NEWS RELEASE – Now save Glasgow’s other threatened health service!

NOW SAVE GLASGOW?S OTHER NATIONALLY IMPORTANT SERVICE, SAYS MSP

Green MSP Patrick Harvie today said he was delighted by the announcement that the Queen Mother?s maternity hospital would remain open for at least another 5 years. The MSP has now pledged to seek a similar reprieve for the in-patient unit at Glasgow?s Homoeopathic Hospital.

This afternoon the Health Minister decided to reject health board plans to close the Queen Mum?s as the Tories proposed a no-confidence motion due to anger at Mr Chisholm?s hospital reforms.

Mr Harvie said ?I am delighted to see Greater Glasgow Health Board?s decision to close the Queen Mum?s maternity hospital overturned. It?s unfortunate that it took a no-confidence motion from the Tories for the Minister to make this stand, but it does give me hope that other nationally important services, such as the in-patient unit at Glasgow?s Homoeopathic Hospital, can be saved?.

He explained ?The Queen Mum?s has been saved because the £100m needed to build a new hospital which will co-locate paediatric, maternity and clinical services on the one site was made available in the budget announced on Wednesday. It would take significantly less than this, indeed £99m less, to save the in-patient unit at the Homoeopathic Hospital ?.

?The health board’s plans to close the in-patient ward at the Homoeopathic Hospital makes even less financial sense then their proposal to close the Queen Mum?s, as those suffering long-term illnesses would revert to receiving conventional treatment elsewhere?.

Mr Harvie continued ?This centre has been praised as a role model for combining conventional and alternative medicine within the NHS and I would like to see their services increased ? certainly not reduced. Members of the Parliament are against these cuts [1], patients, consultants and the public are against these cuts. The Health Board has already shown that it is not good at listening to such protests, so the Health Minister must again take a stand and use his powers to enforce the survival of this out-standing service?

ENDS

For more information contact Fiona Barnes on 07962 042474 or the Green’s press office on 0131 348 6376

[1] Patrick’s motion on the Homoeopathic Hospital:

S2M-1289 Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green) : Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital – Centre for Integrative Care? That the Parliament acknowledges the unique service offered at the in-patient unit of the Centre for Integrative Care at Glasgow Homeopathic Hospital; recognises the value to patients and to the NHS that the ?whole person? integrative approach offers; expresses concern at the suggestion that this service will be closed as a result of funding cuts; believes that such a closure would result in the loss of an effective model of care and a consequent long-term increase in other health care costs, and urges the Scottish Executive to promote the availability of homeopathic care within the National Health Service.
Supported by: Rosemary Byrne, Rosie Kane, Tommy Sheridan, Elaine Smith, Shiona Baird, Mark Ballard, Robert Brown, Rob Gibson, Robin Harper, Dr Elaine Murray, Shona Robison, Eleanor Scott, Ms Nicola Sturgeon, Murray Tosh, Ms Sandra White, Linda Fabiani, Donald Gorrie, Christine Grahame, Mike Pringle, Stewart Stevenson, John Swinburne, Roseanna Cunningham, Alex Fergusson, Carolyn Leckie, Jean Turner, Nora Radcliffe, Dennis Canavan, Frances Curran, Mr David Davidson, Helen Eadie, Bruce McFee, Mr Kenneth Macintosh, Miss Annabel Goldie, Mr Stewart Maxwell, Chris Ballance, Bruce Crawford, Bill Aitken, Mrs Margaret Ewing, Richard Lochhead, Mr Kenny MacAskill, Jim Mather, Mr John Swinney, Bill Butler

NEWS RELEASE – Air pollution in Glasgow

MSP ANGRY AT STATISTICS THAT EXPOSE PUBLIC HEALTH RISK

Green MSP Patrick Harvie has reacted angrily to figures published this morning that confirm Glasgow?s air pollution crisis.

The Scottish Executive?s ?Key Scottish Environment Statistics 2004? show that alarmingly high levels of dangerous pollutants such as PM10, Nitrogen Dioxide and Carbon Monoxide Concentrations are endangering the health of people living in Glasgow. [1]

Air pollution, mainly from vehicle exhausts, kills more people every year in Scotland than die in road accidents [2]. Mr Harvie believes neither Glasgow City Council nor the Executive are taking strong enough measures to tackle the crisis and that strategies currently being devised to reduce the problem ?lack ambition?.

