YORK’S Green Party has been given high-ranking support as it unveils the first of three videos aimed at driving home its local election message.

The Green Alternative To The Cuts features the party’s local candidates alongside its national leader Caroline Lucas MP, outlining why they believe projected Government spending reductions are “unnecessary”.

The film, now available on YouTube and york.greenparty.org.uk, focuses on the Greens’ ‘cut hours, not jobs’ policy, which would see City of York Council staff work two hours less a week, with a consequent pay drop, and reduce the salaries of the authority’s highest earners. The party says this would save the council £5 million a year without further jobs being lost, with Andy Chase, Green candidate for Micklegate, said: “This policy could prevent some of the things which are going to be very, very damaging, such as cuts in services for children and young people and the outsourcing of care services.”

In the video, Dr Lucas, the Greens’ first MP, also speaks about alternatives to a cuts programme, saying: “You don’t have to be that imaginative to think ‘what about that Robin Hood tax?’ – in other words, a tiny tax on financial transactions, which wouldn’t affect ordinary people but would affect big businesses.”