OUR GREEN JOBS PLAN
Scottish Greens will today (24 April) highlight their General Election jobs plan as the party's co-convener Patrick Harvie MSP visits an insulation firm in Stirling.
The Scottish Greens, who are standing in the majority of Scotland's 59 seats, are pledging to tackle poverty, put public services in public hands and deliver more powers to Scotland and communities. Party membership has surged to almost 9,000.
On the need for Green Industrialisation, the Scottish Green manifesto calls for:
-A transition to a jobs-rich economy which respects the environment.
-Investment in the homes, transport and energy we need for a low-carbon future.
-The world’s most ambitious home energy e?ciency programme, slashing energy bills and carbon emissions, creating thousands of jobs and helping end the fuel poverty crisis.
-Sustainable expansion in industries such as quality food production, clean chemical sciences, digital and creative industries, medical and life sciences.
-Support for independent small retail, tourism and sports, waste reuse and recycling, shipbuilding, textiles and design.
-Direct employee involvement in management, product development and innovation.
-Investment in marine renewables to use the skills, engineering expertise and wealth of natural resources around our shores.
-Support for sustainable City Deals.
Speaking ahead of today's visit to Superglass, the UK's only independent manufacturer of glass wool insulation, Scottish Green MSP Patrick Harvie said:
"Small and medium-sized businesses and their workers are being held back as politicians in the Westminster bubble talk of a time of scarcity and a need for cuts, when the reality is big businesses and rich individuals are dodging taxes and not paying their fair share. We need an economy that has people at the centre, and we need to see more support for a low-carbon future, with more focus on Scotland's diverse independent business base.
"Electing more Green MPs would ensure a greater emphasis on investment in sustainable sectors and local employment so we all have a chance of experiencing real recovery."
Mark Ruskell, Scottish Green MP candidate for Stirling, said:
“The insulation sector should be creating thousands of jobs while lifting millions out of fuel poverty, but it has been crippled by weak, uncertain and unambitious programmes coming from the Tory-LibDem government. Green policies to slash VAT on housing refurbishment while insulating 9 million homes across the UK would secure jobs here in Stirling for the long term."