NEWS RELEASE - Stop Tesco!

GREEN MSP BACKS PARTICK RESIDENTS AGAINST TESCO SUPERSTORE

Glasgow-based Green MSP Patrick Harvie attended a public meeting last night (18 Dec) against the proposed 24-hour Tesco store in Partick.

Mr Harvie, spokesperson for Communities, backed the setting up of a residents campaign committee saying:

“There was a huge amount of strong feeling tonight against these proposals. People are shocked, worried and angry. These proposals will result in local businesses closing, traffic gridlock around Partick Cross, a decline in the quality of life for those living next to the development and the demolition of the historic Partick Station building.”

“This is something that Glasgow City Council can do something about, by rejecting these proposals and by not selling off public land for the benefit of a multinational and the detriment of the people of Glasgow.”
ENDS/.

For further information contact Naomi McAuliffe on 0141 332 6405/0131 348 6424 or the Green MSP Press Office on 0131 348 6360 or 0771 761 8771

NEWS RELEASE - Green MSP serves up some Christmas cheer at the Co-op

Glasgow-based Green MSP Patrick Harvie will be ringing up some Christmas cheer on Friday (15 December) by going behind the tills at the Co-op store on Battlefield Road in a bid to encourage more people to shop local. He is helping to promote the Scottish Grocers’ Federation’s ‘Shop Local’ campaign which is urging everyone to stock up at their local stores this Christmas.

Communities spokesperson, Patrick Harvie said:
“Local shops are a key part of the fabric of our communities, never more so than at Christmas. That is why I am pleased to be supporting the SGF’s ‘Shop Local Campaign’ and urging everyone to support their local shops this festive season.”

“Local shops are the social glue holding communities together. If they disappear, and we end up with residential areas serviced only by multinationals, we will lose a vital feature of Scottish towns and cities. Glasgow is becoming increasingly dominated by the “big four” supermarkets, which is having a negative impact on the viability of smaller retailers. By backing local businesses, people can be sure that profits are put back into the local economy.”

John Drummond, Chief Executive of SGF added: “I am delighted to have the support of a locally-based MSP for this campaign. Local stores are under increased pressure from supermarkets and the internet. Good local shops rely on good support from the community they serve and I hope more people will choose to stock up local this Christmas.”

Green MSPs have been promoting the ’shop local’ message and backing community campaigns against unnecessary supermarket developments across Scotland as part of their Food Revolution campaign.

NEWS RELEASE - Patrick Harvie congratulates Western Lawn Tennis Club on securing facilities for future generations

Green Glasgow MSP Patrick Harvie has congratulated the Western Lawn Tennis and Squash Club for changing its constitution in order to secure the Club’s future. This comes after the move by the members of Dowanhill Tennis Club to close the tennis courts and sell them off to developers.

Mr Harvie said, “It is fantastic that there are people who can see the worth of community sports facilities and are committed to their preservation for future generations.

“I only wish that those wanting to sell-out and close Dowanhill for good will take heed from the Western’s example.”

NEWS RELEASE - Paltry increase in funding for local services

GREEN MSP ANGER AS GLASGOW PUT TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PILE

As the Finance Minister gives the Local Government Finance Statement today, residents of Glasgow hear that they are to receive the second lowest increase in Scotland.

Green MSP for Glasgow, Patrick Harvie, said;
“Residents of Glasgow are paying the highest council tax rates in the UK and yet are getting almost the lowest local government spending increase in Scotland. Glasgow City Council has to spend more on areas such as education and social work; such is the high level of deprivation and poverty within the city. We haven’t seen these problems effectively tackled over the last year, so why is Glasgow receiving less of an increase than other parts of Scotland?

“We look around the city and see all the work that still needs to be done – a public transport system that needs to be overhauled, huge pockets of deprivation, communities with sub-standard facilities for young people – and yet the Scottish Executive isn’t putting its money where its mouth is.”

ENDS

For more information contact Naomi McAuliffe on 0131 348 6424/0141 332 6405 or the Greens Press Office on 0131 348 6360 or 0771 761 8771

NEWS RELEASE - Glasgow MSP’s top ten tips for a green Christmas

Glasgow MSP Patrick Harvie is pledging to take 10 steps to make this Christmas a green Christmas - and is also encouraging local people and businesses to follow suit.

Patrick Harvie MSP said, “This is a great time of year for getting together with family and friends, but it can also be a time when we increase our impact on the environment so I’m going to be taking a few simple steps to protect the planet. Some of these suggestions, such as being careful about energy use, can be followed all year round and can help save money too.”

PATRICK HARVIE’S GUIDE TO A GREENER CHRISTMAS

1. Whenever possible buy all your food from local sources so as to avoid products with lots of food miles. Go to www.scottishfarmersmarkets.co.uk to find a farmers’ market near you. And of course, buy organic if you can, but fresh and local is also important.

2. Make sure to recycle your Christmas Tree. To dispose of your tree, contact Glasgow City Council’s recycling enquiries on 0141 287 9700.

