Green Party leaders are being urged to think again on their powersharing deal with the SNP amid concerns their party is being used as a “figleaf” for “woeful and inexcusable climate inaction” by the Scottish Government.
Scottish Green Party councillor Chas Booth said he has written to the party’s executive, demanding an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) be held “as soon as reasonably possible to consider withdrawing from the Bute House Agreement”.
It comes in the wake of Thursday’s announcement that the Scottish Government is scrapping the target of reducing emissions by 75% by 2030, with Net Zero Secretary Mairi McAllan conceding the goal is “out of reach”.
I have therefore written to the chair of SGP party Executive to ask them to call an EGM as soon as reasonably possible to consider withdrawing from the Bute House Agreement.
I'd urge other party members who are upset & angry at today's announcement to do likewise.
7/7
— Chas Booth 🇪🇺🇺🇦 (@CllrChasBooth) April 18, 2024
Mr Booth’s demand comes at the same time as the party’s LGBT wing also launched a petition questioning the future of the powersharing deal after the prescription of puberty blockers in Scotland was paused.
The Rainbow Greens hit out following the announcement from NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde that the prescription of puberty blockers for new patients at the gender identity service based at the Sandyford Clinic in Glasgow would be paused.
Some figures in the SNP have already spoken out against the Bute House Agreement – which brought Greens into government for the first time anywhere in the UK when it was agreed following the 2021 Holyrood election.
The deal crucially gave the SNP a majority in the Scottish Parliament when its voters there were combined with those of the seven Green MSPs, but more recently figures in Humza Yousaf’s party, including former leadership candidate Kate Forbes and party stalwart Fergus Ewing, have criticised it.
Greens have appeared more reluctant to question the agreement, which gave ministerial posts to the party’s two co-leaders, Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater.
However, in the wake of the scrapping of the 2030 emissions target, Mr Booth hit out.
Posting on X, formerly known as Twitter, the Leith councillor said while he was “never a fan” of the agreement, he had “accepted the democratic vote of party members” to go into the powersharing arrangement with the SNP.
But in the wake of Ms McAllan’s statement, he said: “I’m forced to conclude our party is being used as a figleaf for the SNP’s woeful and inexcusable climate inaction.
“I have therefore written to the chair of SGP party executive to ask them to call an EGM as soon as reasonably possible to consider withdrawing from the Bute House Agreement.”
He said there had been “anger” on a party members’ call on Thursday evening as a result of the Greens being “part of a Government abandoning climate targets”.
Meanwhile, former MSP Robin Harper, who was the first Scottish Green representative elected to Holyrood, said the SNP and Greens had been “caught out this time” and are “having to readjust their targets and actions”.
With the Scottish Government having previously lauded its climate change targets as “world leading”, Mr Harper, writing in the Scottish Daily Mail, said: “The claim that Scotland had the best climate change targets in the world was, at best, an unsubstantiated assertion, at worst, a deliberate attempt at covering up our own shortcomings.”
Mr Harvie meanwhile said on Thursday he is “angry and disappointed” the 2030 target has to be dropped, and he insisted the move “must be a turning point” for Scotland.
He said: “We cannot undo decades of inaction and bad decision-making, but what we can do is ensure that Scotland goes further and faster in delivering the rapid and fundamental change that is so vital.
“Ever since the first Climate Change Act, I’ve said that world-leading targets are not enough, especially if there aren’t credible and robust plans in place to deliver them.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Greens said: “The co-operation agreement that saw Green politicians enter government for the first time anywhere in the UK, which has been repeatedly endorsed and voted for by members of both parties, has been the catalyst for driving progressive environmental change over the last two-and-a-half years, including moving from targets to an acceleration of climate action with an evidence based route map to 2045.
“As a democratic party we encourage members to engage and participate, and there are a number of ways open for people to do that.”