The Queen can go and live in a council house, Green leader claims

 
Natalie Bennett's Green Party want to scrap the monarchy
Robin de Peyer24 January 2015
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The Queen could move into a council house if the monarchy was abolished, the leader of the Green Party has claimed.

Natalie Bennett said her party would move the Royals out of Buckingham Palace if they were in power.

"But I'm sure we can find a council house for her," she added in an interview with the Times.

Ms Bennett suggested the Greens would have a top rate of tax higher than 50p, with a wealth tax on multi-millionaires as part of a plan to "restructure society with the rich paying their way and multinationals paying taxes".

Her comments came after the Greens' membership overtook the Liberal Democrats' and Ukip's and broadcasters invited her to take part in live TV debates ahead of May's general election.

Ms Bennett told The Times her party was attracting disaffected Labour supporters and "anti-Ukip voters".

Monarchy plan: Green leader Natalie Bennett Pic: PA

She said: "People are really hungry for something different. There is an element of us being fresh and new, but we are also talking about ideas, optimism and changing things."

The Green leader defended her party's economic policies, despite critics' warnings, claiming that GDP was not as important as whether people had a "better quality life".

Asked whether she wanted the country to go into recession, she said: "It depends if you want to measure success by GDP. Even the people who invented GDP said it's a lousy tool for progress. The age of significant growth is over. We need to look at human measures now, not profits, but a better quality life."

She added: "We have been driven by this neoliberal Thatcherite idea that what motivates people is money. We want to focus on the fact that people don't just want to work to earn more and more, they want to do other things that often aren't recognised and valued."

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