PATRICK Harvie has insisted that the Greens’ votes in the next general election should be used in support of the Yes campaign if the poll is used as a “de facto referendum” on independence.
The co-leader of the Scottish Greens has backed Nicola Sturgeon’s support plans to use the UK’s next general election as a “de facto referendum” on independence if there are no legal avenues for Holyrood to hold its own referendum.
He has warned that the use of the UK’s next general election may be the “only capacity we have then to raise the question to the public” if the Supreme Court rejects the idea of Holyrood holding a referendum.
It comes when a new poll has shown that 44% of Scots are opposed to another referendum, with 43% in favor.
Panelbase’s survey for the Sunday Times also indicated that 48% would vote for independence, with 47% against, while 5% were undecided.
Ms Sturgeon praised the results of this survey as “very encouraging”.
Harvie told BBC Scotland’s The Sunday Show that the Greens “would accept the premise that a majority of pro-independence party votes and candidates should be respected as a mandate”.
Former Prime Minister Alex Salmond has called for the SNP, the Greens and his Alba party to collaborate in a general election if the vote is used as a Yes campaign as a “plebiscite poll on independence.”
Harvie has asked unionist parties to explain what mandate would be accepted for a referendum.
He said: “One of the big questions for the other side of this debate is: if repeated pro-independence majorities in both parliaments are not enough for one term, what is it?
“If they continue to refuse to accept this, we will go to court to ask permission to go ahead with the referendum without it.
“If the answer is no, we will have to use the next UK election, if that is the only capacity we have then, to ask the question to the public.”
Harvie said it would be the decision of local branches of the Scottish Green Party on whether candidates will run in each constituency.
He was asked if his party’s candidates would agree with the SNP and put independence as the only issue at the polls.
Harvie said: “Greens offer a different view of what kind of independence I would like.
“The Greens, the SNP and other activists who support independence do not necessarily agree on post-independence policies, so we want this rich diversity of ideas to come to the fore.
“We would establish a green vision for an independent Scotland and accept the premise that a majority vote of pro-independence parties and candidates must be respected as a mandate.”
Harvie insisted that “a referendum is clearly a preferred route.”
He added: “I think the other side should respect that we have been doing this for quite some time.
“If this is where we come from, and the elections are the only way to establish this mandate, in these circumstances, we will have to say that the majority of votes of the pro-independence parties must be respected.”
Salmond described the referendum as a de facto “Mary’s health option”, but said “there is little chance that the UK Supreme Court would protect Scottish sovereignty”.
The Alba leader has said that “if all else fails”, it is “perfectly legitimate to use democratic elections to advance the independence case instead of a referendum that is being blocked and obstructed”.
Salmond has compared single-issue elections to the Conservatives ’2019 promise to“ get Brexit ”. He noted that 16- and 17-year-olds and European citizens cannot vote in the UK general election as they were able to in the 2014 referendum.
Mr Salmond said: “A” plebiscite election “would not be successful if it was only a political party business as usual on the side of the Yes.
“Obviously, the vast majority of these candidates would be SNP and A MPs, but it would be prudent to incorporate the Green Party and major pro-independence activists into party politics with the aim of overthrowing the remaining unionist MPs.” .
The leader of Alba has warned that pro-independence MPs elected during any ‘de facto referendum’ “would demand not only to run on the independence ticket, but to commit to taking the necessary political action to carry it out.”
Scottish Conservative zero-zero spokesman Liam Kerr said: “Scottish greens have long been mocked as a mere environmental branch of the SNP, but we can now set aside the‘ environmental ’part of it. definition.
“Patrick Harvie let the mask slip by admitting that the pursuit of independence surpasses the rest of his party, as it does with the SNP.”
He added: “The fact that in a climate emergency the Scottish Greens are ready to fight in the next election only from the constitution, is impressive. And that is if they dispute it, Patrick Harvie hinted that they may not run. to help the SNP.
“This stance is an insult to all voters concerned about climate change and the environment, and it clearly shows that concern for the environment, the only thing people thought the Greens differ from the SNP, always goes behind. of the grievance and the division of the nationalists. ”
Sarah Boyack, spokeswoman for the Scottish Labor constitution, however, insisted that Mr. Harvie showed that “the Scottish Green Party is more than happy to abandon its environmental priorities to focus solely on independence”.
He said: “In the face of a climate crisis, the Scottish Green Party is deciding to put the flags ahead of our planet’s future.
“This is a betrayal of the thousands of environmentalists who oppose the break-up of the UK.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said it was “surprising to hear the leader of a Green party say he would go to a general election focused mainly on one issue”.
Cole-Hamilton told BBC Scotland: “If they are not going to campaign on the climate emergency, the Scottish Liberal Democrats will do it.”
MSP Lib Dem described the Greens’ plans to focus on independence in the next Westminster election as a “strategy dog breakfast”, and said it “will not give any clarity”.