So-called ‘populist’ parties are gaining support in several countries. Liberals and democrats seem to have lost confidence in proposing solutions for real change. The Green Book is for all those who believe populism can be beaten with a positive political vision and who want to win the argument again.
The Green Book was published in 2013, and was in many ways a great success that was thwarted by the political spirit of the time.
At the time, the Liberal Democrats were in a national coalition with the Conservatives. While that offered some opportunities to advance the Liberal agenda, a number of Liberal Democrats were worried the party was losing its cutting edge and clear sense of direction. A few of these people formed themselves into an editorial team, brought in leading party members and sympathetic experts, and proposed radical new directions for the Lib Dems, built around a sustainability theme. Their efforts were published in book form by Biteback as The Green Book – New Directions for Liberals in Government, thanks to funding from the Joseph Rowntree Reform Trust Ltd, and with a foreword by the then Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg.
The full text is available as a pdf downloads.
A series of follow-up events led to The Green Manifesto a year later, produced in association with the Liberal Sustainability Network and the Sustainability Hub. While much was adopted in the party’s own manifesto at the 2015 general election, the Lib Dems lost most of their seats. The cost of that loss of direction and clear sense of purpose has been high.
In the decade since then, the political context has changed radically, characterised by Britain’s exit from the European Union, the rise of populist and polarising forces, the accelerating climate crisis, growing social and economic inequality, and much else. So the Green Book team returned in 2023 with a series of podcasts in which expert guests were invited to discuss what an innovative and radical agenda for change could look like, one that Liberals and democrats could rally behind.
The 2024 election has resulted in a welcome boost for the Liberal Democrats to a record 72 MPs, but the campaign itself was notably lacking in debate about the fundamental challenges and difficult choices facing the country. The turnout was low, and the biggest shift of votes was to the populist right.
Not just in the UK but in Europe and America, Liberals and democrats are failing to convince disillusioned voters about the right way forward. False narratives, overt racism, real and rhetorical violence and anti-democratic power grabs are not being effectively countered.
The Green Book is playing its part in the fightback. But for that to happen, there has to be a distinctive Liberal agenda that can excite the British electorate, both as a positive mission and to dent the appeal of populism. That is the challenge the Green Book team has set itself.
Why Green Book
The term ‘Green Book’ is widely used to describe a thorough and objective assessment, often with business case outcomes. A parallel term is ‘Green Paper’ for a consultation on policy proposals for debate and discussion, ahead of a definitive ‘White Paper’ of legislative proposals. In both senses, that sumarises the ambition for this initiative. (In the UK, it’s also the name given to Treasury reviews of public spending programmes and to formal assessments such into effective immunisation procedures for infectious diseases.)
The Green Book’s authors use the term both in its traditional meanings and in making the point that any proposals for social and economic policy must be underpinned by the essential need to preserve the natural world on which we all depend for our health, wellbeing and prosperity.