Attention Green Party members!

A motion to make ‘full reserve banking’a key policy of Green Party was made to the Green Party Autumn Conference 2013 (Sept 13-16 in Brighton).  

To support it, Green Party members can now vote to prioritise it. 

To vote in the prioritisation ballot to ensure that the Banking Reform motion (C06 Monetary and Banking Reform Composite) is given a high placing on the agenda for the Green Party’s Autumn Conference in September, Green Party members should simply click on this link to the prioritisation ballot, fill out their name and local party, then (ideally) put ‘1’ by this motion and then choose the priority you would like for other motions.

(Please note that another separate motion was made that seeks to nationalise the banks. Unfortunately that motion starts by deleting motion CO6 entirely!)

This link and a copy of the First draft of the Agenda for Green Party Autumn Conference can be found on the Green Party Members Website. Green Party members need to fill out the prioritisation ballot by the deadline, which is 15th July.

The motion was made by Andrew Waldie (economist, accountant and Treasurer of Kent Green Party). On 1st July 2013, Andrew has made a talk to Croydon Green Party explaining the motion and the need for monetary reform.

Below you can read the report prepared by Jay Ginn, who chaired the meeting:

Banking Reform – What is it all about?

by Jay Ginn

Andrew Waldie (economist, accountant and Treasurer of Kent Green Party) gave a talk on monetary reform to Croydon Green Party on Monday, 1st July . He explained to the  how it came about that 97% of our money supply is created from nothing by the private banks. Since each loan made bears interest, banks took advantage of diminishing regulation over the 20^th century to build escalating mountains of profitable debt. Latterly, misplaced confidence in a never-ending boom caused an equivalent escalation in house prices, encouraging an unsustainable spiral that inevitably crashed when debts plus interest became unrepayable. Andrew showed how the interest charged by banks bears most heavily on the poorest in society, driving social inequality.

To prevent such repeated crises, Andrew’s motion (CO6) to the Green Party autumn conference (Sept 13-16 in Brighton) would make ‘full reserve banking’a key policy: banks would only be allowed to lend from their own reserves and customer savings (as mutual Building Societies used to do). Instead, the creation of money would be restored to the Bank of England. First, this would ensure stabilisation of the money supply to serve the public interest, ending the undemocratic control by 78 banking board members, and would place limits on planet-depleting growth. Second, the profit from supplying money would be a public resource available for social purposes such as building schools and hospitals (currently funded by cripplingly expensive Private Finance Initiative (PFI) deals). A People’s Bank and local currencies are also endorsed by the motion. Searching questions and discussion clarified several issues, including how house prices would stabilise and mortgages be financed and how those deciding on money supply would be accountable to parliament, not to government or corporations.