestreammedia3154]

That's what they want fools. For you to only want a 2 party system. By they I mean the left and right establishment.

[@frankkobold]

@@lamestreammedia3154 it's not only what they want. As long as an outdated, undemocratic system like FPTP exists, it will always end up in a factual 2 party system.

[@lamestreammedia3154]

@@frankkobold The system is controlled by legacy media. It's access journalism in reverse.

[@frankkobold]

@@lamestreammedia3154 how is that relevant to the fact, that any FPTP system creates naturally a factual 2 party system?

[@ZiggyMercury]

I totally agree with the last point: the UK first-past-the-post system makes it practically impossible for the Greens to win a large number of seats. Given that, at most, they'll win a few seats, they have no incentive to become more pragmatic. In contrast, because of the much more fair German electoral system, the German Greens did have an incentive to become more pragmatic, and it did pay off big-time (they're now a crucial part of the German government and can achieve some of what that want, as opposed to the UK Greens, who can achieve none of what they want).

[@corradomancini3271]

We had a referendum on changing the way MPs are elected in U.K. a few years ago. We know what happened. There’s no desire to change the status quo among the electorate.

[@makslargu5799]

@@corradomancini3271 I think it’s more those in power have no desire to empower the electorate. Their guff over the referendum was ‘it’s too complicated you won’t understand how AV voting works and it means small extreme parties like the monster raving looney party will get too many votes and cause havoc’. There are so many seats in the uk (like the Home Counties) where conservatives have been elected to the same seat for decades, even hundreds of years. They don’t want their cushy jobs to be threatened. The UK doesn’t really have a democracy…so many members of the aristocracy either run and are elected as MPs or are given peerage and sit in the House of Lords in elected. It’s just a sad and tragic backwater of a state.

[@corradomancini3271]

@@makslargu5799 - There are seats where Labour have been elected for decades, all the way back to early last century. How many aristocratic MPs does the U.K. have? According to you there are many. The U.K. is widely considered one of the leading democracies in the world, but obviously if one doesn’t have a clue about British politics than its difficult to comprehend. Voters in Constituencies can deselect siting MPs and/or party representatives. The Tories have a system where each constituency has what is known as a Conservative Association which is responsible for deciding who they want to represent them at general elections. Labour Party have a different system, constituency members, unions and socialist associations decide. So, no the electorate is not hindered by whose in power, like you’re implying. A tragic backwater of a state with the 5th top economy in the world. A state where People risk their life crossing the English Channel getting to.

[@heartsoul2988]

The 2-party-system of the UK and US is outdated, maybe that's the result of a country sleeping and beeing proud of its old reputations whilst others did improve much more.

[@corradomancini3271]

@@heartsoul2988 - The U.K. and USA have very different political systems. In 2010 the U.K. had a coalition government in charge. The USA President is both head of government and head of state, it’s not the same way in the U.K.

[@emilyscloset2648]

I would say, there is a slight centrist bias to this, as having left wing policies is not a political liability, indeed encouraes grass roots activists and moves political discourse

[@makslargu5799]

I agree, I don’t think making green policies more centrist would garner more votes and would just move the Overton window of political discourse further right.

[@ignatzmeyer1978]

@@makslargu5799 Germany proves otherwise, the Greens there gained on the local level massivly from the CDU. In Baden-Württemberg, once a conservative stronghold, there is now a (devout catholic) green prime minister governing since 10 years! Without at least a good portion of the working class, surburban and rural vote the center-left won't get a majority.

[@robertcrowston8507]

Note: The UK has two three Green Parties - the Green Party of England & Wales, the Scottish Greens, who are currently in Government with the SNP in Scotland, and Green Party Northern Ireland. (Edited to add Northern Ireland)

[@nsl_black8053]

We also have several green parties but only “Bündnis 90/Die Grünen” have a large voter base, the others are to small to be in the german Parlament.

[@NikitaBenCarter]

Which I said to both parties they should be one green party in the U.K. but they not listening.

[@SirSX3]

There's also the Northern Irish green party I think. They are linked to the Irish Green Party, which are also in government (ROI Government)

[@lamestreammedia3154]

They are all grifters and hypocrites.

[@stevendurrant1724]

GPNI is separate.

[@Paranoid_Found]

7:36 I am happier than I should as an adult seeing TLDR News using my graphics😉 Thank you for reminding me, I need to update those after recent state elections.

[@realhawaii5o]

The whole video is on why the first past the post system is terrible.

[@frostleaf7833]

I mean its pretty obvious its horrible, it was born to basically give a fake possbility of reform and keep the conservative elite with their privilege

[@Bushflare]

Problem is people have been conned into wanting to replace it with PR which is like… way worse.

[@86pp73]

@@Bushflare What do you propose, then?

[@Bushflare]

@@86pp73 For starters you need to maintain local government and probably empower them far more. FPTP exists because local accountability matters and PR just flips to the other extreme of National accountability which is just an equally bad problem. Ideally we should have the two houses of U.K. government representing 2 different ideals. Local government and national government.

