26 Oct 2024 Finance

Lorna Slater Autumn Conference speech 2024

So it’s been a bit of a year.

In April, Holyrood lost the stable pro-independence progressive majority Government that had been in place since 2021, and got a new First Minister. 

Since then, we’ve seen the SNP step away from progressive policies, step back from climate action and U-turn on Green budget commitments like free school meals for all primary School children, free  bus travel for asylum seekers and abolition of peak rail fares.

In July, we had a general election in which the Conservatives finally got kicked out of the UK Government. 

But that general election has political consequences for Scotland that will reverberate for years, for good or for ill. 

The political landscape in Scotland is shifting. In September, Green MSPs hosted a debate in the Scottish Parliament on the 10th Anniversary of the Independence Referendum. 

The catalyst for the Green-Surge that got me, and I know many of you, involved in Scottish politics, inspired by a vision for a fairer and greener Scotland. 

It was a moment where big change and a better future felt possible.

Our challenge, in these changed political times, is to keep that hope for a better future alive and real. 

Just two weeks ago, we forced a significant U-turn from the Scottish Government, and got them to re-commit to free bus travel for asylum seekers in Scotland. 

You may remember Patrick announcing the policy at our last Autumn conference in Dunfermline. Yet only three months ago the SNP said that they were dropping it.

This shameful attempt to go back on the promise they had already made would have been a betrayal of some of the most marginalised people in our society. 

The Scottish Greens have demonstrated that not only can we be an effective and constructive opposition party, but that we are able to take on the greater challenge of being in Government, facing the responsibilities, and difficult decisions that are a necessary part of Governing.

Indeed, other opposition parties, throughout our time in Government, and even now, loudly bemoan how influential we’ve been. “The Greens are running the show” they complain. “The Greens are setting the agenda.” “The Greens are driving budget decisions.” 

Thanks for noticing. 

The truth is that the Scottish Greens are the only party that is committed to delivering the kind of change, and the scale of change that is so badly needed.

I’m deeply proud of what we achieved during our time in Government. 

From free bus travel for all our young people, to the biggest expansion of the living wage and the Scottish Child Payment since devolution;

Scotland’s first emergency rent freeze and eviction protections during the cost of living crisis, bans on polluting behaviours like incineration, single use plastics and disposable vapes, increased multi-year funding for nature restoration and active travel - the policies you, our Scottish Green members, decided on at past conferences were being put into action. Making people’s lives better, day in, day out.

In or out of government we are committed to delivering the change that Scotland needs.

After years of campaigning both inside and outside of parliament by my colleague Gillian Mackay and grassroots organisations, safe access zones finally came into force around Scotland’s abortion service providers. 

Being able to access reproductive care free from abuse or harassment is a basic fundamental right, but in recent years, here in Scotland, too many women have been forced to face down a cruel gauntlet of graphic banners and megaphones, just to access the healthcare that they are entitled to.

Thanks to the brave women and healthcare workers who shared their difficult and traumatic experiences, and to Gillian for gathering cross-party support, these protests outside hospitals will now be a thing of the past in Scotland. 

Some of the measures put in place while Greens were in government, things we worked very hard on, will see benefits in the future and for decades: licensing of grouse moors, will compel more responsible management and reduce wildlife crime, the ban on many single use plastics and disposable vapes will lead to reductions in plastic found on our beaches and in our parks. The Circular Economy bill will allow regulations to be brought in to tackle other single use items, like single use coffee cups, and shift society towards reuse.

It is a worry to me that, without the Scottish Greens in the room, the SNP will cower away from the real actions that are needed to tackle climate change and the nature emergency. 

We, in this room, know. Young people and climate activists across Scotland know, we need bog changes in how we manage land, how we travel and how our homes and buildings are heated. 

Scottish Greens in Parliament and in Councils across the Country will keep saying this, keep working to make it happen. 

Within this term of parliament we have several significant bills still to come: The Housing Bill with its Rent Controls, and Heat in buildings, also Land Reform, Community Wealth Building, a Natural Environment Bill, and not forgetting, Mark Ruskell’s members bill to ban Greyhound racing.

Rent controls are something in particular that Patrick and I feel strongly about, I know many of you in this room share this feeling. 

Getting rent controls into the Bute House Agreement and then initiating legislation for them has been a significant achievement for the Scottish Greens.

All of us agree that Scotland is facing a housing emergency. 

Many of you have first hand experience of rents increasing suddenly, often by even more than inflation, making it harder and harder for young people and tenants to keep the roof over their head and pay their bills. 

Making it ever harder to get ahead in life, because it is hard to pay for training, to save up or to take time out to care for others, when your rent takes more and more of your pay packet.

Rent controls are normal. They exist in many parts of Europe and beyond. They must exist in Scotland too.

With my colleagues, Maggie Chapman and Ariane Burgess leading our housing work in parliament and holding the government to account, Green MSPs will be doing everything we can to ensure that the Housing Bill is not watered down and that the rights and wellbeing of tenants are finally put first.

That is how we can build a fairer system and how we can protect tenants and ensure that homes are for living in and not for profiteering.

There are opportunities ahead in the Land Reform and Natural Environment Bills to try to push the Scottish Government further, to work to prevent these bills from being watered down, the measures in them delayed or underfunded. 

This is harder to do from opposition, but the Scottish Greens have a good track record when it comes to defending our green and wild spaces. 