Mr Harvie said, ?The council have already said they will not meet the Scottish Executive?s air quality targets next year and can
only expect an 11% reduction in poisonous NO2 emissions through interventional measures by 2005. The political will to resolve this issue is weak and as a result, public health will suffer.?

Mr Harvie?s comments came just weeks after researchers ranked Glasgow the third-worst polluted spot in the UK.

Mr Harvie said, ?The council?s strategy for addressing these appalling figures simply does not go far enough. They must reverse the trend of recent decades which has seen individual car use being promoted as a more attractive option than public transport. There are provisions for better public transport in the council?s action plan and I welcome these proposals, but the suggested improvements will not reduce car use by themselves.?

He explained, ?The council must abandon ludicrous road-building projects such as the M74. Glasgow City Council is prepared to contribute up to £44.5 million towards the cost of the motorway, which according to the council?s own admission ?could
result in a marginal exceedence of the Government?s air quality objectives?. Yet they dismiss measures which have been
successful elsewhere, such as congestion charging, because they are ?highly controversial? and ?unpopular?.”

Mr Harvie believes that the council is doing little to raise awareness of the social and environmental costs of car use. He
said, ?Even for this year’s Car Dree Day, the council agreed to close only one street. Many people are still unaware of how severe the health impacts of air pollution can be. It kills more than 600 people a year in the central belt, causes over 1000 hospital admissions and breathing problems for half a million asthmatics. The council must show courage, stop capitulating to the car lobby and develop an air quality strategy that will have real benefits to the people of Glasgow. Allowing Glaswegians to have air that is safe to breathe should not be beyond us.?

ENDS

[1] Key Scottish Environment Statistics 2004

[2] Over 2000 people in Scotland die each year from vehicle emissions (Walter, Bernhard F. and Fitzroy, Felix R., 2002). In 2003, 331 people dies in road accidents, 27 more than 2002. Click here for latest figures on road fatalities.

NEWS RELEASE – Car Free Day

GLASGOW’S CAR FREE DAY LACKS DRIVE

Green MSP Patrick Harvie today said he was pleased that Glasgow City Council are preparing to hold a car free day tomorrow (September 22), but disappointed that only one street will be affected.

Tomorrow the council will close the east side of George Square in an effort to demonstrate the benefits of a traffic free environment. The event is part of European Mobility Week.

Mr Harvie said, ?I am pleased that Glasgow City Council are taking part in Car Free Day this year as a lot of people were disappointed when they failed to organise anything last year. The event is a great opportunity to demonstrate the pleasure of reduced traffic levels and is a fantastic way of persuading motorists to get out of their cars and use public transport instead.?

The MSP said that he is disappointed, however, that the council decided to close only one street as this means that the event will pass unnoticed by the majority of Glaswegians.

He explained, ?Unfortunately the only street being closed is South Frederick Street and it is therefore unlikely to have much impact on road users and traffic levels. Glasgow City Council are currently developing a strategy to reduce the dangerous levels of air pollution in the city-centre ? closing a number of streets on a working day would help us to see just how filthy our air has become.

?Car Free Days are about increasing public awareness of the need to curb pollution and reduce traffic levels. They give citizens the opportunity to show their support, by their interest and involvement, for measures for a better quality of life in urban areas. All across Europe, cities close their main streets to traffic on European Car Free Day ? I urge the council to follow suit and be more ambitious next year. Then we?d all be able to breathe easy ? if only for one day!?

ENDS

New term begins

Another Parliamentary year begins this week. Everyone’s excited about working in the new buildings at Holyrood, and although I share this feeling I want to write about what we’ll be doing this year rather than where we’ll be doing it.

As I write (sitting on the Glasgow to Edinburgh train) the First Minister is putting the finishing touches to a statement on his programme for the year ahead, which he’ll read in Parliament this morning. The opposition leaders, including the SNP’s new deputy leader Nicola Sturgeon, are preparing to respond, and MSPs of all parties are looking forward to a lively and constructive debate.

