THE Scottish Greens have said it is their party’s job to “inject radical ideas” into UK politics.
At the launch of their campaign for the December 12 General Election, co-leaders Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie said the party have been effective in pushing more progressive policies into the political fore, including the Living Wage and the four-day working week.
Launching their campaign in South Queensferry, the Scottish Greens unveiled some of the candidates who will be standing in more than 20 seats across Scotland.
Slater said: “The role of the Green Party is the one that we regularly play, which is to keep pushing other parties to be more radical.
“The other parties are committed to endless oil and gas extraction, they’re committed to widening roads, they’re committed to things that are completely the opposite of what is needed to combat the climate emergency.”
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She continued: “Something that we’ve found over and over again in UK politics is that ideas the Green Party introduces to the political lexicon are then taken up by other parties down the road.
“Maggie Chapman, who was one of our councillors, was the first politician in Scotland to mention the Living Wage, now everybody talks about it.
“It’s the Green Party’s role to inject these radical ideas into the discourse, and that’s how we effect change.”
The Scottish Greens have pledged to put the issue of climate change at the heart of their campaign in Scotland, with Slater – who will not stand as a candidate in the election – saying they will “demand climate action”.
Harvie added that his party must have “bold, Green voices, demanding that the other political parties rise” to the challenge of halting climate change.
He said: “There’s a real sense of contradiction between what the other parties are saying and what they’re doing when they get a whiff of power.
“Greens need to be there in every Parliament and every part of our country challenging that.”
When asked about the possibility of a coalition in this election, Harvie said he “wouldn’t rule that out for the future”, looking particularly at the 2021 election in Holyrood.
He said: “I think people know that the fairer voting system [at Holyrood] means that they have a big opportunity to put a big, solid group of Greens into Parliament and who knows what the options will be in the future.”
However, following the announcement of a Remain alliance between the LibDems, Plaid Cymru and the Scottish Greens’ UK counterparts, Harvie has said political parties should stand on their own merit.
The Scottish Greens co-leader said it is down to each party to “campaign positively”, rather than try to “bully and intimidate” others off the ballot paper.
An agreement between Remain-supporting politicians in England and Wales will see the Greens, LibDems and Plaid Cymru stand aside in certain seats if one of the others have a better chance of winning.
The Scottish Greens opted not to follow suit with parties in Scotland.
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