Patrick Harvie

1 week ago | patrickharvie.beehiiv.com | Patrick Harvie

The current session of the Scottish Parliament has been the most successful period in our party’s history. The work I delivered to put Scottish Green Party policy into practice has cut household bills, tackled the climate emergency, and helped build a safer Glasgow. It has also left me with a deeper understanding of how to make change happen in Parliament and in Government, experience that will be critical in the next session at Holyrood.

2 weeks ago | patrickharvie.beehiiv.com | Patrick Harvie

We’re all aware that a year from now there will be a lot of new faces at Holyrood. But one appeared this week, as Davy Russell took the oath as the new MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse. A by-election brought on by the tragic early death of Christina McKelvie (an MSP who was extremely well liked across the political spectrum, who is missed deeply) resulted in a minor shock.

3 weeks ago | patrickharvie.beehiiv.com | Patrick Harvie

🧑‍⚕️ Having just joined the Health Committee while Gillian Mackay is on maternity leave, my first public event on the topic was a debate about health inequalities, at Glasgow University. Four MSPs and one MP were on the panel, but I think all of us were aware that the audience of researchers, health professionals and community workers were bringing far more expertise into the room than we were.

3 weeks ago | thenational.scot | Patrick Harvie

For any country, reviewing defence in the modern age is a valuable exercise. The UK’s new strategic defence review fails to get to grips with those challenges, and perpetuates a view of security as being solely about the aggressive projection of military power. We do face direct threats that we need to acknowledge, not least from the brutal Putin regime.

4 weeks ago | patrickharvie.beehiiv.com | Patrick Harvie

A tough week for Scotland’s environment After nearly a decade of campaigning against a resort development by a company called Flamingoland, threatening the shores of Loch Lomond, there was good reason for optimism. It had been the most unpopular development in the history of the Scottish planning system, with over 155,000 objections. And when it came to what we thought was the big decision point, the board of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park rejected the plan, unanimously.