We can be fairly sure of some of what’s going to be in Jack’s speech – Charity Reform, Family Law and Transport legislation are all widely expected. So is the idea of creating new offences related to internet ‘grooming’ by sex offenders. But the fine detail of the speech will only be known to us once the First Minister gets to his feet.

The motto most closely associated with the McConnell Executive is “do less, better”. Perhaps this approach was acceptable at the time, when the Parliament was struggling to come to terms with the rock-bottom opinion many people had of its work, despite the high work rate in areas of law which Westminster would simply never have got around to.

It’s also an approach which many of us need to take in our own lives sometimes – stop knocking ourselves out to get everything half done, and just do a few things really well.

But there’s a sense in which this attitude is just recovery mode, and can’t last for ever. If things start to feel too safe, too comfortable, you end up treading water ? and that is far from acceptable from Scottish politicians.

It’s time to move on, to set our sights higher and to work with the same kind of vision and passion that set the devolution ball rolling in the first place.
If anyone in the Labour Party ever did want to create the Scottish Parliament simply in order to ‘kill nationalism dead’ it was an unworthy motivation. For the most part, I suspect they were more genuine than that.

Certainly, for the vast majority of Scots who campaigned for devolution, who argued for it and who voted for it, we wanted self-government in order to improve life in Scotland for all who live in Scotland, to bring real and lasting benefit to the life of the country.
There have been a few achievements of the Parliament which have done this – but precious few. And they have been outnumbered by the developments which have undermined our quality of life and hit communities or groups that are already suffering.

It needn’t be like this. There are ideas out there just waiting to be put into practice: for making health services more accountable to the people they serve; for making education more responsive to the diversity of learners; for making local taxes fairer and more sustainable; for reducing the waste mountain which blights so many communities; for preventing public health experiments with GM crops and TETRA masts; for tackling the health problems which cost so much in human suffering and in NHS resources; for helping those in rural areas access better services and amenities.

It?s time to get over “do less, better”. We can do more than that. It’s time to set our aspirations high enough to remind us why we wanted our own Parliament in the first place ? so that everyone in Scotland benefits from a new era of ambition and aspiration.

NEWS RELEASE – GM crops

EUROPE PASSES FIRST GM CROP ? EXECUTIVE FAILING TO PROTECT CONSUMERS

Greens today warned the Executive?s inadequate approach to safeguarding Scottish crops from GM contamination is looking increasingly useless and redundant as the European Commission gave permission for the first GM crop to be grown in any EU state.

The variety of GM maize to is suitable for a Mediterranean climate and will not be grown in Scotland. The crop may be grown in warmer countries despite the lack of coexistence and liability rules to protect conventional and organic farmers who need to remain GM-free.

Mark Ruskell MSP, Green Speaker on the Environment, said, “This move by the EU reveals Scotland’s inadequate preparation for the threat of GM. We were lucky this time that the crop is not suitable for growing in Scotland. Had it been a suitable crop, there would be no system in place at all to ensure that biotech companies would be held liable for damage caused by contamination and pollution. Scotland’s ‘voluntary ban’ is about as much use as a chocolate teapot.

?The Executive should back the Greens? GM Liability Bill, which would hold biotech companies directly liable for all economic damage. It was very revealing this week, Organic Week, that the Executive chose not to put forward a GM Liability scheme in its plan for the coming year – it is yet another example of the Executive’s contradictory programme pointing in all directions at once.

?GM and organics don’t mix, new motorways and action on climate change doesn’t make sense, the betrayal of communities in abandoning equal rights in the planning system, pretending to support renewable energy yet failing to provide a proper planning framework or funding – all these short falls and contradictions are typical of an Executive that pretends to take such issues seriously, yet when even under the slightest scrutiny – the ‘green thread’ snaps.”

Climate change

Most of us in Scotland have been moaning about a pretty rubbish summer this year, but for some of us the chaotic weather has brought more than inconvenience.

The torrential rain and flash floods that we?ve witnessed are all consistent with scientific predictions of the impact of climate change on Scotland – and recent events are just a taster of what we can expect in coming years. As landslips and flooding have brought havoc to communities, businesses and transport links, there?s been a growing need for action to ensure that Scotland is ready to cope with what the climate has in store for us in future years.

