Westminster is terrified by Bute House Agreement

I was there to support local Scottish Green activists and Cameron Eadie – a bright, articulate and passionate young healthcare worker and student who is standing as the Scottish Greens candidate in the upcoming by-election.

It was great to join Cameron as he shared his story and delivered his first-ever TV and media interviews.

Despite any nerves he may have felt, he spoke eloquently and powerfully. He focused on the urgency of the social and environmental crisis faced by his generation, but also on the vital difference that every Green vote and every Green voice can make.

It’s a difference I see every day in Holyrood. I see it in the chamber, I see it in the Scottish Government and I see it behind the scenes, where my Scottish Greens colleagues and I are working for change every day.

It is that principled and constructive approach that has allowed us to deliver the groundbreaking Bute House Agreement between our party and the Scottish Government. The agreement, which was months in the making, was published two years ago at a press conference which I was proud to address alongside my co-leader Patrick Harvie and the then first minister Nicola Sturgeon.

It was a major milestone and a turning point for the Scottish Greens and for the wider Green movement, but it was also a huge step for the Scottish Government and for Scotland.

It was a leap of faith and an exercise in trust for all of us. But that is how constructive, collaborative and grown-up politics is meant to work. This isn’t the childish, broken and dog-eat-dog politics of Westminster.

READ MORE: Scottish Greens unveil student as Rutherglen by-election candidate

Deep down, all politicians know that there is no one party that has a monopoly on good ideas or policies. Our system is supposed to encourage parties to put our differences to one side and focus on the things we agree on, and that is what we have done.

That is why the overwhelming majority of members and MSPs from both the Scottish Greens and the SNP voted to support the agreement and to go on this crucial journey together.

There was a sea of cameras at Bute House that day. And, over the days that followed, I received so many emails, tweets and messages from people I knew, as well as from many I didn’t. It wasn’t just news here in Scotland, it was being reported all over the world.

Of course, there was no shortage of talking heads, conservative pundits and opposition politicians loudly proclaiming that it would prove to be a disaster and would instantly break down.

But nothing could be further from the truth. Despite all of the challenges and the changes we have seen in the past two years, the agreement has provided positive, progressive and stable government.

At times it has been a rollercoaster and has taken our politics into uncharted territory. But we have learned from one another, worked well with each other and delivered on the kind of policies and priorities that Greens have been shouting about for years but have never been in a position to turn into action.

Announcing a ban on permission for new incinerators, banning some of the worst single-use plastics, the publication of the Circular Economy Bill which will transform our relationship with waste, investing tens of millions into vital nature restoration projects, improving recycling services across the country and launching the new process to decide Scotland’s next national park. These are all changes that Greens have long campaigned for and are just some of the areas I’m delighted to be leading on.

It's no secret that we have come under fire.

We have seen the very worst of Westminster. Whether it is the Internal Market Act that has entrenched the Brexit that Scotland has rejected, the anti-democratic use of the Section 35 order to block the gender reform that our Parliament voted for or the decision to torpedo our vital can and bottle recycling scheme just as it was ready to launch. They can see what we are doing, and they are terrified.

They don’t want to see rent controls and support for tenants or a just transition from oil and gas to renewables. They would much rather stick to a broken and unsustainable status quo that has served them well.

With a new parliamentary year about to get under way, I am proud to be working with the First Minister, Humza Yousaf, to prioritise our environment and to build a recovery that works for our planet and for the millions of people that have been left behind by an uncaring Tory government.

That is the change we have worked day in and day out to deliver and will continue to. Climate justice, social justice and co-operation have been right at the heart of our record in government, just as they will be in Cameron’s campaign to be the first Scottish Greens voice for Rutherglen and Hamilton West.