THE Scottish Greens launched their manifesto with a commitment to indyref2 in the next parliament and plans for sweeping tax powers to boost Scotland’s recovery from the pandemic.
Co-leaders Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie introduced Our Common Future at a virtual event yesterday and described their plans as “bold and transformational”.
Renewable energy jobs and infrastructure, the end of licenses for gas and oil exploration in the North Sea and a “millionaires tax” on the top 10% of earners took centre stage.
And the Greens backed a second independence referendum in the next parliamentary term and said they would be “open to exploring” a legal challenge against the UK Government if they refused to allow the vote to go ahead.
Launching the manifesto, Slater said: “Our Common Future sets out a positive programme for government to secure a Green recovery for Scotland. We will invest in Scotland, create jobs, revive industry, and build the modern infrastructure the country urgently needs.
“It is a programme of change, because in the face of the climate emergency and the economic fallout from the pandemic, we need change, but it is a programme that will bring everyone along, no-one left behind.
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“Let me be clear though, it is bold, it is transformational, but it is also the minimum that Scotland needs to do to keep up with the rest of the world.”
The manifesto pledges to back a second referendum, and to campaign to re-join the EU as an independent nation.
Dedicating two pages of the document to the constitutional question, the manifesto reads: “The legislation covering all aspects of the referendum, including the question and the timing, should be decided by a simple majority of the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Greens will campaign and vote for a referendum within the next parliamentary term and under the terms of the Referendums Act (2020).
“We believe that the UK Government’s refusal to respect a pro-independence majority in the Scottish Parliament would not be politically sustainable and could be subject to
legal challenge.”
Asked by The National if the Greens would back a legal challenge, and if an independent Scotland would have a better chance of reaching climate goals, Harvie said: “We’ve said very clearly that the refusal by the UK to even talk about this would be politically untenable, it is possible it could be legally challenged as well, and we would be open to exploring that.
“Fundamentally, the track record of the Greens shows we don’t have to wait for independence to take more radical action on climate, but independence would allow us to do so much more that we currently can’t do.
“From energy to spend money on energy efficiency, but we can’t regulate the energy companies, to waste where we have to manage the problem but we can’t control the companies that create the stuff, there’s a huge element of the response to the climate and nature emergencies, where we can go further but we can only go all the way with independence, and of course we would only be representing ourselves at conferences in the future, like the COP if we were an independent country.”
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The Greens have also pledged to introduce a “millionaires tax” on the wealthiest 10% of Scots who hold almost half of the country’s total wealth. The 1% annual levy would be on all wealth and assets above a £1 million threshold.
As this would require UK Government consent, which the Greens admitted “might not be forthcoming”, this could be introduced at a local government level instead.
The party also committed to creating 100,000 new green jobs as part of their infrastructure plans with £7.5 billion in investment to get the scheme off the ground.
Our Common Future - Five key takeaways from the Greens' manifesto
Economy and Infrastructure
THE party plan to invest £7.5 billion to create more than 100,000 jobs over the next parliamentary term, through plans including a net-zero public rail system, upgrading thousands of homes to zero-carbon heating and investing £450 million in renewables including wind turbines and offshore tidal power.
Land, sea and environment
TO tackle the climate and biodiversity emergencies, the Greens want to reinvest in rural areas, create a nature restoration fund, create protected national parks with a new rangers service, and invest £250m in planting and regenerating woodland.
Independence
THE party have committed to an independence referendum during the next term of the Scottish Parliament, once the Covid crisis has passed, and said they would be “open to exploring” a legal challenge against the UK Government should they refuse to let the vote go ahead.
INCREASING nurse’s salaries to 12.5%, rolling out mental health support to health and social care workers, allocating 10% of the health budget to mental health by 2026, and creating a National Care Service are amongst some of the top health policies.
Education
TACKLING the attainment gap, introducing universal breakfast clubs, free school meals for all primary children (with an aim to expand this to secondary pupils), tackling uniform costs, a recruitment drive for teachers and raising the school starting age to seven by introducing a kindergarten stage for three to six-year-olds form the basis of the Greens education promises.
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