[@86pp73]

@@Bushflare Yeah, that's pretty reasonable, actually. Power should be kept as local as possible. If local/regional governments could do more of their own budgeting and collaborate on projects, that would do wonders for the economy, rather than everyone having to go cap-in-hand to Westminster and ending up with some politician's corrupt vanity project (looking at you, Crossrail). What's your opinion on setting up a federal system with regional governments acting as the states? I always imagined such a system would have a local senate or council for each state, where delegates would be selected from and sent off to act as a "lower house" in a federal parliament, with the "upper" being made of representatives elected directly by the voting public.

[@hornetgamer8980]

The Tories have done their bit for the environment, spending the last five years making sure that lorries in Kent can't move.

[@nathaneddy502]

And then blaming it on the EU 😂

[@kierenbuckley370]

@@nathaneddy502 or immigrants for some reason

[@nathaneddy502]

@@kierenbuckley370 oh yeh the 0.0005% of the population 😂

[@williamfrancis5367]

Aside from FPTP, the lack of influence of the English and Welsh Green party comes down to three factors: 1) The party is too left-wing to break into the mainstream of UK politics (in contrast to the German Greens). The Labour party were able to supplant the Liberals having a lot in common with the Edwardian Liberal party as it was becoming a major force in UK (indeed, Keir Hardie used to be a Gladstonian Liberal with a strong Georgist streak, that he retained as a socialist and many early Labour MPs were former Lib-Lab ones). 2) The Lib Dems plus the Alliance and Liberals before them have tended to scoop up the environmental vote in previous elections by having more advanced positions on these matters than Labour or the conservatives. 3) A weak local government base, though this is starting to change with the party having nearly 500 councillors, with a couple of minority administrations. In contrast, the much malign as irrelevant Liberal Democrats, have 2500 councillors across the UK and control (either by themselves or at the head of a coalition) around 50 local authorities.

[@lowercasehorse2363]

IDK much about them but saying they're too left wing seems a bit reductionist as from what i have heard some of the positions they hold are just unpopular rather than too left wing, could be wrong though.

[@williamfrancis5367]

@@lowercasehorse2363. Perhaps outside the Overton window is a better descriptor.

[@SgtLion]

@@lowercasehorse2363 Their policies are not unpopular. By contrast, their policies are orders of magnitude more popular than people realise. People often prefer their policies when asked to judge the policies alone, and not the party names.

[@lowercasehorse2363]

@@SgtLion evidence?

[@oliverleonard7730]

From evidence the Green Party and Liberal Democrats aren't really left-wing they are just more radical than Labour that doesn't necessarily make them left.

[@matthew1hyndman]

The Green do not kinda suck, the British Voting system very much does suck

[@C.I...]

I mean, I'd rather they were just the eco party, instead of eco+left wing authoritarian extremism party

[@isnitjustkit]

@@C.I... Green politics is inherently libertarian

[@defaulter264]

@@isnitjustkit ecofascism?

[@isnitjustkit]

@@defaulter264 “Green Politics” is a very specific ecological branch of libertarian socialism, ecofascism is not even remotely related And yes, it’s advocates are aware of how stupidly broad the name is

[@cullenrooney4964]

posted one minute ago and already more people have viewed than the british greens have seats lol

[@zachryder3150]

Bruh

[@peterfireflylund]

And soon voters, too :)

[@danielkitts9685]

They already have the Conservatives, Labour, Lib Dems and SNP adopting their policies regardless.

[@isnitjustkit]

Good, ex-leader Bartley already said that it's a dream of the Greens to become electorally irrelevant "You don't join the Greens for long-term aspirations" he said

[@killickr]

The German Greens have always demanded an introduction of speed limits on German Highways. They have had to give this up as a part of the coalition negotiations to get the FDP onboard.

[@lewisbaitup6352]

Yeah speed limits are only for radical socialists can't have that in a government

[@somethinglikethat2176]

@@lewisbaitup6352 well the Germans make the autobahn work.

[@juliuss2056]

I am glad that the speed limit didn’t become a major sticking point in the coalition negotiations because any such discussion would have been mostly of a symbolic nature. The advantages and disadvantages of a speed limit are utterly minuscule…

[@tobiasbauer198]

Which is a small win for liberals, if you would look at the spending plan of the coalition. I think the FDP is a party of fools, as they could have pressed and most likely got every point out of their manifest.

[@Dafty2k]

@@tobiasbauer198 the FDP definitely are the "winners"of the coalition just look at the ministrys they got

[@MrPaulFCockburn]

Your repeated use of “UK Greens” isn’t acceptable shorthand-it’s a fundamentally inaccurate over-simplification of UK politics, which casts extreme doubts on your reliability as a source of news and reliable information. Also, how you can spend nearly 10 minutes on this subject and not mention that two members of the Scottish Greens ARE IN GOVERNMENT IN SCOTLAND?!

[@ewan.cartwright]

I took this title to mean there was an English party with 1 seat in the Bundestag

[@peterpalmato467]

I'm a member of the Australian Greens. Our stupid voting system (inherited directly from the English) means that we also don't have a representative or proportional Parliament - even in our Senate. The Greens here regularly achieve more than 10% of the vote.