3. Fuel prices keep rising so make it your New Year’s resolution to be extra careful when it comes to energy use. For more information on how to reduce fuel bills and keep your home warm, see Energy Saving Trust - Your Home or call 0800 512 012 to speak to your local energy adviser.

4. Send email cards or choose recycled paper cards, preferably supporting a charity of your choice. After Christmas, recycle cards that you have received. From January 2 to 31, there will be card collection points at Tesco, WHSmith and TK Maxx stores.

5. Try to compost your fruit and vegetable peelings from your Christmas dinner. Why not get a home composting unit? Some local authorities offer units at discounted rates - see Waste Aware Scotland - Compost or call the Home Composting Helpline on 0845 6000 323. Alternatively, contact your local council on the number above for more information.

6. When Christmas shopping, buy recycled products when possible. If you have to buy gifts from afar, look for Fair Trade products to help those in developing countries.

7. Give gifts that require little or no wrapping at all e.g. vouchers for a spa, gym membership, concerts tickets. Also check out virtual gifts at Chrisian Aid (follow link to Present Aid) and Oxfam Unwrapped)

8. When going on a shopping trip, take re-usable bags with you and avoid buying over-packaged or disposable goods. If you receive a gift with excessive packaging, why not post the packaging back to the manufacturer and ask them to reduce it in the future?

9. Make use of your kerbside recycling collection and/or your local recycling points and centres to recycle all your paper, cardboard, plastic bottles, aluminium tins and cans and glass bottles and jars.

10. After all the Christmas pud, stuffed turkey and mulled wine, check out Green Gym or call 01302 388 888 for information on the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers Green Gym scheme. They’ll help you take part in outdoor projects that help the environment and give you a good workout at the same time.

NEWS RELEASE - Patrick Harvie congratulates Western Lawn Tennis Club on securing facilities for future generations

Green Glasgow MSP Patrick Harvie has congratulated the Western Lawn Tennis and Squash Club for changing its constitution in order to secure the Club’s future. This comes after the move by the members of Dowanhill Tennis Club to close the tennis courts and sell them off to developers.

Mr Harvie said, “It is fantastic that there are people who can see the worth of community sports facilities and are committed to their preservation for future generations.

“I only wish that those wanting to sell-out and close Dowanhill for good will take heed from the Western’s example.”

NEWS RELEASE: Adoption Bill

ADOPTION BILL: HARVIE CALLS FOR MSPs TO DITCH ‘IRRATIONAL PREJUDICE’ MOVE

In advance of the parliamentary debate tomorrow on adoption, Green MSP Patrick Harvie has appealed across the political spectrum to reject moves to re-introduce prejudice on the adoption of children by same sex couples. Harvie says that the adoption of children into a loving family based on individual circumstances is the paramount objective - and to suggest that same sex couples are somehow incapable of this, or ’second class’, is grossly intolerant and discriminatory and has no place in a civilised 21st Century Scotland.

Patrick Harvie said: “I think the proponents of discrimination are shameful and an affront to a civilised, modern Scotland. Discrimination was wrong yesterday and it is also wrong today. It is a shame there are those who still cling desperately to every last scrap of inequality - they should move on and join the rest of us in the 21st century.

“Tomorrow’s vote on Roseanna Cunningham’s amendments to reintroduce the ban on joint adoption by same sex couples will be important for two reasons. It will give us the opportunity to restate the principle that each child’s best interests in their individual circumstances, rather than irrational prejudice, are paramount. But it will also show clearly to lesbian, gay and bisexual voters which of their representatives still regard them as second class citizens, and as the second class parents of second class children.”

Patrick Harvie led the campaign for civil partnerships in 2003 when he was elected and is the Justice Speaker for the Scottish Green Party.

For more information contact 0131 348 6360 or 0790 99 33 074

NEWS RELEASE - Faslane Over-Policing a Waste of Time and Money

FASLANE PROTEST: OVER POLICING WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY

Green Justice spokesperson and Glasgow MSP Patrick Harvie has today commented on the policing of the Faslane 365 protest. The Greens support the protest which seeks to stop the proposed renewal or upgrade of the Trident weapons of mass destruction system.

Patrick Harvie, Green MSP for Glasgow and Justice spokesperson, said:
“If taxpayers should baulk at paying large sums of money for the Strathclyde Police presence at Faslane protests in October then the proposal to replace the nuclear weapons system itself should be nearly thirty thousand times as shocking. As well as the £1.75m spent on policing the Faslane protests, Labour is looking to spend up to £50 billion pounds on a system which is controlled by the US and is not wanted by UK citizens.

“Faslane 365 is a peaceful protest which requires the minimum of policing, and any over-reaction should not be blamed on the citizens who protest against Westminster’s increasingly disastrous foreign and defence policy. In particular they should be commended for highlighting the real crime being planned here - the UK Government’s breach of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty should they decide to replace Trident.”