PATRICK Harvie has torn into the Tories and Labour for their attacks on the pro-independence movement, following Theresa May's speech to the Scottish Conservative Party conference last week and London Mayor Sadiq Khan's recent remarks suggesting Yes supporters were racist.

The Scottish Greens co-convener's comments came as he thanked Molly Scott Cato, a Green MEP in England, for her address to his party's spring conference today in Glasgow where she told activists the "logic of a second referendum on Scottish independence is irrefutable".

Pitching his party to disgruntled Labour supporters, Harvie said: "We heard Sadiq Khan at the Labour conference insulting the very voters that Scottish Labour has lost, and should be trying to win back.

"Whether they left Labour because of their alliance with the Tories in 2014, or because of the countless other failings over their years in government we’re here for those voters."

Harvie continued: "We heard Theresa May expressing what really deserves to be called 'divisive nationalism'. This is the PM who’s turned a narrow margin for Brexit into an excuse to remove our rights to move freely in the EU and to treat the lives of our friends, neighbours and colleagues as bargaining chips – now accusing others of stoking constitutional grievance.

"This is the UK Government which has persistently refused to engage with Scotland and the Scottish Parliament, whether we’re standing up for people being abused in an inhumane immigration system, seeking to protect Jobcentres and other public services, or even trying to question her ministers in Parliament about their reckless Brexit agenda."

During his speech at Maryhill Burgh Halls, Harvie said the Tories were poised to fight an "utterly cynical" council elections campaign in the coming weeks after May urged voters to use the May 4 ballot to send a "clear message" to Nicola Sturgeon they do not want another independence referendum.

But Harvie, whose party supports independence, said these elections should not be about Scotland's constitutional future but about local services.

"The Conservatives pitch to the voters, I believe, is going to be utterly cynical," he said.

"It's their hard Brexit agenda which is pushing Scotland towards making its choice.

"The time for that will come, but for now our focus has to be clear - our councils and the services they provide matter to people.

"Let's not let the Tory constitutional obsession give them a chance to take hold of our local services.

"Let's remind people these are the very people who would starve our services of the funding they need and privatise them at the first opportunity."

The Scottish Greens are targeting a record number of local government seats by fielding more than 200 candidates.

They hope to increase their presence in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, Aberdeenshire and Midlothian Councils, and secure their first councillors in most other local authorities and - as well as gathering support from former Labour voters - want to attract support away from the SNP too.

"Our call for investment in our local services, for the building of strong communities in Scotland's local economies, and renewed local democracy that puts power in people's hands - this call represents a warning to the SNP too," Harvie said. "They need to recognise that our councils matter, that our public services matter.

"It took the Greens in the Scottish Parliament to force them to reverse huge cuts to council budgets, and it will still take Greens to make the case for the strong democratic local government that Scotland needs, because more power for Scotland isn't just a prize to be won, it's a chance to make change."

Earlier, Cato received a standing ovation when she supported a new referendum on Scottish independence. There is mounting speculation the First Minister will move forward plans to hold one once Article 50 is triggered.

The Green Party of England and Wales take a neutral position on the issue of independence, although several prominent figures in the party, including then leader Natalie Bennett, supported a Yes vote in 2014.

Cato said the Brexit vote, in which the majority of Scots backed Remain, left people north of the Border facing either a future inside the UK and outside the EU, or inside the EU and outside the UK.

"The people of Scotland must now be given the option to consider which alternative they prefer," she said. "This makes the logic of another independence referendum irrefutable."

Cato, too, attacked May's address to the Scottish Tory Party conference saying its "patronising tone must have done more to build support for independence than the referendum itself".

She continued: "How dare [May] criticise a government which proposed independence on the basis of a 650-page manifesto, when her own party produced precisely nothing about what life in the UK looked like outside the EU?

"The Brexit scam is clearly unravelling and this can only get worse. This can only intensify as negotiations proceed....Scotland has its own route to a stable peaceful and prosperous future as part of the EU, the body that really is the world's greatest family of nations.

"I wish you good luck on that journey and I will do all I can to support you."