[@RomeoYouMust]

I enjoyed this and all of your videos. Keep it up

[@JimCroz]

TLDR: FPTP isn’t the only reason the Greens are struggling. They also have to become more electable. Also TLDR : The Greens can’t become more electable because of FPTP.

[@Bushflare]

It’s actually both what you say there AND the opposite, because FPTP keeping the Greens irrelevant is exactly what is increasing their National presence. If they’re never in power they can never screw up and can promise the moon without having to deliver. They’re a textbook case of a protest-vote party. The more chances they get at power the less electable they’re going to end up being because off-paper their policies are terrible. Absolute circus-tier situation.

[@mrm7058]

In a PR system, they would have to cooperate with other parties, and would be forced to become more pragmatic if they want to get into government.

[@Alan-xxxxxx]

@@Bushflare Just like Boris then

[@Bushflare]

@@Alan-xxxxxx Pretty much, yah.

[@sweepingtime]

"Electorally palatable" is just another term for 'people prefer this rather than progressive policies that really change things a lot and very quickly'. I don't see why it's any green party's fault for endorsing a realistic green policy as opposed to centrist greens who may just as well be liberal parties in another colour. If people want to save the environment, they'd better vote green or make sure that their whatever party adopts green policies as much as possible.

[@kylewestrip531]

Progressive parties change things when in power, I'm no moderate when it comes to certain Environmental issues but I'd much rather a watered down green party win 100 seats than the most radical one won a single seat.

[@DontScareTheFish]

>"Electorally palatable" is just another term for 'people prefer this rather than progressive policies that really change things a lot and very quickly'. I've really got to disagree with that statement. Having progressive policies are great, but no MoD and no Nuclear is madness in many people's eyes. There's such a thing as too many progressive policies.

[@TheScottforever]

Well, the greens are also pretty popular in Switzerland

[@badgermanization]

Two points immediately came to mind for me: 1. I follow UK politics fairly well and I had no idea the Greens had new leaders. That is worrying in and of itself for electability when almost know one knows who your leaders are. 2. An even more interesting example of a green coalition in Germany is in the traditionally Conservative Baden-Württemburg. The Green Party Minister of Baden-Württemburg Winfried Kretschmann is regarded as quite conservative and is in a coalition with the CDU! I can't imagine the Green Party in the UK ever contemplating any sort of joint working with the Tories!

[@Fisher1874]

Would be interesting to see a video comparison between the “uk” greens and the Scottish greens as they have msp representing the Scottish government

[@kenlandon6130]

For those of you who don't seem to understand, just cause Green parties around the world use the same symbols and colors DOES NOT mean they are similar. The German Greens are moving to the right (away from the left and to the German political center) to become more "mainstream" and so they are less aggressive in their demands for reform now. By contrast, the Australian Greens are probably the most left-wing party in that country and will remain that way, cause there is a good chance that Labor will end up winning a plurality in the lower house and needs to cut a deal with the Greens to form a government. Then, the Greens can extract as many concessions as they want. Though in general, if there are true leftist parties (not social dems) in a country, the Greens will likely be to the right of them. This is because Greens appeal mostly to wealthy, non-minority, well educated people who are more concerned with combating climate change any way possible than with environmental justice.

[@shittymcrvids3119]

We also have a far left party called die Linke which explains why the German greens are more centre left

[@Cashmeister96]

If the greens had better green policies such as supporting nuclear energy and didn't waste their time with unpopular policies around the military maybe they would be able to help the environment more and garner more votes? 🤷

[@freakylocz14]

FPTP is the problem. The same goes for the US Greens.

[@isnitjustkit]

The part about the trans debate completely betrays the fact that it was one guy screaming transphobic rhetoric and everyone else telling him to be quiet

[@isnitjustkit]

@The505Guys More so him being a raging bigot but oh well

[@isnitjustkit]

@The505Guys Yes, it is, he should have never been allowed close to the power he currently has within the party

[@RaterProTrickster]

The greens also hold a weirdly large stake in some councils. Bristol council is 50/50 split with labour. And they have had a very large surge in coucil seats since 2016. Honestly, I believe the future of the greens is to target local councils and help the voices of the people get heard. But, we will have to see what the future holds for them. Labour also is going to lose a lot of votes to them next election especially from socialist voters as Starmer is seen as standing for everything wrong with the labour party for them.

[@007JHS]

Vote Green get Tory....

[@almicarodrigues]

The UK is not a mature democracy: no proportional voting, no several coalition parties governing - with minority governments - no written constitution, lots of gerrymandering, dusty parliament traditions, non-elected upper house of parliament., etc.

[@oliverleonard7730]

Completely agree - whether you agree with Reform UK or not they are currently polling at 10% yet would win 0 seats, the Lib Dems are polling at around 9% yet would win around 30 seats how is that fair?

[@RaskoOOO1]

Yes, tell me more about the greens please.

[@jonathancampbell5231]

Really thought this video was going to say that the English have an electoral seat in Germany somehow

[@davidastle1316]

Yet when the option of changing the FPtP voting system was offered in 2011 two thirds voted against it.

