A Scots Green veteran has warned about a power-sharing deal with the SNP by claiming the environment is a “tag on” in the agreement.
Robin Harper, the first ever Green to be elected to Holyrood, claimed the SNP are “unsophisticated” and only want indyref2.
“Everything else is subservient to that,” he told the Record.
A draft deal was unveiled last week which, if approved, would see Green MSPs join the SNP in government for the first ever time.
Included in the agreement are joint commitments on indyref2, transport, climate change, housing and tenants’ rights.
Harper, a legendary figure in the Scottish Greens who was once co-convener of the party, has criticised aspects of the arrangement.
The former three-term Lothians MSP said he was “very glad” the Greens had taken the step of producing a joint agreement and insisted there is “nothing wrong with wanting power”.
He also said the scepticism on oil extraction in the deal was a sign of things going “reasonably well” for the Greens, but said there was no “hard reality” behind it: “It’s paper stuff,” he said.
Harper added: “We haven’t managed to push the SNP into a position where they really are putting the environment first. It is still a tag on.
“The SNP are relatively unsophisticated. There is one thing they want and that is a referendum on independence for Scotland.”
“If they think they can get a few extra votes on the environment between now and the election, that’s why they are doing it. It’s not because they actually believe in the environment.”
He said of reading the draft deal: “It wasn’t a particularly illuminating or exciting experience.”
Green members will have the final say at an emergency meeting on Saturday, August 28.
On whether he could vote for it, he said: “With my fingers crossed.
“It’s not so much what’s in it, but what’s not it it that worries me.”
“You have to worry because their [the SNP] raison d’etre is not the environment. We have to recognise that. It’s not them being kind to us by any manner of means.”
The draft deal was announced by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Green co-leaders Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said: “Robin Harper is a trusted and respected voice on the environment and the political establishment would be wise to mark his words.
“Robin Harper is right to be worried about the new SNP-Green coalition and what it means, not just for his party, but for Scotland’s environment.
“The facts of the matter are that the SNP are not interested in the environment and the just transition that we need, and are only concerned with maintaining power and causing more division.
“By getting into bed with the SNP, the Scottish Greens are allowing themselves to be made the scapegoats for the SNP’s failings on the environment ahead of COP26.”
Harvie said: “The Greens and the SNP are different parties, with different core philosophies. That’s always been true, and it’s been acknowledged in this agreement. But different political parties can also work to achieve change where they do have common ground, and this deal would achieve real change, from nature recovery to green transport and more. I’m delighted that Robin will be voting for it.
“Scottish Green Party members across the country have been taking the opportunity to discuss and debate the draft co-operation agreement ahead of the party’s special meeting to consider it this weekend. A core principal of our party’s makeup is that every member is entitled to express their view, whether a prominent, longstanding member like Robin, or a new recruit, and they’ll all have that opportunity this weekend.”
An SNP spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government has the most ambitious climate change targets in the world and the First Minister was one of the first world leaders to declare a climate emergency so to suggest the SNP is anything other than 100 per cent serious about combating the crisis is demonstrably inaccurate.
“The challenges we face have rarely been greater and the SNP’s ground-breaking agreement with the Greens is designed to meet the challenges and opportunities of our time. It is about doing politics and governance better to find the solutions to problems confronting the world today.
“The spirit of co-operation and consensus-building is very much designed to address the climate emergency. We do not agree on everything, but we will focus on what we do agree on.
“Working together in partnership across a range of policy areas means we will be better placed to meet current and future challenges, such as the ‘code red warning for humanity.”
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