Shoring up the flood defences and making good the damage is all vital work of course, but it will be worth nothing in the long run if we don?t also take responsibility for the cause of the problem, and it?s here that Scotland is most clearly failing at the moment.

As the UK’s worst climate polluter, Scotland currently lags behind the other nations on the vital task of reducing the emission of climate change gases such as carbon dioxide. But even the progress of the UK as a whole was described as ‘way off course? by a recent Westminster inquiry.

This situation should worry communities up and down Scotland. You don?t have to live in a flood risk area to be affected by this issue. We all depend on transport systems to get about, and we depend on them even more for food distribution. Many of us work in jobs which will be seriously affected when flooding increases, and many more of us will see hikes in our insurance premiums as more and more people make claims for flood damage.

It would give Scots some reassurance that the Executive was serious about climate change and flooding if it was to allocate some valuable time for a debate on it. But the Cabinet?s current position is to wait till the end of the year and conduct another consultation exercise. It?s not the most proactive position you could think of.

Worse than that, the Executive is pursuing policies which will continue to increase the damage we?re doing to the environment. Continually increasing road and air travel are unquestionably going to make climate change worse, yet the Executive seems determined to press ahead with new roads, new runways, more congestion, more flights. Ever growing traffic levels and congestion problems seem barely to register with them.

Despite the Executive?s liking of targets in virtually every area of life, there are none for Scotland?s energy efficiency and none for our reduction of CO2 emissions. Indeed the only commitment is to make ?an equitable contribution? to the UK?s efforts to reduce emissions. Yet the Scottish reduction has been only 4.9%, compared with the UK Government?s target of 20%.

There are real opportunities for Scotland to forge ahead with new renewable energy technologies ? not only wind but others such as marine energy. Yet it often appears that these new technologies are merely seen as another commercial industry, whose purpose is to enable big business to make more money.

We don?t need another consultation exercise. We need a government that?s willing to put climate change at the top of it?s agenda, and consider every spending decision it makes in relation to the impact on CO2 emissions. By ?climate-proofing? decisions in this way, we?ll be able to re-direct resources to activities which combat climate change and meet public needs ? things like public transport and efficient household heating.

If we fail to do this, Scots will face more upheaval and disruption, not to mention expense, as climate change continues.

NEWS RELEASE – Kelvingrove timber

MSP PRAISES ACTIVISTS FOR STORMING GALLERY AND HALTING USE OF ILLEGAL TIMBER

Green MSP Patrick Harvie today praised the Greenpeace activists who stormed Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum and forced Glasgow Council chiefs to stop using timber from endangered rainforests.

Glasgow City Council agreed to suspend installation of the timber flooring following the protest by around 100 activists this morning. The activists say the use of this wood is contributing to the destruction of rainforests in South East Asia.

Mr Harvie, MSP for the Glasgow region, said this afternoon, ?I congratulate Greenpeace for this effective action in forcing a re-think by the Council, but it?s disgraceful that people have to go to these lengths to get a result. There is no excuse for the construction industry failing to police itself on these issues. If it cannot do so properly, the law should step in to safeguard endangered resources.?
Mr Harvie expressed his concern that other large, public organisations may be using unsustainable construction practices.

He explained, ?I?ve recently raised this question with BBC Scotland in respect to their new headquarters currently under construction in Glasgow. A constituent noticed that the construction site appears to be fenced off with unsustainably logged Chinese wood. The use of this wood is considered highly unethical – Chinese forests are being over-exploited and this is causing poverty and environmental degradation.?

Greenpeace have warned other projects may be targeted for direct action if they fail to use ethically logged wood. Mr Harvie said, ?I hope that high-profile organisations like the BBC, and the National Lottery who are funding the Kelvingrove refurbishment project, will lead by example.?

Human Rights

Not for the first time, the Human Rights Act came under fire last week.

Conservative shadow home secretary, David Davis, claims that the adoption of Human Rights into domestic law has led to a litigation culture in which billions of pounds are diverted from public services to make payments to ?compensation chasers and criminal troublemakers?.

Quite apart from the sour taste I?m left with after reading Tory complaints about the loss of money to our public services, I feel that Mr Davis has the situation quite wrong. Despite public perceptions fuelled by those ?Have you had an accident? Could you make a claim?? adverts (which I find as distasteful as anyone else, but which do at least let people know how to get what they?re entitled to) the number of accident claims is not actually rising.