[@Lemonaitor]

So, that doesn't change the fact electoral refom isn't a bad idea, I personally was too young to vote in 2011, but having now voted in 3 GE and a smattering of local elections, I would be in favour, and others my age would probably be interested in something that better represents them.

[@davidastle1316]

@@Lemonaitor Of course not, personally I thought the approach to both explaining the alternative voting system and the timing of the vote both worked against the chance of it being voted for by the public in 2011. The Lib Dems had obviously pushed for a vote on the AV system as part of being in coalition with the Tories and the Tories themselves were not a fan and so made it as difficult as possible for it to pass. Maybe a new vote should be considered if polls show that the public are interested.

[@NANA-kf1cs]

That was AV. AV is not a form of proportional representation.

[@omarfoster5763]

Completely agree with these points. I once emailed them to my local candidate and was met with thanks for your opinion. I think they are bound to be a pressure group only because as you say they have not been given the opportunity to govern at all. However that is technically working a lot of mainstream green policies started out as green policies. I'd like to see a video on that personally

[@alkaholic4848]

FPTP is running the world into the ground. People are too busy arguing over Conservatives vs Labour, democrats vs republicans, etc; when they should be campaigning for a proper voting system. A voting system that makes it practical to vote for the party that you want, rather than feeling like it's a two horse race and voting "against" the party you hate.

[@oliverleonard7730]

I'd just go for 3rd parties, the Greens have a strong local base in Hastings so why are we still being told to vote for Labour who offer no change?

[@koalasquare2145]

Any system that makes me want to vote for Keir Starmer is a broken system.

[@user-rd8ih9cl3p]

you could potentially add in that the UK rejected local devolution - partially as it was seen as being an extra layer of government : had we gone down that route, or should this be pushed for in the future, this would give massive opportunity to many parties outside the main two. Equally, the Greens DID have a chance to govern, in the sense that, all eyes were on them when they took Brighton Council - but there fracture did lead to them being unable to govern and enacting frankly batshit policies - trying to get pay equality by cutting the wages of bin men was NEVER going to end well.

[@stephengray1344]

On what happened with Brighton and the bin strike, what the Greens there actually did was enact the same single status pay policy that most other English councils had enacted about a decade previously, since it simply wasn't financially viable to get pay equality between traditionally male and traditionally female council jobs by raising pay for the female jobs. Previous Brighton & Hove administrations - both Labour and Tory had simply delayed making the decision. It may not have looked good at first glance, but it was hardly batshit insanity. I don't recall there being any major fractions impeding their ability to actually run the council (at least no more than any other minority administration would be impeded). As for rejecting local devolution, this was largely a decision taken by central government. Only two parts of England were ever offered devolution. London voted for it, in the form of the Mayor and Assembly. The North East voted against, but many people voted against on the basis that the proposed North East Assembly would have virtually no power.

[@Wasserfeld.]

Was that the UK? Or England? I don't remember it ever being offered to places like Glasgow or Belfast. And even in England, the Tories ensured proposals like One Yorkshire were rejected.

[@user-rd8ih9cl3p]

@@Wasserfeld. I meant England rather than UK - but then the Green Party is England/Wales only anyway - and Scotland/Ireland/Wales have devolution

[@pecadodeorgullo5963]

The problem with proportional representation is that is usually creates unstable coalition governments while the one the UK has doesn't. It's basically a double edged sword.

[@popelgruner595]

Yeah... Nope. German coalitions or coalitions in Austria have always been very stable and durable. How many prime ministers has the UK had in the last 16 years? Germany had ONE chancellor and two different forms of coalitions during those 16 years. Speaking of unstable conditions...

[@pecadodeorgullo5963]

@@popelgruner595 the UK has elections every 4 years so the maximum we should've had is 4 but we've had 5 due to brexit. It's the same for the elections for the house of commons. The UK was fairly stable due to their election method but it might backfire soon.

[@charlesmadre5568]

@@popelgruner595 Coalitions are a long-standing part of German political culture. It's a crucial element. France tried coalition government with PR in the 1950s and it was a failure. If voters punish a party for betraying its principles when they enter into a coalition government, parties are dissuaded from forming them. Compromise is not seen as a bad word in Germany while it is in Britain and France. Changing that political culture requires at least a generation of work.

[@BoopathySrinivasan]

Superb analysis. Thank you verymuch

[@earlystrings1]

UK first past the post: Distorts democratic representation USA two senators per state regardless of population: Hold my chilled beer

[@ailo8964]

That's why the US is a flawed democracy

[@papaicebreakerii8180]

@@ailo8964 it’s a flawed democracy because of electoral college. If more people voted in the primaries then America could actually be seen as more democratic than most parliamentary democracies

[@ginch8300]

@@papaicebreakerii8180 No. The Presidential system is way worse than a Parliamentary system, one needs only to look at a map and see all top ten of the worlds best performing nations using a form of a Parliamentarian system, either a constitutional monarchy or republican form, whereas most of the worlds dictatorships/flawed democracies choose or switched over to a Presidential system, the most recent being Turkey.

