Hansard

We have a lot to be proud of. The Scottish Greens certainly have a lot to be proud of in this session of Parliament so far: the removal of peak rail fares, which will save commuters hundreds—and, in some cases, thousands—of pounds; the fact that this is the only part of the UK where child poverty is going down; and the fact that, just two weeks ago, when the schools started again, there were 6,000 more children eligible for free school meals as a result of agreements made in this Parliament.

However, we cannot deny the fact that people are angry. Communities are being pulled apart and families feel unhappy, and it is because their lives are not getting better. This country is not working for them. Whether it is the cost of living or the climate crisis, it is not because the systems are broken—it is because they are rigged. That is what we need to change. To change it, we need to take on those who have rigged the system. We need to take on the super-rich, the big polluters and the greedy landlords.

My message to the people of Scotland is that the Scottish Green Party is on your side. We are fighting your corner. There are too many politicians—including in the chamber now—who are whipping up hatred in our communities and who are lying to the public about who the enemy is. Trans people and asylum seekers are not the problem. They did not sell off the community centres, privatise the buses or increase rents. We will take on the bigots and the conmen who are directing that anger at the most vulnerable in our society and we will direct it at those who are often bankrolled by the people who are really at fault—the people who have rigged the system. This country is not working for ordinary people because it was not designed to, and I want to change that.

I am proud of the Greens’ track record on changing the system. We have taken every opportunity to rebalance the scales in favour of our planet and ordinary people. We are delivering rent controls, taking power from the haves and giving it to the have-nots. We stand up for Scotland’s natural heritage against corporate greed, as in our campaign to protect Loch Lomond from Flamingo Land. We have fundamentally transferred wealth in this society, taxing those who can afford it in order to extend the Scottish child payment and free school meals, to deliver free bus travel for young people and to buck the UK-wide trend of rising child poverty. I am proud that we have done that through co-operation with colleagues in the SNP, but there is so much more to do.

That is why the Green amendment focuses on our public finances and tax. It is outrageous that—as the Scottish Government confirmed last week—the richest 2 per cent of households in this country have more wealth than the bottom 50 per cent. This morning, the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government agreed with me that that is not good enough, but the Scottish Government does not appear to have a plan to go any further on wealth redistribution.

I am proud of what we have already done together, but it is clear that more is needed. We cannot lift more children out of poverty, cut emissions or hire more hospital staff without the money to pay for it. People are sick of politicians with big promises but little follow-through and absolutely no plan to pay for what they have committed to.

The Greens have a plan, because we are brave enough to be honest with the electorate that a better society needs to be paid for and that the wealthiest people can afford to pay, and should be paying, far more.

Despite the doomsday predictions over most of the past decade, changes in our tax policy that the Greens have delivered have worked, and they are popular. Our income tax changes mean that, this year alone, there is £1.7 billion more to deliver for public services such as our schools, hospitals and public transport.

We have doubled the additional dwelling supplement, taking on the buy-to-let landlords—in particular, short-term let landlords—and freeing up thousands of homes for young families to live in, while raising £0.25 billion to invest in public services. We have delivered more powers for local government, including the visitor levy, which will raise millions of pounds to deliver on the issues that people really care about, such as the quality of their roads and pavements and their libraries and schools.

We need to recognise that it is no wonder that people are angry when they see a hugely wealthy country—Scotland is one of the wealthiest countries in the history of the world—yet they still cannot afford to take their children on a holiday or even buy new school uniforms and they cannot afford their rent. That is why the Green amendment

“calls ... on the Scottish Government to make bold use of its existing tax-raising powers, including the creation of new revenue-raising mechanisms for local government.”

That means fixing our broken council tax system. It cannot be right that the poorest households are paying the highest share of their income in council tax or that we have a tax system in which more than half of all households in this country are paying the wrong rate—a system that is based on property values from before I was even born.

I say to the Scottish Government, in response to its line that we can achieve council tax reform only through consensus, that that is not going to work. There is no prospect of consensus, particularly as we look ahead to the next session of Parliament. However, there is a majority to deliver council tax reform if the Government is brave enough to lead that majority.

It is absolutely true that Scotland has done more than any other UK nation to tackle child poverty and the climate emergency, but it is also true that we are still not doing enough on either of those issues. Indeed, on climate action, the Government’s ambitions are being scaled back. Scotland needs MSPs and Government ministers who are bold and brave enough to take on those who have rigged the system: the super rich and the big polluters. Only by doing that can we defeat the forces of hate who are exploiting our communities and build the fairer, greener society that the vast majority of people in Scotland want to see.

I move amendment S6M-18671.3, to insert at end:

“; is concerned that Scottish Government action to tackle the climate emergency has been scaled back, that targets for reducing child poverty have been missed and that the wealthiest 2% of households in Scotland hold more wealth than the bottom 50%; recognises that tackling the climate emergency, eradicating child poverty and ensuring high-quality and sustainable public services will require further redistribution of wealth, and calls, therefore, on the Scottish Government to make bold use of its existing tax-raising powers, including the creation of new revenue-raising mechanisms for local government.”