Tory frontbencher Claire Coutinho has claimed that the Green Party is the biggest threat to the future of Britain.

Speaking at an event in Westminster, the Shadow Energy Minister, who also holds the Shadow Equalities brief, said that “the thing that scares me most for the future of the country is the Green Party.” She added: “This is a party that wants to legalize heroin, that wants to shut down all our nuclear power plants, that wants to ban salaries, eventually, over £200,000 — that’s the entire 1% that pays 28% of the taxes.”

The comments were made at an event hosted by the Spectator magazine, titled “The Fight for the Right: Conservatives vs Reform”, pitting Coutinho and Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy against Reform UK MP Danny Kruger and unsuccessful parliamentary candidate Matt Goodwin. During her speech, Coutinho also expressed concern that British conservatives aren’t taking the threat from Zack Polanski’s party sufficiently seriously. “That is the worry I have: them in a coalition of the Left,” she said. “If you look at the Tory Party and their energy at the moment, their energy and focus is on stopping Labour from doing bad things.” She added: “If you look at a huge amount of energy from Reform, it is in fighting the Tory Party.”

Coutinho has previously criticized the Left-wing party, posting on X last week that “the Greens are not only embracing political Islamism, but also many of the dangerous conspiracy theories that underpin it.” She argued that “this dangerous, divisive approach to politics does not belong in our society.” This came after former Green deputy leader Shahrar Ali warned earlier this month that the party had been “infiltrated” by Islamists and that it is “a danger to society” under Polanski’s leadership.

The party won the Gorton and Denton by-election in February, beating Labour into third place behind Goodwin for Reform. Following the result, Nigel Farage’s party reported allegations of “family voting”, in which one family member influences or dictates the vote of another, to Greater Manchester Police. The Reform leader claimed in the aftermath of the vote that it was “a victory for sectarian voting and cheating”, adding that the result was “deeply concerning and raises serious questions about the integrity of the democratic process in predominantly Muslim areas”. The constituency’s Muslim population sits at just under 30%. Following a criminal investigation, the police force concluded last month that there had been “no evidence” of family voting in the by-election.

As Green leader, Polanski has backed the legalization of all drugs, including class A substances such as heroin and crack cocaine, arguing that “the war on drugs has absolutely failed, and ultimately we need to be having a public health approach.” Earlier this month, his party proposed the introduction of a cap which would ensure that the highest-paid executive at a company does not receive more than 10 times the salary of the lowest-paid employee.

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is UnHerd’s Deputy Editor, Newsroom.

RobLownie

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