Besides, the main consequence of the Human Rights Act was simply to allow people to access their rights in British Courts, rather than having to go to Europe to find justice.

As for that rather nasty aside about ?criminal troublemakers?, Mr Davis is certainly not alone on this one. The Scottish Executive has also taken this attitude in the case of slopping out in prisons. More interested in spending large sums on lawyers? fees to defend the practice of making prisoners slop out than to spend it on actually solving the problem, Scottish Ministers have shown that they too are willing to imply that there?s no good reason to consider the human rights of a prisoner.

Sadly, during the last spate of publicity on this issue, politicians of many parties were happy to join in with the tabloid language of outrage ? ?how can we contemplate giving compensation to convicted criminals?!?

I?ll tell you how. It?s very straightforward. The perceived clear dividing line between criminals and victims is not nearly so real as is made out. Very many people have committed crimes at one time or another, whether it?s driving too fast, smoking the odd joint, or letting an argument go too far and become physical. Very many of us have also been victims of crime.

There are not two distinct groups in society, goodies and baddies, honest upright citizens and no-good troublemakers. If Human Rights apply to one, they must apply to all.

If a persistent criminal is held in prison, their loss of liberty is their punishment. If you don?t believe that, then there is no reason to build the prison in the first place. It does not mean that their humanity is suspended or that they are entitled to no protection, whether from other prisoners or from the prison system itself.

Any prisoners in Scottish jails who are subject to degrading treatment are there because they have been found guilty of serious crimes. And they are entitled to compensation because they are also the victims of human rights violation.

If we had as much energy and concern for trying to improve the welfare of the damaged human beings we send to our prisons as we have for condemning them and denying their humanity, we might find our way to genuine rehabilitation for many of them, and less crime in the long run.

As for the suggestion that we should simply drop the notion of Human Rights from our society, the Tories will no doubt find a few prejudiced and ignorant supporters. But I hope it goes no further. Far from abandoning the notion that there are basic standards below which the treatment of human beings should not fall, we should be ensuring that more people know what their Human Rights are, how they are protected, and where to find help if they need it.

NEWS RELEASE – Cardinal O’Brien on sex education

HARVIE DEMANDS APOLOGY FOR CARDINAL MISINFORMATION

Green MSP Patrick Harvie, Co-Convenor of the Parliamentary Cross-Party Group on Sexual Health, is demanding that Cardinal O?Brien issues an apology for distorting the debate on Scotland?s sexual health strategy (1).

An article by the Cardinal in The Sunday Times (29/08/04) entitled ?Failing our children? strongly criticised the draft sexual health strategy claiming that it proposes ?graphic sexual instruction? for pre-school children. He also described the approach of current service providers as ?value-free?.

Harvie, a former sexual health worker, said, ?The sexual health services that the Cardinal condemns as ?value-free? are actually based on values such as respect, honesty and mutual care. Cardinal O?Brien?s judgements are wide off the mark, and they?re also way out of touch with real people. The current approach to sexual health puts education and the rights of young people at its heart ? it is certainly not value-free.

?The draft strategy emphasises well-being and social and emotional development along with education about sex and relationships, so that people in Scotland ? no matter what their age, background or sexuality ? are confident and informed in making the decisions that are right for them.

?Politicians have a responsibility to take on tough, controversial decisions and not shy away from rocking the boat. Public debate needs to be balanced and well-informed ? that is why the Cardinal should issue an apology for misinforming the public.?

ENDS

For further information call the Green MSPs? press office on 0131 348 6360.

1. Draft text of motion lodged in the Scottish Parliament by Patrick Harvie MSP:

That the Parliament notes that the draft Sexual Health and Relationships Strategy recommends full implementation of the McCabe report published in June 2000; condemns the misinformation being circulated about the contents of the draft strategy, in particular the suggestion that the strategy proposes the use of “graphic and intimate sexual instruction” in pre-school settings; believes that the description of “the growing army of sexual health service providers who push a value-free agenda” is another such gross distortion; regrets that a public figure with the prominence of Cardinal Keith O’Brien should choose to misrepresent the strategy in such a way; would welcome an apology from Cardinal O’Brien for his comments in the press.