THE Scottish Green co-leaders have used their Hogmanay message to reflect on 2022 and “the importance of speaking up”.
Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater argued in their New Year message that 2022 had demonstrated the value of “speaking truth to power”.
That incorporates everything from “taking on the Tory chancers who wrecked the economy from Westminster” to “showing solidarity with Ukraine against Russian aggression”, the pair said.
It also involved “passing legislation in a cost of living crisis” and “standing up for trans rights”.
The ministers said: “Each of those moments and so many more besides have started with someone raising their voice in solidarity, outrage, bravery or with kindness. That is the lesson we should take into the year ahead.”
The beginning of 2023 marks the end of the Greens’ first full year in government, which has seen a number of the party’s policies become legislation.
Slater and Harvie hope to continue that into the new year, and singled out Gillian Mackay’s abortion clinic buffer zone work as a priority.
Acknowledging the work of supporters and campaigners, the pair said: “Like the voices of women who never wavered in the face of intimidation at abortion clinics; they will drive us forward not just to win the campaign for buffer zones, but to get the legislation passed as soon as we possibly can, to make protection a reality.”
“There’s so much more to do in 2023; continuing to win the case for progressive taxation, land reform, investment in housing and education, building a fairer and greener economy, and so much more besides,” the MSPs concluded.
Meanwhile in her New Year message, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon promised her Government “will keep doing everything we can” for the most vulnerable people in the country in response to the cost-of-living crisis.
She also stressed that, despite challenges being faced by people across the country, there was still “much to look forward to in the year ahead”.
