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Greens 'still a party of power' Scots Greens 'need to do better'
(about 15 hours later)
The Scottish Greens are holding their first conference since losing most of their MSPs in the Scottish election. The Greens may be crucial in getting key Scottish government plans through parliament, their conference has heard.
But the party, which won eight council seats in May, still claims to hold the balance of power at Holyrood. The party hoped to return at least 10 MSPs in the May election, but instead saw their Holyrood complement drop from seven to two.
The Greens hoped to return at least 10 MSPs in the recent Scottish election, but instead saw their Holyrood complement drop from seven to two. One of the survivors, Patrick Harvie, said the SNP minority administration may have to rely on Green support for its first budget.
But the party now has eight councillors and claims to be an alternative to the other "business-as-usual" parties. He also said the Greens had to up their game in order to regain lost ground.
The Greens will use their annual conference in Edinburgh to claim they are making a difference at a local level, while holding the balance of power at many key Holyrood votes. In one of the main conference speeches, Mr Harvie said the party, which gained eight council seats in the May election, was "still standing" despite the Holyrood poll result which left him "genuinely shocked".
Green spaces If we want to regain the ground that we've lost and more besides, there are some things that we need to do Patrick HarvieGreen MSP
The party has also warned Scotland's minority Nationalist government that its first budget next week will need to be an environmentally-friendly one to gain endorsement from the two Green MSPs. He told delegates in Edinburgh that so much of Scottish politics had become dominated by the fight for the middle ground, adding: "In that land of the bland, there can be no vision, no challenge, no hope for the future."
Mr Harper said: "Despite the rhetoric of others, it is only elected Greens that will deliver truly green policies. Mr Harvie claimed that if Scottish ministers wanted to pass their forthcoming first budget, or their council tax plans, the tight party numbers could mean two votes making all the difference.
"Already, the SNP is pushing ahead with transport policies that will simply carry on the climate-wrecking policies that the previous Labour-Lib Dem government was responsible for." He said: "It's in nobody's interests to be seen as the wreckers but if the SNP want to pass their budget, they need at least some support and if they want ours they will need to convince us that the most damaging aspects of their spending plans have been, at the very least, tempered."
Also addressing the conference will be the Greens' new leader-elect, Alison Johnstone. Mr Harvie asked rhetorically whether the Scottish Greens could support a budget which did not cut aviation subsidies or back road building schemes without assessing alternatives.
"Green councillors are determined to see families living in good quality affordable housing, with their children able to safely walk to local schools and access green spaces," said the Edinburgh councillor. Turning to the state of the party post-election, Mr Harvie said he would never again take a single vote for granted.
"Congestion in our cities is getting worse and pollution is killing more than 2,000 people in Scotland each year. That's why Greens in Edinburgh and Glasgow councils are battling to ensure public transport is prioritised and that local services aren't scrapped." 'Go further'
He said: "Expecting it isn't enough. Even earning it isn't enough.
"Very often I hear Greens say things with the best of intentions like 'our single greatest asset is that we're right' as though that will simply result in eventually everybody realising we're right.
"Being right isn't enough either," he added.
"If we want to regain the ground that we've lost and more besides, there are some things that we need to do, some of which don't come naturally to us, some of which won't feel comfortable to us."
Mr Harvie said he did not know of a successful political party which did not ask people for money or strive to reach out beyond its core supporters.
He added: "These are things we've begun to do in the last few years. We need to go further."