[@Luredreier]

Yep, that's pretty much my point of view as a green voter here in Norway. The environment, human dignity (not being treated badly regardless of where you're from or your background), international solutions and respect for science is probably some of the cores I'd choose to describe the party of the top of my head. Everything else is kind of negotiable.

[@morekite]

Title out of context: The German greens are in a Westminster Government and the English get 1 seat in the whole parliament

[@phelprya3666]

'Me, and American' 1 whole seat? Wow, the British Green party is really pulling its weight.

[@jorenbaplu5100]

You always forget about Belgian greens, who are also a major coalition partner.

[@julianshepherd2038]

I think Belgium is part of France or something 🤔

[@miliba]

@@julianshepherd2038 no, belgium is part of china

[@thysonita2114]

@@julianshepherd2038 Netherlands i think 🤔

[@jukahri]

Wait, Belgium has a government now?

[@Bushflare]

Every one of you need your mouths rinsed out with soap. Disgusting language.

[@Gregsplays]

Fun fact, the UK and Belarus are the only two countries in Europe that elect their lower house using FPTP

[@biscuitsandbananas3433]

Actually, Belarus doesn't elect their lower house, they hold a vote and then ignore that and just use the numbers that Alexander Lukashenko made up.

[@charlesmadre5568]

France uses a majoritarian two round system. So the top two candidates for a single member constituency face a second run off election two weeks later. This is slightly better than FPTP but is still designed to produce single-party majority government. The Socialist government switched to PR by département in 1986 but when a centre-right majority was produced, they switched it back to the old system. Various systems of PR was used during the 4th republic (1947-58) but the system is partly blamed for causing ineffective government and party bickering that led to the attempted military coup in the late 50s and the appointment of Charles de Gaulle as de facto interim dictator.

[@danieleatwell7757]

There is no such thing as a wasted vote!

[@haseebur-rehman3218]

There is literally zero likelihood of FPTP ever being retired, especially in England.

[@peterpalmato467]

Not true. People can achieve anything if they get up off their ass and try

[@haseebur-rehman3218]

@@peterpalmato467 To lawfully do so, would require a full non-Conservative majority in Westminster, which itself must be fully opposed to FPTP. Such a situation is not even remotely forseebly possible is England, which will absolutely always vote Conservative in any General Election, particularly after 2016. The removal of FPTP might happen... but not within our lifetimes and not in the context of a unified UK.

[@peterpalmato467]

@@haseebur-rehman3218 Well, a unified UK is increasingly unlikely, so there's a start. Permanent conservative government may be the wet dream of many Tories, but it looks like they're struggling at the moment, so that's another ray of light. Never say never. The English may be among the most hopeless people in the world, but even they have been known to achieve something meaningful, every lifetime or so.

[@BillySangster]

Not one mention of the Scottish Green Party, currently in government with the SNP. Roll on independence.

[@lamestreammedia3154]

Please leave. England sick of funding Scotland . Another 150m announced. A scab on the buttsky of England.

[@alcabone1126]

Because they are talking about seats in the house of commons which are more important. The snp probably only cares for greens as they are pro indy, the snp wants the north sea oil which the greens should be against(and if they aren't, then they aren't greens)

[@Infinitystar225]

At this point I'd welcome it, I'm fed up of Scots pretending they are better than the rest of the UK and they need a reality check.

[@BillySangster]

@@lamestreammedia3154 Hahahaha

[@BillySangster]

@@alcabone1126 You guys are hilarious.

[@olibob203]

I would vote other left party's then labour if the system gave them a chance

[@michealdehide1910]

That's why Ireland's proportional representation system is so good. You can vote for anyone and they've a good chance of being elected. As a result, the Irish Parliament has representatives from at least 10 different political parties (mostly on the Left).

[@oliverleonard7730]

I'd give my two votes to the Greens and the Liberal Democrats.

[@fg9582]

Well the German greens are way more moderate and economically liberal than the English greens, whose programmes are way more ambitious and progressive than their German counterpart. This should’ve been mentioned in the video

[@20quid]

I don't think you can used any election result from 2019 as representative of any wider pattern. 2019 was a very unique time in the country.

[@redlightmikey]

Probably could have highlighted that Scotland have Greens in power… and the rise of that and the rationale behind it?

[@spmiles98]

I know I'm am ignorant Southerner when it comes to Scotland, but I always figured it was just because they were another pro-independence party that the SNP went into a coalition with them instead of someone else.

[@jono_cc2258]

@@spmiles98 that's why they are in government but the real reason is sort of outlined in the video, Scotland doesn't use first past the post so Green voters can actually vote for their own party without it being a wasted vote, at least on the regional (second part of the ballot) list, which ironically is how Labour and the Conservatives get seats in the Scottish Assembly as the SNP wins almost every seat on the directly elected (first part of the ballot) vote in each constituency area.

[@voiceofamericast]

Thanks!

[@koantao8321]

Also the Swiss Greens are a powerful party in government in many cantons.

