21 September 2026 - 5:30pm
The Greens are doing little to shake off their image as a party with scant interest in robust immigration control. As part of a two-day fringe programme organised alongside the party’s conference in Brighton next week, members are reportedly hosting events on how to resist “migration raids”. The “radical political” meetings are being co-led by Green councillors Nadia Barton Ahmad and Hau-Yu Tam, and aim to teach local councils about how to “end complicity with migration enforcement”.
Tam, who is the cabinet member in Lewisham for “communities, sanctuary and healing”, has already spearheaded an “anti-raids” motion which became official policy. This committed the council to creating partnerships with other councils in developing an “anti-raids corridor” — a form of “joined-up resistance” which involves close cooperation with migrant centres and community groups to “improve Lewisham’s sanctuary programmes”. The approved motion also states that Lewisham Council believes “there is no positive legal duty for local authority inspection or licensing teams to share data with the Home Office for the purposes of immigration enforcement,” and that doing so is “incompatible with being a Borough of Sanctuary”.
While the upcoming session is part of a fringe event being held alongside the party conference, it provides an insight into the fiercely anti-state radicalism which exists among elected Green representatives. It also reveals a certain ideological fundamentalism that is likely to limit the party’s long-term electoral appeal. While the Greens have enjoyed considerable growth under the leadership of Zack Polanski, several high-profile controversies and Labour’s replacement of Keir Starmer with Andy Burnham have seen the party flag in the polls.
One of the party’s greatest weaknesses is the lack of a credible wing which prioritises tangible and practical policy achievements over the ideological purity and radical activism that alienates much of the mainstream. The British Greens could learn much from the “Realos” wing of their German counterparts. Fiercely opposed to the fundamentalist “Fundis” faction, members of the Realos wing argued their party had no choice but to compromise, work within the Bundestag, and form coalitions with traditional parties such as the Social Democrats to change policy from the inside. By winning this internal struggle, the Realos transformed their party from a protest movement into a mainstream governing force.
As opposition to further immigration becomes an increasingly popular position in Britain, the Green Party risks sinking into irrelevance if councillors such as Barton Ahmad and Tam are its future. The reality is that rapid population growth presents issues around housing demand, urban sprawl, and water scarcity. However, if a “Realos” wing can emerge — consisting of more traditionally-minded elected Green representatives from parts of England such as Mid Suffolk, East Hertfordshire, and South Oxfordshire — then the party may build a more respectable image in the eyes of the wider electorate.
Small-c conservative politics that link the protection of local landscapes, rural communities, and natural heritage with the preservation of national identity and Britain’s social fabric may antagonise “smash-the-state” activists in the Green Party. At the same time, this approach would broaden the party’s overall appeal in a fragmented political marketplace where there is much to play for. As it stands, it risks being pigeonholed by radical city-based activists obsessed with ideological purity. Really, Polanski should be looking to its German sister party for inspiration.
