Natalie Bennett said the so-called ‘citizens income’ – which critics say would cost £280billion – would take longer than five years to bring in, and could take even longer . Every adult in Britain would be paid £72 a week under a commitment in the Green manifesto – but the party leader admitted her pledges could take decades to implement. Natalie Bennett said the so-called ‘citizens income’ – which critics say would cost £280billion – would take longer than five years to bring in, and could take even longer. She said another Green pledge – to dismantle the Armed Forces and use weapons factories to build wind turbines – was also a ‘long-term aspiration’. And the party’s policy of leaving Nato and abandoning nuclear weapons was ‘many decades into the future’. The revelations came in another disappointing performance by Miss Bennett, when she was interviewed on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme. In February she suffered what she called a ‘brain fade’ on LBC Radio when she forgot the details of her party’s key housing policies. On Today, she was challenged about policies listed in the Green policy book, which is set by party members at the annual conference. One of these is the citizens’ incomes, which would be given to everyone in Britain as a ‘right of citizenship’, regardless of wealth or whether they are seeking work. Miss Bennett, the Green Party leader in England and Wales, said the policy would take time to implement. She said: ‘Let me say this very slowly – the commitment is in the manifesto. We don’t think we can introduce it in the term of the next parliament; it’s a big change. ‘The Green Party has a long-term vision about what Britain should look like. I don’t apologise for that. ‘We are saying we need a Britain that’s built on principles of politics; we need a different kind of politics and having that long-term vision, looking into the future and saying what should Britain look like in five, 10, 20 years’ time is something that is very much central to Green Party politics.’ Claiming the citizens’ income was backed by an ‘increasing number of economists’, she said that as ‘the sixth richest economy, we have to provide for everyone's basic needs and we have to do that within the limits of our one planet’. ‘The Citizens' Income, the commitment to that, is in this manifesto – but we've seen the difficulties that Iain Duncan Smith has got into in introducing Universal Credit, so we're saying it would take more than the term of one parliament to actually introduce this,’ she said. Claiming the citizens’ income was backed by an ‘increasing number of economists’, Ms Bennett said that as ‘the sixth richest economy, we have to provide for everyone's basic needs and we have to do that within the limits of our one planet’ After two-and-a-half years as Green party leader, Natalie Bennett would have liked to think she has made a name for herself. But after another faltering media performance she suffered the indignity of being confused with her predecessor. Radio 4 Today presenter John Humphreys ended the grilling saying: Caroline Lucas, thank you very much.' He quickly apologised for his gaffe. Ms Lucas was Green leader from 2008-12, but stood down to concentrate on being the party's first MP. Miss Bennett was also challenged over a pledge, contained in the same policy book, to dismantle the Armed Forces – saying it was a ‘long-term’ aspiration. She also said that abandoning nuclear weapons and leaving Nato was a ‘long-term plan many decades into the future’. The book also contains pledges to legalise the sex industry and drug use, decriminalise Al Qaeda membership and impose new taxes on pop music performances and large gifts. Miss Bennett said the Greens were now the third-largest party in England and Wales. ‘We're larger than UKIP, we're larger than the Lib Dems,’ she said. ‘We have more than 58,000 members. ‘We've had one Green MP, Caroline Lucas, who's had a huge impact as one MP in the Parliament. ‘And we're now working very hard to send a strong group of Green MPs to Parliament who - given the electoral arithmetic - have a very good chance of being in a strong position to really influence the whole direction of the next government.’ She said her party offered a ‘genuine alternative’ to the Conservatives' ‘austerity heavy’ and the Labour's ‘austerity-lite’. The Green’ manifesto will be launched next week.
Green party leader flounders again in interview about her own policies .
Set out plans for 'citizens income' paid to every adult in the country .
Forced to admit it would take 'decades' to implement expensive plan .
Embarrassment at end of interview when she is called 'Caroline Lucas'