SCOTTISH Green chief Patrick Harvie will make the case for freedom of movement as he addresses the party faithful at their conference in Glasgow today.
In extracts of his keynote address, seen by the National, the party’s co-convenor will reject arguments that immigration to Scotland is a good thing merely because the extra tax revenue generated by more workers bolsters the government’s coffers, but because it is “a force for good in its own right”.
The veteran MSP will also recommit the Greens to Scottish independence in Europe.
His comments come as 100,000 people take to the streets of London demanding a second referendum on Britain’s membership of the EU.
Harvie is expected to tell the conference: “Greens will never portray freedom of movement as only economic self-interest; or portray it as so many in the insipid middle ground of the political centre do, as merely a tolerable burden to bear. We will stand for freedom of movement as a force for good in its own right, and in defence of migrants against a deliberately hostile environment designed to humiliate and traumatise them.”
He will add: “Brexit Britain doesn’t sound like the kind of place I want to live. And as a party we remain committed to a positive vision of Scotland’s future as an independent country and a full member of the European family. The events of the next few weeks and months will pose a critical threat not only to the immediate prospects for our country and for our neighbours, but a critical threat to the very basis of our democracy, with the traditional principle of the sovereignty of the Scottish people being torn to shreds by a UK Government determined to lash us to the deck of HMS Brexit Britain.”
Harvie is also expected to use the speech to tell the SNP they will have to go “beyond their comfort zone” if they want the support of Greens to pass their budget.
He will claim the Scottish Government’s decision to introduce a new system of income tax rates and bands that saw a penny added to the higher and top rates, was down to his party.
Scottish Government Finance Secretary Derek Mackay will set out his draft budget on December 12, but the minority SNP administration need the votes of at least one other party to get it through Holyrood.
The Greens have already said they will not enter into talks over this year’s budget unless their is a commitment to reform council tax.
Harvie is expected to say: “Let me be clear – that change to fairer income tax wouldn’t have happened without the Greens leading the change, without our determination to push the SNP beyond their comfort zone.
“Income Tax reforms weren’t the only achievement in that budget process – from investment in community-led rail initiatives, to accelerated funds for marine protected areas; from an inflation-based pay increase for far more public sector workers to a commitment to shift Scotland’s capital budget progressively away from high-carbon and toward low-carbon infrastructure every year throughout this Parliament.”
The Green MSP will also tell delegates that they have a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to “halt dangerous climate change.”
Last week, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that there is only a dozen years for global warming to be kept to a maximum of 1.5C.
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