THE Scottish Greens pledged to drive forward a transport revolution yesterday as they launched their manifesto for the local elections.
The party’s council plan promises to push for “cheaper and more frequent bus services” against a backdrop of rising costs and route cuts across many areas of the country.
The party, which is fielding a record 218 candidates following a period of significant membership growth, has already stated its intention to break into areas where it has never before secured councillors.
It also aims to increase its numbers in authorities where members have already been elected, including Aberdeenshire, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Midlothian and Stirling.
A recent poll by Ipsos MORI predicted major gains in May, with the party expected to move ahead of the LibDems to secure eight per cent of first preference votes – four times the level of support achieved in 2012, when 14 candidates were successful.
If this comes to pass, it will mirror the position at Holyrood last year, where the party moved into fourth place by number of MSPs as LibDem fortunes fell.
At the launch event in Glasgow Women’s Library yesterday, co-convener Patrick Harvie MSP said: “Green councillors can do so much more to revitalise and renew local democracy in Scotland and make it really mean what it should mean: putting power into people’s hands.
“That’s the core of our campaign. We don’t want local politics to be something people feel is done to them, we want it to be something that empowers people to make their own communities better places.”
Other promises in the voter vow include the introduction of a £9.20 per hour “Living Wage Plus” for social carers to boost recruitment and the introduction of a broadband action plan for every council within a year.
Under the plan, teachers and support staff lost through cuts would be replaced, with a promise also to “keep class sizes down”.
The party pledges to “protect precious green and open space” and prioritise affordable, low-carbon housing developments that are “connected to local services” over other schemes.
Co-convener Maggie Chapman said: “We have stood firmly with communities, with trade unions and others against privatisation of council services and against cuts to council services and we will continue to do so.
“Our manifesto contains a range of really important priorities for us over the coming five years.”
Prime Minister Theresa May has framed next month’s election as a fight for the Union, stating her party is ‘’looking forward to the local elections in May, when voters across Scotland will have the chance to send a clear message to the SNP that they do not want a second independence referendum, by voting Scottish Conservative and Unionist’’.
Yesterday Glasgow Greens candidate Allan Faulds rejected May’s call, claiming “very few people” campaigners meet on the doorsteps were raising the prospect of a referendum.
He said: “This is an election about local issues. Parties that are trying to make it about constitutional issues are doing their constituents a great disservice.”
Kim Long, who is also standing in the country’s biggest city, said: “More people than ever will have the chance to vote Green in these elections. As candidates, we’re all dedicated local campaigners. We’re determined to put power in the hands of our communities.
“Our councils need more Green voices. We will speak up to protect public services, give our schools the resources they need, support our care staff and tackle the housing crisis.
“Green councillors are renowned for their hard work. Now we need more Green councillors elected in towns and cities across Scotland, working with local residents and putting power back in communities where it belongs.
“Green MSPs secured an extra £160 million from the Scottish Government for councils to spend on local priorities this year, while other parties’ posturing achieved nothing. Council chambers across Scotland need our bold and constructive approach.”
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