GLASGOW VOTERS SWAYED BY CLIMATE CHANGE
Posted on April 9, 2007SCOTTISH GREEN PARTY MEDIA RELEASE
ICM POLL: GLASGOW VOTERS SWAYED BY CLIMATE CHANGE
The vast majority of voters in the Glasgow region – 70% – say that climate change will be an important issue when deciding how to vote, according to an ICM poll commissioned by the Scottish Green Party (1).
The poll follows the latest UN report on the likely impact of climate change. In it, the IPCC says, with a greater than 95% confidence, that “nearly all European regions are anticipated to be negatively affected by some future impacts of climate change” including flash floods, increased erosion and “extensive species loss” of up to 60 percent in some areas. Another recent report warned of the changes climate change will bring to Scottish farming. (2)
Patrick Harvie, top Green list MSP candidate for Glasgow, said:
“Greens agree with Glasgow voters: this election will be Scotland’s first ‘Climate Change Election’. The other parties are all hot air on climate change, and they all support massive new roads, such as the M74, and airport expansion. With new research spelling out how extreme weather will impact on Scotland, including Glasgow, it’s clear that the region needs a strong Green voice.”
Urging Glasgow voters to back the Greens (with the “first” vote which appears on the left-hand side of the ballot paper), Rosemary Burnett, second on the Greens’ Glasgow list, added:
“Whichever party you back in your constituency, I urge voters in the city to first vote Green on May 3. If one Scot in five votes Green in this election, we could elect sufficient Green MSPs to push forward our 12-point plan to build a prosperous low carbon economy and turn around the Executive’s lamentable record on the environment.”
ENDS
Notes
1. POLL DETAILS
The poll was part of ICM’s Scottish Omnibus, with fieldwork conducted between March 29th and March 31st.
Question: Some people have told us that when it comes to deciding which party to vote for in the Scottish Parliamentary elections that the issue of climate change will be important to them, while others say it will not be important. How about you? When it comes to choosing who to vote for, how important an issue do you think climate change is in these elections?
Results in the Glasgow region:
Very important: 35%
Quite important: 36%
Quite unimportant: 18%
Very unimportant: 8%
Results for whole of Scotland:
Very important: 30%
Quite important: 39%
Quite unimportant: 19%
Very unimportant: 10%
2. See
http://www.scottishgreens.org.uk/site/id/5715/title/Report_On_Climate_Change_Green_backbone_In_Government_Is_Best_Insurance_Policy_For_Scots.html
and
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/6529855.stm
GREENS SET OUT PLAN TO TACKLE CAUSES OF CRIME
Posted onGREENS SET OUT PLAN TO TACKLE CAUSES OF CRIME
The Scottish Green Party’s speaker on Justice and Communities, Patrick Harvie, today accused the UK and Scottish Governments of abandoning commitments to be “tough on the causes of crime”.
Setting out the Scottish Green Party’s approach to tackling crime, Harvie accused other parties of pursuing simplistic policies which make the problem worse. Greens want the ‘demonisation’ of young people to stop, and want more resources put into the Children’s Hearing System instead of youth courts, with additional support for youth work and core children’s social work services.
Among the policies outlined by Harvie today were greater use of victim-offender mediation services and more visible community policing. Greens would end the ‘obsession’ with failed authoritarian policies, and technical ‘fixes’ such as electronic tagging. (1)
Patrick Harvie, Green Speaker on Justice, said: “We predicted that authoritarian responses to crime and anti-social behaviour would fail, and fail they have. Despite Labour’s predictions, the number of persistent young offenders has risen. And with older offenders, it’s clear that over-crowded jails cannot work effectively to prevent reoffending.
“Addressing causes means looking at social factors, as well as issues for individual offenders. Sentences should address the reasons why people offend, with relevant forms of reparation to victims’ communities, instead of arbitrary community service schemes. Drug addicted offenders need to be dealt with in a way which prioritises rehabilitation. And people’s motives for offending need to be recognised. The Labour and Libdem Executive’s decision to abandon its commitments on new hate crime laws are one signal that they have given up on addressing the causes of crime.”
An ICM poll from 2006 found that 61% of victims thought that prison is not effective at reducing re-offending.
