Give The Queen A Council House, Say Greens

The Queen has been offered a council house by the Green Party, whose plans to abolish the monarchy would see her moved out of Buckingham Palace.

The party leader Natalie Bennett said she was sure there would be a state-funded property available for the Queen because the Greens planned to build more.

She said: "I can't see that the Queen is ever going to be really poor, but I'm sure we can find a council house for her - we're going to build lots more."

Ms Bennett also said the Greens would introduce a highest rate of income tax above 50p and said there would be a wealth tax of 1% or 2% on those worth more than £3m.

In an interview with The Times, Ms Bennett said her party was attracting those who had become disillusioned with Labour and "anti-UKIP voters".

And she acknowledged that the party had benefited from the anti-Westminster, anti-Establishment public feeling.

Recent polls have suggested support for the party is at a 20-year high of around 10% - the Greens won just 1% of the vote in 2010.

She said: "People are really hungry for something different. There is an element of us being fresh and new, but we are also talking about ideas, optimism and changing things."

"We need to restructure society with the rich paying their way and multinationals paying taxes. People sometimes say to me, 'I saw you and I stopped shouting at the TV and throwing things at it. I finally agree with a politician'."

The Green leader defended her party's economic policies, which would see the minimum wage rise to £10 an hour with a £70 a week guaranteed basic income.

She said half of the £280bn cost of the policy would come from tax, she indicated, with the rest made up of money already paid out in benefits.