Responding to comments from Scottish Green Party Leader Lorna Slater that the Scottish Greens Manifesto is “not a manifesto for Independence, it’s a manifesto to ask the people of Scotland” and that “unionists should have the right to defend the Union.”
ALBA Lead Candidate in West Scotland Chris McEleny said:
“Any Independence supporter or SNP voter thinking of giving the Greens their List vote to achieve Independence must surely think again after these remarks from Lorna Slater.
“The stance of the Scottish Greens on Scottish Independence is as weak as dishwater. These comments show the Greens cannot be trusted with Scotland’s Future”.
Issuing a warning to independence supporters not to vote for the Scottish Greens if they wanted their votes to count as pro-independence votes at the Election Mr McEleny continued:
“The Alba Party are the only party making independence a matter of urgency in this election. The Green party’s own Co-Leader has now confirmed that if you are a unionist you should vote for the Green Party as your vote won’t count for independence – even going further to urge people that support the Union to vote Green.
“Voters should be clear that a List vote for the Greens isn’t a vote for independence, perhaps that’s why they are standing against the SNP in twelve constituencies.
“By contrast, every vote for ALBA will count as a vote in favour of independence, and by helping elect a supermajority of MSPs that support independence, we will have a parliament able to instruct the Scottish Government to commence independence negotiations with the UK Government on week one. To recover from the Coronavirus, we need the economic powers of independence now.”
Is Chris McEleny suggesting that Unionists should be denied the right to defend their position?
No, but you knew that of course!
The Green Party has more commitment to identity politics than Independence.
Their actual green credentials are questionable and a few photo’s with a wind farm in the background don’t impress me.
However for those in Scotland truly interested in the Planet’s future the answer lies in Independence. We are a small Nation but with the powers if Independence we can set a truly green agenda through Holyrood.
The so called Green Party in Scotland are not the answer. Independence is.
I don’t think bike lanes should come before Women’s Rights.
The Greens scream about shutting Oil Fields when they know Westminster is in control.
The Greens know that with ALBA on the list their list vote (and thus all their seats) is seriously at risk so they are pitching for unionist list votes. Where will these come from though ? The main unionist parties need all the list votes they can get so are unlikely to drift to the greens, the lib dem list vote offers slim pickings. The greens could be about to disappear from holyrood, Chris McEleny is right – they are no longer an independence-supporting party.
The Green Party never showed much commitment to independence – ever. It always seemed to me to be a party that backed independence to screw what it could out of the SNP on environmental issues, and, now, on transgenderism.
As for Unionists being able to defend their position, of course they can, but what they do not have the right to do is try to thwart a people’s right to independence. If they deliberately vote against it, they are defying the UN Charter and the human rights legislation. Universally, independence for nations is seen as the norm, not some aberration that is uniquely Scottish. So sick of this stuff. Well said Chris McEleny.
Also, of course, Labour and the Lib Dems are steeped in the transgenderism stuff, too, so we can see an intellectual alliance of all the Unionist, SNP and Green parties on this one issue, which they all appear to absolutely determined to push at all cost. Why?
Saving our planet is essential to our survival, as a species, and the survival of all other species of fauna and flora, but, as long as we are not independently able to take the necessary decisions for ourselves, we are not going to make a big difference. Just looking at the UK record over the past 50 years, and the number of cancelled Scottish renewables and environmental initiatives, it is not hard to see the Greens as part of the problem.
It might be taking it too far to suggest that both the SNP and the Greens appear to be supportive of the Union, but that is how it looks. All this guff about ‘kindness’ is just that: when you are in a position of having to fight for your very existence, kindness is the last thing you should be showing your enemy except as a humane alternative to destruction. To adopt that as your tactic is insanity so long as they show no reciprocation. Defeat them first, then show them kindness, magnanimity and reconciliation.
Greens are pretty weak on environmental issues as well mate it’s almost as if they have been sidetracked by the Feral Tatties own personnel agenda.
If you want independence the message now has to be only vote for a person or party that puts it front centre. The only progressive policy scotland needs is independence