GREEN deputy leader Shahrar Ali delivered one the party conference’s most memorable speeches yesterday, arguing for action and “speaking truth to power.”

Speaking to the Star Mr Ali defended his party as a “long-term project,” not about winning elections but about staying true to one’s principles.

“For us politics is more than about electioneering, as important as that is.” he said.

“I often joke that even if one won’t get elected as a Green and we are not able to enact anything we are probably doing a darn sight better than some of those who do get in.”

In his address to conference he said truth was the the crux of politics, truth not as “saying what you think the public want to hear” but “telling it as it is in spite of short-term unpopularity.”

He added: “While we are long-termist, there’s nothing inconsistent about saying that we are going to pursue it — all it means is that the end doesn’t justify the means.”