6 June 2012 

Scottish Greens say ministers have failed the most vulnerable in society by delaying so long before creating a National Retrofit insulation scheme to tackle growing levels of fuel poverty.

The idea was first proposed by the Greens in the knife-edge budget debate in 2009 after nearly a year spent attempting to persuade the SNP to support it.

Greens proposed a 10 year programme to fit loft and cavity wall insulation free-of-charge, area-by-area. This would have quickly delivered hundreds of pounds of savings on heating bills for households and created vital jobs in the construction sector.

Patrick Harvie, Green MSP for Glasgow, said:

“Ministers are playing catch up when they could have taken the sort of action advocated years ago by the Greens and now the Fuel Poverty Forum. The SNP Government has failed the most vulnerable in our society by not acting urgently, and the fuel poverty figures have grown steadily as a result. It is shameful to see that we now have over three quarters of a million Scottish households in fuel poverty.

“The SNP like to blame budget cuts from Westminster but in reality this is about choices. Ministers chose to blow their budgets on unnecessary and environmentally destructive projects like the M74 extension and a Second Forth Road Bridge that will do nothing to help the vulnerable in our society. Greens will keep up the pressure to ensure the government finally delivers on today’s promise of a national retrofit scheme.”

4 June 2012 

Patrick Harvie, Green MSP for Glasgow, has today (4 June) welcomed a ruling by the Public Standards Commissioner for Scotland that a complaint about him by US tycoon Donald Trump is ‘irrelevant and inadmissable’.

Following Mr Trump’s appearance at the Scottish Parliament in April – in which he claimed he was ‘the evidence’ against wind power – Mr Harvie posted a tongue-in-cheek image on Twitter using a still from the Monty Python film The Life of Brian.

This prompted a complaint to the standards commissioner by Mr Trump and his right-hand man George Sorial, who described the humourous tweet as ‘offensive’ and ‘blasphemous’.

Mr Harvie said:

“As I said when I heard Mr Trump had apparently taken offence at my tweet, I never expected the Spanish Inquisition. Fortunately the Commissioner has spared me the horror of the comfy chair.

“Trump seems to make a living from insulting behaviour. Just look at the way he has bullied the people on the Menie estate, describing their homes as slums. He seems to have an ego of messianic proportions. With this ruling from the commissioner we can all see that, as Brian’s mum might have said, Trump is not the Messiah, he’s a very naughty boy.

“Scotland is on an important journey to a low carbon future. We must not be put off by a millionaire with a megaphone.”

1 June 2012 

Patrick Harvie, Green MSP for Glasgow, attended the launch yesterday (31 May) of Scotland’s Climate Justice Fund.

The fund was launched by Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Scottish Government is providing £3 million for the fund – one million per year for the next three years – to support projects in Africa where communities are at risk of floods and droughts.

Patrick said:

“Scotland’s Climate Justice Fund is a good start and we should be prepared to go further. While £3million over three years is a drop in the ocean I hope other organisations and private donors see the benefit of Scotland leading by example.

“As a developed nation we have a duty to help those who will suffer most from climate change. Mary Robinson is an inspiration to those of us who want to see Scotland walk tall as a member of the global community.”