Coronavirus is an opportunity to reset and rebuild a more sustainable Britain

The coronavirus crisis has exposed and deepened the inequalities that have left so many of our fellow citizens with insecure jobs, insecure incomes, and insecure lives. It’s forced us to live differently, and it’s taught us to think differently, about how we live, what’s gone wrong with our society and how it could be better.

It’s also bringing politicians from across the political spectrum together to re-imagine a future, not working in isolation in committee rooms in the Palace of Westminster, but engaging with people across the country to tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time so that the necessary changes we make in response to this crisis are not done to people, but decided and implemented with them.  

That has been the thinking behind Reset, an initiative launched in June by the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Green New Deal and supported by politicians from eight parties at Westminster, from both sides of the Commons and Lords.  We are united in a belief that we need to move away from the path we are on, scarred by austerity and inequality and heading straight for climate chaos and species extinction, and towards one that has a chance of meeting the climate goals which parliament itself has set. 

We have spent the summer holding workshops with members of the public, hearing evidence from climate and policy experts and surveying opinion across the UK. We reached out to voices and communities who are often excluded from these debates, men, women, young, old, working or unemployed.  

 We wanted to further explore the growing consensus among groups from businesses to trade unions, think tanks to campaign organisations, that we need to transform and modernise the economy with a new focus and purpose: enhancing the wellbeing of people and nature, in a way that also delivers a fairer society for everyone. 

What we have learned has been inspiring, and reinforced our belief that we have a unique opportunity to create a better Britain, which we cannot afford to throw away. 

We knew that people didn’t want to go back to the way things were before. What we learned over the summer was what they do want: fundamental changes in how we work, live and run our economy.  

What was striking was how far ahead of the government the public is on the scale of change they want. They’re not interested in a bit of tinkering (nor are we), they want real change and they expect ministers to take the lead on this. 

In a nationwide survey carried out for Reset, two thirds of people said they thought government should prioritise the health and wellbeing of citizens over the growth of GDP. Only one in five wanted GDP to remain the benchmark of economic success. 

There was support for reduced working hours so that what work is available is shared more fairly. There were calls for a universal basic income and more flexible working patterns, plus improved pay and working conditions for key workers. More green spaces and food being grown closer to home were also important to some surveyed.

People wanted more time to give back to their communities. In the words of one workshop participant, they want “the time to be good”.  Most said they would use the time freed up by more flexible working to volunteer or contribute to their local community.  The outpouring of community help and support in the early weeks of lockdown was no flash in the pan.  It showed who we really are as a nation, but too often have neither the time nor energy to be.

These ambitions were shared by all the different groups with whom we engaged, irrespective of geography, gender, age, ethnicity or social class.   

Their vision wasn’t just for a fairer Britain, it was for a greener Britain.  Many of the things they wanted would make a significant contribution to meeting the UK’s climate target of net-zero emissions. 

Reset complemented the process and work of the UK Climate Assembly, by exploring how the need to cut our carbon emissions intersects with people’s immediate hopes and dreams. The same ideas were echoed.  

Government ministers, from the prime minister down, have made promises over recent weeks that Britain will “build back better” and “build back greener”. Our Reset findings revealed the strength of the popular mandate for bold government action to deliver a fairer and more sustainable society, and it comes from across the UK. 

The support for fundamental change is there.  This autumn, we need to see ministers deliver.  

Caroline Lucas is the Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion