Scottish Greens vow to ‘change lives’

Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater is set to tell her supporters that now the party is in power, it can “change the lives of people across the country”.

The Greens are gearing up for their first party conference since agreeing to co-operate with the SNP and form the current government.

In her speech to party members, Slater is expected to say: “As we meet this weekend we can do so with more than just hope - we can do it with the knowledge that the policies we discuss can change the lives of people across our country.

“The agreement that we negotiated will deliver real and positive change for our climate and our communities.

“It will build on the vital changes that we have already secured. In the last term alone, Green MSPs secured progressive taxation, a pay rise for public sector workers, hundreds of millions of pounds for local authorities, free school meals for all primary age children and free bus travel for everyone under 22. It is a record we are very proud of and one that we are taking even further.

”We are putting the climate at the heart of government. But it’s not just environmental justice that we need to deliver, it is also social justice.

“These are the changes that can only happen with Greens in government. They are changes that will make a difference to people's lives, and they are changes that we are very proud to be delivering.”

Patrick Harvie will say: “We are only just getting started. Our shared programme in government is about creating a green recovery from the pandemic, one that tackles the climate emergency.”