‘Lying’ Greens in breach of manifesto vow over Indyref 2
SCOTTISH Greens co-convener Patrick Harvie was yesterday accused of being a ‘hypocrite’ and ‘in breach’ of his party manifesto after revealing he will back an independence vote.
Holyrood’s fourth largest party – with only six MSPs – will force through a motion tomorrow by supporting the SNP and allowing Nicola Sturgeon to seek a second referendum on breaking up Britain.
Mr Harvie insisted at the weekend that he was not ‘in breach’ of his party manifesto for last year’s Holy- rood elections, which stated that another vote ‘should come about by the will of the people and not be driven by calculations of party political advantage’.
But the Greens appear to be ditching a pledge to only back a re-run of the 2014 referendum if more than a million Scots signed a petition in favour of one. Polls show a majority do not want another divisive independence vote.
In an interview on the BBC’s Sunday Politics Scotland show with Gordon Brewer, Mr Harvie said: ‘We decided as long ago as October to call for a Section 30 order. We took it to our party conference and our members decided that should be our position. Our mandate for policy comes from our members, our members make our policy. We, like most people, didn’t anticipate that we would be in the position that we’re in now.’
Mr Harvie said last year’s vote to leave the EU ‘changed’ the party’s position, adding: ‘I certainly don’t think we are in breach of our manifesto, and we’re not in breach of the position our party members decided in October last year.’
Yesterday, the Scottish Tories said the Green manifesto now contained a number of ‘lies’.
They highlighted speeches by Mr Harvie after the 2014 vote in which he said Scotland should ‘live with’ the result of the independence vote and ‘find ways to work together’.
He also called for the country to ‘move beyond’ the constitutional debate because failing to do so would be ‘damaging’.
Tory MSP Annie Wells said: ‘The Greens like to think they’re a bit different and above the idea of manifesto pledges and hypocrisy. But they aren’t, and these wild contradictions expose that.
‘They were elected on a promise they would only back another referendum if a million people signed a pledge.
‘But that was a lie and it will be confirmed as such if they back the SNP on holding another unwanted and divisive referendum.’
A spokesman for the Scottish Greens said: ‘Following the Brexit result, our party membership agreed that a section 30 order was needed and that work should continue towards a fresh independence referendum. We believe it should be for the people to decide our future and certainly not the Westminster government which Scotland didn’t elect.’
‘Wild contradictions’