Now Harvie moans about smears within own party
PATRICK Harvie yesterday hit out at the ‘anonymous smears’ being used to try to destabilise his party from within.
The Glasgow MSP, who is co-leader of the Scottish Greens with Lorna Slater, dismissed reports at the weekend that his party was rife with ‘toxic bullying’.
Mr Harvie, whose own political future hangs in the balance after being unceremoniously dumped from government, insisted no one has yet directly challenged his leadership.
He has come under intense criticism since Humza Yousaf ripped up the power-sharing Bute House Agreement last week.
Mr Harvie said it was only a ‘small number’ of members who had taken to ‘anonymous smears in the Press’. He was adamant that even those who were ‘uncomfortable or disappointed with some aspects of the agreement’ wanted to ‘improve it rather than end it’.
Mr Harvie, who has been one of his party’s co-leaders since 2008, refused to be drawn on his future now that he no longer holds a ministerial role.
He said last week that he would stand down if grassroots members voted to end the Bute House Agreement, before Mr Yousaf pulled the plug on the agreement instead. Mr Harvie said neither he nor Ms Slater had faced a challenge through their internal procedures.
The Greens, who have only seven MSPs, had been crucial in propping up the Nationalist government at Holyrood.
Speaking on Good Morning Scotland, Mr Harvie told the BBC: ‘I did say when the Scottish Green Party was going to have an all member vote – and extraordinary general meeting – on the Bute House Agreement that if I was unable to persuade the party to back that agreement I wouldn’t feel that I was able to carry on in those circumstances, but that decision has now been taken away from our party members.’
He was asked repeatedly about his future within the party, but sidestepped the questions.
When challenged about whether he thought he could lead the Scottish Greens into the 2026 Holyrood election, he said: ‘There will be a time to reflect on all of that, but that’s not today.’
And when questioned if he believed his position was secure, Mr Harvie insisted: ‘I haven’t faced a challenge, nor has Lorna Slater, in terms of our internal elections or internal procedures.
‘There will be a time to reflect on all of this but that will be after the dust has settled from this very turbulent time.
‘The most important thing right now, and I think what most of the public will want, is a return to some stability after the chaos and confusion.’
Former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had negotiated the agreement between the pro-independence parties in August 2021, handing Ms Slater and Mr Harvie junior ministerial positions.
Ms Sturgeon and Mr Yousaf relied on them to pass government business because the SNP
‘Time to reflect after dust settles’
did not have a majority in the Scottish parliament.
There had been fury within the Greens after the Scottish Government dropped its 2030 climate target and NHS Scotland paused prescribing puberty blockers to children, both key policy red lines for the Greens.
Amid the rising fury, the Greens were set to vote on the future of the deal. But they were dramatically pushed before they could jump after being summoned to Bute House by the First Minister on Thursday.