Greens pledge to transform Scotland at manifesto launch
The Scottish Greens have promised to transform the country as they published their Holyrood election manifesto.
At an event in Glasgow, co-leaders Gillian Mackay and Ross Greer announced plans to make bus travel free for everyone in Scotland, expand funded childcare and help deliver 40,000 new green energy jobs.
The party also said it would tax the country's wealthiest individuals and companies, as well as polluting industries, to pay for public services.
Mackay said the party would stretch the powers of devolution "to their limits" to deliver a "fairer and better future".
She said her party had introduced free bus travel for under-22s, wiped school meal debt and increased taxes on the wealthy while it had only seven MSPs, adding that the party could go further if it returned more parliamentarians.
Mackay also said more Green MSPs would help secure a pro-independence majority at Holyrood, which she said was the route to a second referendum.
Greer said the manifesto could "genuinely transform" the country, "so that rather than serving the interests of an incredibly wealthy few, it would actually meet the needs of people and planet".
The party has proposed expanding free bus travel - currently given to under-22s and over-60s - to everyone in Scotland. Until that could be delivered, the Greens say bus fares would be capped at £2, with fees immediately scrapped for under-30s.
Under their plans, the bus network would be brought back under local control, with members of the public to be given the chance to invest in bus bonds.
The manifesto also vows to introduce an integrated ticket that would work on all transport networks - including buses, trains, trams and ferries - with the price capped.
First-class carriages on ScotRail trains are to be scrapped, with the extra space to be used for prams and bicycles.
PA MediaGreer said the Greens were the only Holyrood party publishing a manifesto "compatible with the scientific reality of the crisis that we face", as he reiterated opposition to new oil and gas fields in the North Sea.
He vowed to harness Scotland's "incredible renewable potential" to lower energy bills, as well as restoring Scotland's ancient Atlantic rainforest.
The Greens committed to new taxes on landlords, supermarkets and other large retailers selling alcohol and tobacco, gambling companies and large online retailers, as well as developing new proposals for a Scottish wealth tax and a levy on private schools.
Greer said that the richest 2% of Scots have more wealth than the poorest 50%, adding it was time for them to pay their "fair share".
The co-leader also said his party would scrap and replace council tax with a new residential property tax based on its value.
What are the Greens offering on childcare?
Currently, three and four-year-olds in Scotland can get up to 1,140 hours of funded early learning and childcare a year.
Two-year-olds are also eligible for the cover if they have been in the care system or their parents receive certain benefits.
The Greens want to extend the offer of 1,140 hours to all two-year-olds and to introduce a new entitlement of 570 hours for all children aged between six months and two years old by the end of 2031.
Mackay said: "Our manifesto has plans for the biggest expansion of free childcare for a generation, supporting parents who are feeling the strain like never before."
She said the proposals could save parents up to £10,000 per child over two and a half years.
Mackay added: "Unlike other parties, our commitment is for every family in Scotland, because no one should have to jump through hoops to prove they deserve support on childcare.
"It is one of the most crucial steps we can take to tackle inequality, both for children and families and for women returning to work, and that's why it's at the heart of our vision for Scotland."
Other key pledges in the Green manifesto include:
- Raise the school starting age to seven and introduce a play-based kindergarten stage for three to six-year-olds
- Cap the cost of school uniforms
- 40,000 new green energy jobs in the next five years with public funding directed to offshore wind, tidal and wave energy, green supply chains and renewables manufacturing
- Reach net-zero climate emissions by 2045
- Set up safe drug consumption facilities across Scotland, with Edinburgh and Dundee the first priorities
- A pilot giving asylum seekers the right to work and ending the use of hotels to house them
- Four-day working week pilots for public sector
- Create a new "mansion tax" rate of 15% for Land and Buildings Transaction Tax on properties worth over £1m