I am so proud of my colleague Ross Greer’s campaign here in the West of Scotland to protect the iconic landscape of Loch Lomond, and to defend public access to nature over the private profit of Flamingo land. 

He galvanised local support to ensure this became the most objected to planning application in Scottish history, with over 150,000 people lodging objections. 

The community was united against these mega-resort plans, and now the National Park Authority has rejected planning permission.

After eight long years of campaigning, Flamingo Land has been beaten for good. People power finally won. 

We had another long awaited victory this summer defending Scotland’s nature over in Stirling, where my colleague Mark Ruskell has worked with the local community for more than a decade to fight plans for another luxury development at Park of Keir, near Dunblane. 

This ancient woodland site should have been protected by Greenbelt designation, and proposals for luxury housing and a private sports club were rejected twice by the local council. 

Yet Government ministers called the application in, and overturned the local, democratically made decision. 

Finally though, this summer, people power won out - the developers were forced to admit that the plans were not feasible, and walked away from them.

I am very much still hoping that the Natural Environment bill will contain the legislation needed to designate Scotland’s 3rd National Park in Galloway. 

This would be a huge boost for communities in the South of Scotland, and my gratitude goes out to the local Scottish Green members in Dumfries and Galloway who played a part in the successful campaign to make Galloway the chosen location. 

This is only happening because you, our Scottish Green members, campaigned for it during the 2021 election, and we were able to get it included in the Bute House Agreement.

There is still a lot of work to do to ensure that people in Galloway understand what a park will mean for them and get their full say on how their park would work. 

It distresses me how much mis-information is out there. 

There is a key role here for all Scottish Greens, whether elected representative or local volunteer, to make sure communities have accurate information, chances to ask questions and the opportunity to shape their own future.

Our amazing group of local councillors are shaping the future of communities all across Scotland.

In the last six months, we’ve seen Scottish Green councillors, not just just Scottish Green councillors, but Young Green councillors,  take up historic leadership positions for the first time, with Luna Martin in Argyll and Bute, and Kristopher Leask in Orkney taking up spokesperson and committee chair roles in the council. 

In Edinburgh and Glasgow, our two councillor groups have led the way in delivering local visitor levies for their cities, with my home city of Edinburgh set to become the first place in the whole of the UK to roll out a visitor levy in 2026. 

This important tax power was secured by our MSPs in Holyrood, but it’s taken Scottish Green councillors in our town halls and city chambers to make it happen. 

It is a vital step forward in giving councils the powers they desperately need to raise money and make spending decisions themselves. 

We’ve also seen our hardworking lone councillors fighting cuts to local libraries, swimming lessons and bus services in East Lothian, Stirling, and North Lanarkshire, whilst in Shetland, Alex Armitage has brought the fight against global fossil fuel companies into the council chambers, as he continues to lead the local campaign to stop Rosebank oil field. 

These are just a few of the achievements of our Scottish Green Councillors in recent months - there really are too many to mention - but it’s fair to say we are all deeply proud of our local champions, fighting for people and planet in our communities.

Thank you to every single Green councillor for the change you are making and the community leadership you are showing every single day.

And thank you to all of you who get out and campaign, who knock on doors, who organise meetings and canvassing and who make it possible to get so many Scottish Greens elected.

We are heading into a new election cycle in Scotland, at a time when the tectonic plates in Scottish politics are shifting. 

The Scottish Greens are a proudly progressive party. 

We are the only party that has a clear understanding of the urgency of the climate and nature emergencies. 

We know that we cannot drill our way out of a climate crisis.

That is why we are the only party that will say clearly and unequivocally that there must be no new oil and gas licences in our north sea.

We are the only party who speak honestly about taxing the rich and the polluters, to properly fund local authorities and public services. 

Only the Scottish Greens talk about ending public subsidies for environmental destruction, about building an economy and a food system that is fair and sustainable. 

We are unfailing in our support for our LGBTQ+ siblings. 

Trans rights are human rights.  

We want to create a more compassionate politics, and end the hostile environment against migrant communities and refugees.

We will never give up on our vision of a fairer and more equal independent Scotland within the EU.

We know that voters appreciate Green values and leadership. 

They told us so, at this year’s General election, which saw record Scottish Green results up and down the country.

Whilst Rishi Sunak couldn’t even muster an umbrella, our activists pulled off our biggest on-the-ground campaign since before the pandemic. A substantial effort at short notice. 

In the record 44 seats in which we stood, we nearly doubled our vote share, with over 92,000 people casting their vote for us and demonstrating support for the Scottish Greens all over Scotland, including in the islands. 

In our biggest cities, we are now the third party, beating the Tories and the Lib Dems in their biggest elections. 

And how did we do it? Through your hard work, determination, and our positive vision for how Green values and policies can change this country. 

In the next few months branches will begin selecting their target wards and candidates and start looking ahead to Holyrood 2026.  

I am glad that the Scottish Greens are being recognised as influential, and we can do even more with more of us elected into Holyrood.

Whilst the SNP lurch to the right and court the votes and donations of Big Oil, and Labour continue to support nuclear weapons and Tory fiscal rules that let the rich get even richer, while public services crumble, the Scottish Greens will stand on a boldly progressive platform of real change.

We have a clear position. 

We have a big opportunity. 

And we have all of you. 

Members, volunteers and branches – getting the word out, knocking on doors, supporting your candidates, and being active in your communities to get more Scottish Greens than ever elected in 2026 and 2027.

Let’s do this.