Glad to give Mr Taylor (Letters, March 11) a glimpse of a Green way out of the banking crisis.

The credit crunch was inevitable because the bubble of debt had to burst, but people forget that it was triggered by high oil prices. Investors feared we had reached peak oil and prices would go on rising. That threat is still with us, as is the risk of catastrophic climate change. We have to face financial and ecological crises together.

This is why, in July, 2008, the Green Party advocated a programme to retro-fit all existing homes to become low-carbon. Such investment would have provided jobs across the UK. Instead, Labour spent less than one per cent of GDP on a green “stimulus package” and poured 20 per cent into the banks. At best, this has led to an anaemic recovery and we all still fear a lurch back into recession. We still need that “Green New Deal”.

The Green Party — and many economists — do not share what has been called a “collective delusion” about the need to quickly repay the debt used to rescue the banking sector by massively cutting public services. These debts we would pay at a rate that kept our teachers, nurses, police, carers — the list is long — delivering the services essential for a decent society.

In the longer term, our policies would move us towards more localised and resilient economies, promoting fairer, more equal and happier communities.

Mr Taylor suggests that the Lib Dems are different to other old parties, but under Mr Nick Clegg they have joined the economic neo-liberal consensus that precipitated the credit crunch. They still believe global free trade and a low carbon economy are compatible.

George Heron Green Party Candidate Bury South