Weekly roundup

The last few weeks of business in the Holyrood chamber before we break for summer are always pretty packed, as the Government and MSPs try to complete as much work as possible. 

Last week I had my final party leader slot at First Minister’s Questions. That felt a bit like turning the page - by the time Parliament returns I’ll have moved on from that role after a long shift. 

I took the opportunity to set out the need for the Scottish Government to show greater ambition. I’ve always found John Swinney both likeable and capable, but since he became First Minister he has set a very cautious direction. He has delayed, ditched and watered-down action on climate, transport, home energy, rent controls, human rights, and more. All of this comes at a time when many voters are justifiably angry that politics isn’t looking after their interests. 

Unless the Scottish Government gets back the kind of ambition that the Scottish Greens tried to bring into Government, there’s a real risk that some voters will be tempted by the snake oil on offer from the far right.

My highlight for this week however is all about the buses. Greens have been advocates for better public transport since forever, and in this session we’ve achieved a lot - free bus travel for young people and asylum seekers, then extending that to cover ferry services for islanders, and of course scrapping peak rail fares (after a bit of off-again-on-again dithering from the SNP).

But all this has to work within a system that’s still suffering from the disastrous policies of the Thatcher government all those decades ago. Bus services should be run as a public service - planned to meet public needs, priced affordably or even better fare-free, and owned by the public instead of private shareholders.

We’re now presented with the best opportunity in many years to make this change. SPT is showing some enthusiasm for franchising, which could be a first step toward public ownership. Campaigners like Get Glasgow Moving and the STUC have been building momentum for change. 

So tomorrow I’ll be bringing a debate in Parliament, calling for the Scottish Government to step in with the support that’s needed to make it a reality. Both legislation and funding are proving to be barriers at the moment, when they should be supporting this transformational change. The Greens will be keeping up the pressure and showing how Glasgow and Scotland could do what other parts of Europe have done, and achieved world class public transport.

Finally, the Scottish Green Party is well into the selection process to choose candidates for the 2026 election.

I’ve set out my case to members in Glasgow, and asked them to give me their 1st preference votes to continue my work in Parliament. I can well remember the long, weary years when the Greens could only campaign for change, but achieved next to nothing. The campaigning can be satisfying for activists, but what we’ve seen in the last few years is what a difference we can make for people when we actually put ideas into practice.

• we’ve saved tenants in Glasgow thousands of pounds because of the rent freeze I introduced - and long term rent controls are still coming.

• we’ve scrapped peak rail fares and made bus travel free for young people.

• we’ve wiped out past school meal debts and expanded free school meal provision, starting in areas including Glasgow.

• we’ve achieved the biggest investment in climate and nature that Scotland has ever seen.

• we’ve given local councils more powers, and we’ve increased the Scottish Child Payment to tackle poverty.

• and we’ve paid for this with fairer taxation. We designed the income tax system that raises more from people on high incomes, protects people on low and middle incomes, and puts an extra £1.7 billion into public services each year.

If you’d told me even a couple of elections ago how much a small group of Green MSPs could actually change Scotland for the better, I’d never have believed you.

So I’m not just reminding party members that I have a stronger track record than any Green politician in the country of turning policy into reality, and that our MSP team needs people who know how it’s done. 

It’s more fundamental than that. 

I’m asking our members to make a clear statement that our party exists to do more than talk about change. Using words like “radical” without engaging with reality or doing the hard work of making change happen is a cop-out.

In the face of the challenges before us, the most radical thing we can do is actually deliver change instead of just talking about it. That’s exactly what we’ve been doing, on a bigger scale than ever, in the last few years. 

Let’s keep that going. Our task is too urgent for anything else.