The SACRO manifesto states: “It should be recognised that the imposition of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders is a failure to find alternative, more effective means of working with people. Rather than the number of ASBOs being seen as a positive, these orders can be counterproductive by labelling and criminalising people unnecessarily – particularly young people. Provision of opportunities for participation and citizenship and availability of recreational activities in communities are ways of preventing young people from behaving in an anti-social way. When they do behave anti-socially, then restorative practices, where they take responsibility and make amends is more likely to prevent a repetition of the behaviour”. Greens agree. (2)
Harvie added: “Radical action to reduce crime is needed, but without tackling root causes, and without considering the consequences of criminalising young people, current policy will continue to make matters worse. Anyone who is happy with the status quo will be spoiled for choice in May. But if you want a better Scotland – social justice, civil liberties and equality to take the place of poverty, surveillance and discontent, First Vote Green.”
Research for the Work Foundation has shown that for every £1 spent helping families and young people at risk, up to £17 of public expenditure can be saved in the future on the costs of prisons, unemployment and chronic ill health. (3)
Greens launch election manifesto – First Vote Green on May 3rd!
Posted on April 3, 2007GREENS LAUNCH 2007 MANIFESTO FOR GREEN GOVERNMENT
The Scottish Green Party today launched its manifesto for the 2007 Holyrood elections, presenting the party’s vision for Green government in Scotland. With many polls pointing to the possibility of Greens holding the balance of power after the election, the manifesto is built on seven key pledges that will be the priorities for Green MSPs during the next session of Parliament.
The party is putting climate change top of its agenda, backed up by a broad set of policy proposals designed to reduce emissions every year and secure the economic and social benefits of a low-carbon economy. This includes a £100m fund to support imaginative community initiatives to cut emissions. Greens also promise to keep key public services in public hands, and end the ASBO-only approach to young people by providing opportunities for ‘social behaviour’. Greens in government will:
· Tackle climate change, cut pollution every year.
· Deliver world class public transport, not road and airport expansion.
· Support local business and social enterprise, regulate supermarkets.
· Keep the NHS and water public, reverse rail privatisation.
· Say No to Trident and nuclear power, invest in renewable energy.
· Tackle poverty, provide warm, affordable, energy efficient homes.
· Stop demonising young people; defend civil liberties and promote equality.
At the manifesto launch at Our Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh, Mark Ruskell, the Greens’ Campaign Director, said:
“The real difference between the Green Party and the other main parties is that we are the party that makes a serious effort to identify the root causes of Scotland’s social and environmental problems. The others have added the thinnest layer of green camouflage – offering the people of Scotland mere gimmicks and sticking-plaster solutions.
“If the next Executive doesn’t take the hard choices needed to tackle climate change then it’ll be 2011 before we can vote them out of office- yet the science of climate change is telling us we must make these choices within the next four years.
“In other words, the current generation of voters and politicians are the last generation that can truly take action to tackle this crisis. So if the people of Scotland want to live in a sustainable and socially just nation, as I believe they do, they’ll have to act now and first vote Green on the 3rd of May.”
Shiona Baird, Greens’ co-convenor, urging the Scottish people to turn out on election day and back the Greens’ vision for Scotland, said:
“If you have voted Green in the past, there could be no more important time to do so again. If you are voting for the first time, or just considering voting Green for the first time, I urge you to back our vision for a socially just and internationally responsible Scotland, built on a high-tech, high-skill, low-carbon economy.”
Robin Harper, Greens’ co-convenor, added:
“Whether or not the polls are right to suggest we could hold the balance of power in the new Parliament, one thing is for certain: unless more Green MSPs are elected in a month’s time, the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Parliament will continue to drift on the issues that matter to the country. The only way to ensure that Scotland’s government takes climate change and social justice seriously is to first vote Green on the 3rd of May: not a protest vote but a progress vote.”
ENDS
For further information call 07921 333617, 07717 618771, or 07909 933074.
Alternatively email press@scottishgreens.org.uk
Notes to editors
1. The manifesto is available online from the party’s website, and print copies are also available on request.
2. Additional Green pre-manifesto documents “Climate Crisis – 12 Steps To A Low Carbon Economy” and “Quality of Life – Green Agenda for Social Change” have been published in recent weeks and are also available from the party’s website.
Go to www.scottishgreens.org.uk for more information about the Scottish Green Party and the work of the Scottish Green MSPs.
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