PLANS for Scotland to bring in a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) and Highly-Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) failed because opposition parties “chickened out”, a Green minister has suggested.
Lorna Slater, the Scottish Greens co-leader, said that other parties carried climate commitments in their manifestos, but fell short of ever actually doing anything.
It comes after two of the Scottish Government’s flagship schemes were forced to pause.
The DRS was delayed until at least October 2025 – in line with the projected timeline for a UK-wide scheme – after the Tory UK Government refused to allow it to include glass.
And proposals for HPMAs were scrapped in late June due to concerns raised over the short timeframe ministers had to work with coastal communities to deliver the plans.
Speaking at the launch of the Scottish Greens candidate for the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election, Slater took aim at the opposition parties over the two stalled policies.
“When it comes to the HPMAs I think the disappointment is with the opposition parties,” she said.
“All of them had HPMAs or marine protection in their manifestos. But suddenly, when the Greens are doing it, they back out. They backed down on their climate commitments and that is so disappointing.
“The same as the Deposit Return Scheme. All political parties committed to it. The Tories committed to one with glass in, and then they backed down.
“When it comes to climate action you simply cannot trust the opposition parties. They say one thing but they chicken out when it comes to actually doing anything on climate.”
Asked if the opposition parties had been listening and responding to people’s concerns, Slater said: “They are chickening out.
“The Deposit Return Scheme for example we knew was very popular – 70% of people supported it. We had hundreds of millions of pounds invested in our scheme in Scotland. It is the right thing to do and it was moving forward.
“Westminster shutting that down just shows they have absolutely no genuine commitment to tackling the climate crisis. They like to talk the talk but when it comes to actually doing anything, they won’t.”
The UK Government came under heavy fire for a perceived lack of care about the climate after Rishi Sunak used a trip to Scotland to announce plans to “max out” the oil and gas reserves in the North Sea.
Cameron Eadie, who was announced as the Green candidate in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election, said he wanted to challenge the “climate criminals” in the Conservative and Labour parties.
He stated: “Every single vote for the Scottish Greens will be a vote against the Westminster status quo, a vote for change, and a vote for people and for planet. It’s as simple as that.
“It’s my generation and the next being left to deal with the carnage caused by successive Tory and Labour governments and their failures on climate.”
