Common Weal is a Scottish think tank that promotes independence on a cross-party basis. It director, Robin McAlpine, noted (with more than a hint of despair) that in his opinion the SNP is not taking the Green New Deal seriously enough in a blog post today.
He suggested as evidence that this autumn's SNP conference will not be discussing the issue (or independence, come to that). He knows that because this motion was presented for discussion and not selected for the conference agenda. I thought it worth sharing here to show how the Green New Deal is spreading rapidly, and is (or at least should be) in many ways the dominant political issue of the moment:
Green New Deal Motion rejected from SNP annual conference agenda
The world faces a climate emergency and Scotland's wealth and abundant natural resources mean that we should be leading the response. Neither markets alone nor individual action can solve this problem and the cost of ensuring a sustainable future for our children and their children will be substantial. We call on conference to commit to a large-scale, coordinated programme of public action funded through Scotland's fair and progressive tax system which will decarbonise heating, transport and electricity, make all homes genuinely energy efficient, move towards a zero-waste economy and ensure that all activities including agriculture regenerate our environment and ensure the survival of all of Scotland's diverse wildlife.
We also call on conference to recognise that an adequate response to climate change will be different in different countries depending on their weather, geography, natural resources, economy and domestic politics. Scotland's conditions are different from those of the rest of the UK, not least our political will to act now and our enviable renewable energy and other natural resources. But our efforts to become a world-leader in climate change are severely restricted by a lack of political will at Westminster and a range of policies which may suit the rest of the UK but do not fit Scotland's needs. A truly transformative Green New Deal for Scotland will require Scottish independence and the power to invest which comes from having your own currency.
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NB I will be discussing a Scottish Green New Deal in Glasgow and Edinburgh on 28 and 29 August.
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A worthy motion indeed, except – surely it wouldn’t work if funded through the current Scottish tax system?
It does mention independence…
Apologies – yes, at the end of the second paragraph. Still gives the wrong impression that we would need to tax the wealthy to fund good things.
I hope we recognise that income tax is not the answer for funding when we are independent.
Common Weal knows that
The motion flies in the face of the consensus of economic scientists who have studied the issue. It smacks the cheeks of mainstream award-winning thinking like a man does to his wife when she breaks an item in his vinyl collection. You understand the emotion behind it, but it is not a good look.
Conference agenda setters have made the right decision.
What the SNP should be arguing for right now is more devolved powers – on the appalling numbers of drug related deaths in Scotland, they should be asking for the status of controlled substances and the licencing of their consumption to be a devolved issue. People are dying because of this. On the increase in atmospheric CO2, the SNP should be advocating for devolved powers on consumption taxation, so they can deal with the social cost accordingly.
A complete re-working of society against Scotland’s will is not in order. We did vote to remain in the United Kingdom, but then again, respecting the outcome of a public vote and operating within the constraints of that is difficult for the idealists. Let’s accept the settled science and deal with the real world.
Economic scientists?
It goes downhill from there
You clearly understand the advantages of increased powers to Scotland, with pertinent (if contentious) examples, but then quote ‘settled science’ as the grounds on which to discount the obvious logical conclusion? Special…
The Green Deal is a UK gov initiative, poor legislation and licencing has created a serious problem for hundreds of Scottish families, primarily down to mis selling, and the interests of the investor being considered more important than the fact hundreds of families have been landed with considerable debt, shoddy workmanship, lack of appropriate building certification and the inability to sell their homes without considerable loss.
The SNP/ Scot Gov and SNP MP s are the only party that are actively trying to address this problem, both at Holyrood, Westminster and directly with the Secretary of State responsible for supposedly dealing with this shambles.
A little ‘ research ‘ would have perhaps informed any interested party or individual who wasn’t interested in political point scoring just exactly why the SNP aren’t that keen.
Nobody confuses the Cameron Green New Deal with the Green New Deal
Come on….
Grrr. Once again, I want to point out that all this discussion comes to nothing if the SNP doesn’t win independence for Scotland. CONSTANTLY undermining them in the press because they’re not doing this or that fast enough and everything else besides, when the SNP executive are facing the delicate task of legally engineering a vote on independence during Brexit chaos–without letting the opposition in on their plan prematurely–is really REALLY counter-productive.
I’m afraid that SNP Baaaad is NOT going to result in independence for Scotland. And without independence for Scotland there will BE no Green New Deal here.
By all means, Common Weal should continue to work out the details of a switch to a Green New Deal. That will be a huge help to the Scottish government (present and future.) But could they please do it without constantly bashing the SNP in the process? Unless, of course, they also have a foolproof plan for getting us independence that the SNP hasn’t thought of yet?
I want to support Common Weal. I really do. But the leaders need to recognise that first things come first. Unless they also have a workable plan to instantly convert the whole of the UK (under Boris Johnson) over to the Green New Deal, they need to stop undermining the SNP. Because without independence, we aren’t going to get a Green New Deal, are we? Under Boris Johnson and the Tories, in the teeth of a No-Deal Brexit? I don’t think so. We’ll be lucky if Scotland even has a working devolved parliament after this crap gets underway.
We need to get over this hurdle of independence, and THEN we can implement a Green New Deal. Let the SNP do its work, and Common Weal do theirs. These don’t have to be in opposition to one another–but can be two arms of the same body. The SNP isn’t going to the press and sniping at Common Weal. It would be nice if that situation worked both ways. This isn’t about point-scoring. It’s about results.
……
But do enjoy your break, Richard. And do actually take one!
Jan Foley, I’m afraid the “everything can be fixed once we’re independent” argument sounds scarily like “Britain can become a global power again once we leave the EU”. I am a strong supporter of Scottish Independence and have loaned my vote to the SNP on several occasions, but the absolute silence over the continuing illegal killing of raptors, the caving-in of recent land reform legislation to the interests of tory land-owners and lobbyists; are these examples of the tactic of not letting the opposition in on their plan prematurely? Is a refusal to even discuss the New Green Deal at conference a cunning ploy to calm the forces of climate-change-denying-evil to complacency?
I want to support the SNP, I really do, but the leaders need to be more open to the sovereignty of the people they claim to uphold. After 20 years of Scottish Government, what progress has been made in local democracy, Government actually listening to the voice of the people? A few community buy-outs of a tiny fraction of privately owned estates and islands. The Right to Roam (The Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003) was of course the work of a Labour/Libdem coalition government. So the SNP is certainly pulling a fast one over those gullible establishment land-owners; just wait ’til Independence, then they won’t know what hit them….or are they in cahoots? Beginning tae hae ma doots and will stick to voting Green in future.
I think the Scottish Greens play an invaluable role