[@ionwerks]

Green voters need to stop lending their vote until such time as Labour supports some form of proportional representation. Labour's continued support for the democratic deficit inherent in FPTP marks them as just another 'power at all costs' party - not really interested in serving the electorate.

[@Matt-cz6ti]

The trade unions stopped Labour from adopting a pro-PR position at the party conference this year. The party membership overwhelmingly supports PR

[@Marcusjnmc]

Labour would have supported proportional back in 2010 , & would accept pushing for proportional in any coalition government , they are not inherently against it, & tactical voting alongside a power sharing agreement could realistically create a coalition government which pushes proportional

[@KeithBarnesLife]

This is very much so NOT the case in Scotland, showing that Westminster’s system is not the only system in the U.K. Anyway, you were focused on general elections.

[@20quid]

Don't the Scottish Greens only have 7 seats in the Scottish Parliament, and only have 17 local councillors?

[@LucaPasini2]

In Italy the Green Party itself is politically irrelevant, however the 5-star movement is now clearly a centre-left party and has always been focusing on environmental issues, as well as anti-corruption policies and increased social care. They're currently polling between 15 and 20% and have been part of the last three governments, so I think it's fair to say that environmentalism is indeed well represented here, even if the party logo is yellow instead of green.

[@peterpalmato467]

Really? I always thought they were centrists who didn't achieve anything. But they must be Greens because Italy doesn't really have a Green party does it?

[@longnewton1]

Let’s be clear. FPTP means the UK electoral system is NOT democraticThe Green Party also lacks funds and any significant media support which overwhelmingly supports the Tory Party. We need reform!

[@enric-x]

Germany has no "regional governments", they have state governments and a federal government. It's Scotland a "regional gorvernment" according to you? Let's be RESEPECTFUL. The USA is not the only federation out there...

[@frankthetank5708]

There are only three "Freistaaten"" which are part of the federal republic of Germany. Bavaria, Thuringia and Saxony. In addition you may add Hamburg as a free city. The others are just "Länder" - regional governments. Mostly formed after WW2 from the allied forces.

[@gf4913]

Before the Scotland Act of 2016 you could argue It was very much a regional government

[@maxthurst3882]

A good reform would be Ranked choice voting first for abit to get people used to it then upgrade to single transferable vote.

[@hjones6829]

This was proposed back in 2011 and is known as "AV" (Alternative Vote). It would have been a huge step up but 68% of the UK population voted against it in a referendum - I was too young to vote on that sadly

[@kuyaleinad4195]

@@hjones6829 Same if it was put on a referendum again (though unlikely), I think it would have a chance to win since people are much more well connected now than before and plenty of people have made easy to digest videos on AV and voting reform. Think back then there was a sense of apathy as more important issues were present (The UK was still semi-recovering from 2008 financial crisis) and the ‘why change what ain’t broken’ kind of mentality too.

[@jordray5823]

FUN FACT: If you take out the party names and only look at policy, Greens always win a plurality of polls in the UK

[@brownsy100]

The English Greens and German Greens are also fundamentally different on a number of key issues - recent manifestos have meant that the Liberal Democrats are more aligned with the German Greens than the Green Party is

[@julianshepherd2038]

Scottish Labour are being taken apart by the SNP and S Greens on the centre and left and the S Tories for the dependence supporters. Already happened to the S Liberal Democrats. S Labour are dependent on British Labour for money and just don't have the young people to rebuild with.

[@squashyhex9818]

When 70+% of young voters are pro indpendence, it doesn't make for particularly fertile voting grounds for Scottish Labour

[@zeztro]

The Scottish greens are in a confidence and supply agreement with the SNP, so I wouldn't say that they are doing terribly across the entirety of the UK

[@longnewton1]

And one final point. The Green party has better unity than the big parties who are forever squabbling. Yes, there was a debate on trans rights, but this got the media coverage instead of all the other policies most of us agree on! And not having a single powerful leader is a strength. No one person could abuser their position the way Boris Johnson does! Oh, and you conveniently ignore Scotland, where the Scottish Green Party has a role in government!

[@SusannaSaunders]

Which is why we seriously need to change our electoral system away from a two party state! Give us PR for proper Representation!

[@greenveilgaming1149]

This video did the impossible, it made me dislike the UK green party even more than I already did

[@SpartanJoe193]

What did the UK greens do?

[@aviationfan2637]

Hey, The Irish Green Party have 12 seats in the dail and are in a government for the first time since 2007

[@zongaaa6673]

German greens when they close nuclear reactors and replace them with coal plants and russian gas: _mmm, yes, ecologi..._

[@peterpalmato467]

Nice try, Greens do not support fossil fuels anywhere in the world

[@susannehartl3067]

Do you want to store the nuclear waste in you cellar?

[@boltaurelius376]

I only clicked this video because I thought England somehow had 1 seat in the German government.

[@peterpalmato467]

One day, one day...

[@andrew4363]

The British greens are also in government… Scotland exists.

[@Allard8]

Reason first past the post is bad #57

[@scorpioninpink]

It also needs to be understood that FPTP is the reason why there is only 1 Green MP in the House of Common and if it was PR then you would see more seats for them.

[@KhaalixD]

Great video!

