Scottish Budget will be Greenest since devolution
Climate justice and tackling child poverty must be at the heart of our recovery, say the Scottish Greens on the eve of the publication of what they believe will be the “Greenest Budget in the Scottish Parliament’s history.”
The Budget statement, which will be delivered by acting finance secretary John Swinney MSP on Thursday, will be the second since the Scottish Greens entered government in August 2021.
The previous Budget, published in December 2021, delivered on major Green priorities, with commitments to double the Scottish Child Payment to £20 a week and introduce free bus travel for everyone under 22, £1 billion to improve and decarbonise the railways, a record £150 million for walking, wheeling and cycling infrastructure and £360 million for energy efficiency and renewable heat efforts to help households keep their fuel bills down.
Scottish Greens finance spokesperson Ross Greer MSP said:
“Despite the difficult circumstances, I am confident that this Budget will deliver on our Green priorities of tackling child poverty and taking action on the climate emergency. I believe it will be the Greenest budget in the Scottish Parliament’s history.
“With Scottish Greens now in government, and at the heart of the process, we have ensured that Green priorities and values run right the way through it.
“The UK Government may have created an economic crisis and forced the Scottish Government to pick up the bill for the spike in inflation, but we are determined to ensure that ordinary people aren’t forced to pay the price for Tory cruelty and incompetence.
“This Budget will build on the vital progress that we have made in the last 18 months, including through continuation of the Greens’ free bus travel scheme for young people and further roll-out of the Scottish Child Payment.
“It will also go further in efforts to tackle child poverty and will scale up the actions we are taking to tackle the climate emergency.”