Greens will continue to lead campaign against fracking
Patrick Harvie, co-convenor of the Scottish Greens, has today highlighted that the Greens are the only party with a clear, long-standing position opposing fracking.
Commenting on the announcement that the Liberal Democrats will be campaigning against fracking, Harvie highlighted that Scottish Green members and leadership have consistently supported a full ban on all forms of unconventional gas extraction.
The Liberal Democrats announced today that they will include a ban on fracking in their manifesto despite party conference passing an amendment to end the Scottish government's moratorium on the controversial extraction method.
Scottish Greens led Holyrood’s first debate on fracking in May 2014. At the time, MSPs from all other parties voted against the Green motion calling for a ban.
Patrick said:
"The Liberal Democrats are all over the place on this issue. First they gave fracking the green light when they ran the UK Government's energy department, then they wanted a ban, then they didn't, and now their Scottish leadership is going against members' democratic vote. Nobody thinking of voting LibDem can possibly know what their policy will be next week, never mind the other side of the election.
"The Scottish Greens take pride in being a democratic party, and both our membership and leadership are united in demanding a full ban on fracking and unconventional gas. We will continue to call for a ban and to hold the SNP to account in the next Parliament."