[@ejbh3160]

I was an Ecology Party & GPEW member spanning 4 decades, but I left 3 years ago due to it becoming another 'authoritarian' party which led to increasingly nasty in-fighting and overly woke extremists forcing their ideology on the party. In the past the Ecology Party was a libertarian left of centre party. But as soon as the structure was changed to one with 'leaders', the ethos of left libertarianism was lost to ever greater ego driven authoritarianism. After a life of environmental activism I feel politically homeless now and would set up a new Eco-Libertarian Party if I had the energy still. The people who want power are the last people who should have power and those who should have power are too busy doing other stuff which is more useful than 'politics'.

[@isnitjustkit]

Oh so you're one of the TERFs voting for Sharar Ali every few years?

[@ejbh3160]

​@@isnitjustkit Oh so you're one of those abusive overly woke extremists who have undermined all the libertarian values which the Ecology Party used to stand for? No I don't vote for 'excluding' anyone. After 4 decades of standing for the freedoms of everyone in society, I no longer am a member because as far as I am concerned the GPEW is now as authoritarian as the rest of the 'mainstream' parties. Nothing new to offer - just a differrent 'colour' on the flag. Your snidey response is pure QED - and demonstrate precisely why the GPEW is a fringe party for minority group extremists now... not some beacon for liberty. Just another bunch of dangerous authoritarians, destroying what was a genuinely workable new approach - one which could have saved the planet and the people at the same time. But you of course think 'gender' is a more important issue than the Ecology of this planet... and that's why you're not really even a 'Green' - just another internet troll with a nasty word for anyone you feel like abusing online.

[@isnitjustkit]

@@ejbh3160 The fact you write an essay as a response to a simple question means yes, you are that person As for going against Libertarianism, how are trans-rights activists authoritarian when we're the people just advocating for others to be able to live their lives the way they want to? No, you're the authoritarians for trying to put the needs of others above theirs, and restrict how they live, making their lives a living hell. I should know, I legally dont exist in this damnned country the way I know I do, and you seem to be perfectly happy about that, that because it isnt you suffering oppression, you dont need to worry about it. No type of environmentalism will ever succede without social activism for minorities, and we're tired of having to debate the right for trans people to _exist_ every few years And you should be aware that members like Sharar have a long, storied history of undermiming the climate crisis in order to prioritise the culture war, focusing on "Trans bad" instead of the fact the planet's dying. And this kind of passing of blame is just par for the course for the people who vote for him, people who, instead of staying the course, leave and rejoin every election cycle to vote for the man who wants to "Welcome women back" despite the fact that those women are all Tories and that women, as they've said themselves, never even left And finally, let me leave you with a quote "Environmentalism without class struggle is gardening" - Chico Mendes

[@ejbh3160]

@@isnitjustkit really - so what's the excuse for your (even longer) "essay"? I said nothing about trans rights activists and your jumping to that conclusion was proof of your own obsession with that issue over and above your concern for the planet. I also didn't mention Shahrar Ali - that was you again with an axe to grind. Mendes wasn't talking about "gender" struggle or identity politics in the modern overly woke sense either. Since when did "gender struggle" become "class" struggle - except in your own mind? Gender and class issues may overlap occasionally, but are very distinct from each other... or are there only 'working class' trans people in your world? Your endless use of labels is only divisive... "those women are all Tories" is just another example... and this divisive finger pointing authoritarianism is a million miles from what the Ecology Party used to stand for. And FYI the original party was called "People!" and was started by disaffected Conservatives who thought over-population was an issue (but even they were wrong about that as TFRs have fallen below 2.2 in all countries which have gone through 'development'). If anything - assuming your goal is that the whole world comes out of abject poverty - we're facing a population implosion which could see the human race extinct just from not having enough babies. But of course the anti-human 'environmentalists' out there, see human extinction as a 'good' thing.

[@isnitjustkit]

​@@ejbh3160 You may not have said "Trans rights activists" by name but I'm not stupid, I can tell EXACTLY what you meant And gender and class issues overlap constantly, the fact that trans people are so much more likely to live in poverty or damnright homelessness and are treated by many as an entirely seperate social class And I'd love to see you argue how actually, the antisemitic JK Rowling actually fits perfectly well into the Green party The fact I asked one question, and you write an essay, just to deny "Actually I didnt mean Sharar or TRAs" is hilarious I'm glad you're out of the party, because now we can focus on shit that actually affects people on a day-to-day basis instead of ultra-focusing on one issue and tossing all human issues to the wayside like an ecofascist

[@Croz89]

I think a big hurdle the Greens face in the UK is their lack of political experience. They can't seem to even run a council particularly well, so I think a lot of people wouldn't trust them in government. That's not entirely their fault, their voter base is too spread out to put them in charge in the vast majority of the country, but it becomes a bit of a dependency loop, lack of experience prevents people voting for them, which means they cant get the experience necessary to get people to vote for them and for them to become more competent in governing. They're a bit like a 20 something trying to get their first full time job! Though I think their political alignment is also very important. The big split seems to be down non-environmental issues, you've got those who want the greens to essentially become a quasi socialist or even marxist party with a big focus on far left social justice policies, and those who want to have a more centre-left view on non-environmental issues, basically a green Labour. Their nuclear stance also doesn't attract as many voters since the UK public are generally less opposed to nuclear energy than the Germans.

