Back the Greens now, before it’s too late, urges Scott
Renfrewshire residents will hit the polls on May 6 to elect the region’s new MSPs for the next five years.
Today, the Express speaks to Scott Bevan of the Scottish Green Party, who is seeking election in Paisley.
Scottish Green candidate Scott Bevan is urging voters in Paisley to back the party so the climate crisis can be tackled “before it’s too late”.
It’s the first time residents in the constituency will have the chance to vote Green at the polls since the seat was first created in 2011.
And Mr Bevan - who is based close to the town’s University of the West of Scotland (UWS) campus - is appealing to Buddies to lend him their support if they care about not only saving the planet, but alleviating poverty too.
“The climate crisis is the top priority for every Green candidate and I think it’s crucial people vote Green because this is probably the last chance we have to address some of the issues before it’s too late,” said Mr Bevan.
“But, alongside that, we care a lot about economic justice and getting rid of the huge disparities of wealth we have across Scotland, and that’s really important in Paisley.
“The same factors which have created the gross levels of poverty and inequality that we have also impact on the climate.
“We’re wanting to create 100,000 new green- focussed jobs, which is all costed and in our manifesto. We want to move to full renewables and export those.
“But we’re also talking about policies like bringing in a Universal Basic Income and rent controls.
“Our central vision is to do something about the climate crisis and so if you’re interested in saving the planet for your kids and grandkids then this is the party for you. We are the only party that is pushing for that effectively.”
In recent months, the Greens managed to get the Scottish Government to back extending free bus travel to those under 22, meaning almost 33,000 more people in Renfrewshire will now enjoy the benefit.
And Mr Bevan - who was born in Greenock - said there are plenty more positive policies he’d like to help push through if he can garner support in Paisley.
He added: “People have said to me in the past they would vote Green but we never stand in Paisley, so that is one of the reasons I am standing.
“I also think we play an important part in pushing the other parties forward and out of their comfort zone.
“We actually quite like it when other parties adopt our policies.
“We’ve been pushing for free music tuition and the SNP is in accordance with us on that now, which is fantastic. And we don’t mind them claiming that as their own because, as long as it gets done, that’s the main thing. We’re not in it for ego.
“With some things, people might think we don’t need the Greens because the SNP will do it or Labour will do it, but they sometimes only do things because they realise our policies are really popular.”
At the last election in 2016, the Greens won six seats on the regional list - an increase of four - and overtook the Liberal Democrats as the fourth largest party at Holyrood, before MSP Andy Wightman resigned from the party last year, bringing their current total to five.
Alongside the SNP, the Greens make up a pro-independence majority at Holyrood, and so hold the balance of power in many debates.
This year, the party is targeting even more gains and Mr Bevan believes that can happen, despite more parties popping up calling for Indyref2.
He said: “I’m absolutely confident we can gain more seats and we are targeting between ten and 12 this time.
“I don’t feel under threat by the Alba Party because I think they target a different section of the independence support.
“Fo r u s, i t ’s about that progressive view of independence. We want to achieve things with it, it’s not just indy for indy’s sake.
“Some people question why we are standing from an independence perspective, but I always say to them, ‘Why is it okay to have three or four unionist parties, but only one independence one?’ That doesn’t really show the strength of the movement.
“The more independence parties you have in there that are doing well, the better.”
I’m absolutely confident we can gain more seats and we are targeting between ten and 12