[@rosamcqueen1412]

Got to love that there is no discussion within the video of The Scottish Greens literally being in Government. Sure, compare a party that struggles electorally with one in government, but SGP have a small number of seats in Holyrood and joined the SNP in government following their best election result.

[@dominusdevacore517]

Greens shouldn't be able to have any seats since chairs are not environmentally friendly.

[@redfallout7650]

Could you do a similar video on small parties like the greens, like reform uk?

[@ESO-ONE]

I'm voting green I can't vote for conservatives because Torrie are gunna Torrie, labour don't stand for anything, I don't care if people say it's a wasted vote.

[@lamestreammedia3154]

The leader of the greens drives a diesel car.

[@ESO-ONE]

@@lamestreammedia3154 as far political hypocrisy goes that's pretty mild.

[@Infinitystar225]

Same, I absolutely hate tactical voting as I feel like I'm betraying myself. My priority when voting is going to be for whichever party wants to scrap FPTP and bring real democracy into this country.

[@isnitjustkit]

@@lamestreammedia3154 Which one?

[@ailo8964]

Germany on the map looks like the left side portrait of the Queen

[@leonbrooks2107]

Germany has a far superior electoral and governing system to the UK. It basically forces the nation to unify as people can truly vote for who they want rather than who they think can actually win and then a compromise is reached.

[@peterpalmato467]

Agreed

[@Chaosdwarft]

I'll vote a Green Party when they will finally admit nuclear energy is the greenest energy available to us for our societies needs.

[@frankthetank5708]

That will of course never happen. Nuclear fission is just a waste of ressources.

[@lamestreammedia3154]

@@frankthetank5708 Lets build more wind farms. What a fail.

[@frankthetank5708]

@@lamestreammedia3154 There are other options. Germany's plan has been to develop nuclear fusion for future needs, slowly phase out coal and replace it with natural gas and add as much renewable energy sources as possible. This includes wood, water, wind, geothermal, rotting and solar power.

[@frankthetank5708]

@@user-op8fg3ny3j There are enough countries around the world which don't use nuclear fission. But anyway. Germany has it's coal plants and will slowly phase them out for natural gas plants until nuclear fusion is available as power source. Renewables add to the mix as much as possible.

[@frankthetank5708]

@@user-op8fg3ny3j There's enough liquid gas available. Germany has even build ports for it in Wilhelmshaven. But it's out of use, because Russian gas is much cheaper. In addition the reason of building the pipeline was to avoid confrontation with Russia in the first place. You don't make war with your best customer.

[@Hater67876]

Virgin: British Greens vs Chad: German Greens.

[@christhornley1664]

I'd rather have any party in power other than the Tories,

[@edenladley2092]

Obvs the channel have covered this in part in the comments, but the fact that there are three Green Parties in the UK (England & Wales, Scotland, and NI) means that viewers are missing out on some key context. That the Scottish Greens *are* de facto in government is important, and further illustrates the point about the impact of a friendly voting system. It's not just nitpicking, comparing SG to GPEW would have made a better video

[@lewispowell1681]

issues with the greens: Pacifism; getting rid of the nuclear deterrent gutting the armed forces etc, to most people this looks like an unrealistic worldview and the lack of practical understanding of how the world works. non-environmentally friendly policies: the big ones are the universal 40mph speed limit the flat opposition to nuclear energy and the obsession with ineffectually planting trees, modern road vehicles (1990s and on) are optimised to run most efficiently at 55-65mph. by forcing the majority of road users to go at 40mph you drastically increase GHG emissions because people have the same distance to go but they have to burn more fuel to get there. opposition to nuclear is just absurd on so many levels for any party that wants to reduce emissions, and the planting trees is a just a silly sideshow that falls down at the slightest bit of scrutiny Obsession with identity politics: the greens now have an obsession with the sort of feminsim and race relations that you see from american pundits, at best its a cynical attempt to garner votes from the progressives and at worst a actual belief in fringe/scientifically illiterate social analysis that serves no purpose except the devision of people on arbitrary characteristics

[@lamestreammedia3154]

Just another identity politics party. One mp shows what a fail they are.

[@frostleaf7833]

Trans rights are human rights

[@farmingice8715]

@@frostleaf7833 Human rights are human rights. All humans should be treated and respected the same, not given special privilege or protections based on what they identify as!

[@09philj]

You seem to be overlooking that lower speed limits make roads safer for cyclists and pedestrians. (And motorists who are too stupid to realise that speed limits are not targets)

[@ImmuneGEORGE]

@@frostleaf7833 Equality is excellent in 21st Century Britain. Pretending Trans Rights is an issue is taking time and resources away from problems that actually affect many people in the UK, such as class divide, poverty, housing crisis etc. Focussing on identity politics is an unpopular waste of time. It isn't 1960 anymore and we don't live in Saudi Arabia.