Green Party leader Patrick Harvie speaks to Liz Rawlings about Heathrow expansion, being Britain's first openly bisexual leader, and the prospect of toppling Alex Salmond.

Last week, Patrick Harvie was single-handedly responsible for bringing down the SNP’s £33 billion budget. The consequences of this decision could lead to the resignation of the government and trigger an election in Scotland. Speaking to him a few days before the pivotal vote, he was acutely aware of his influence in Parliament stating at the beginning of our interview that, ‘even small parties can make a difference and sometimes the smallest parties make the biggest difference”.

In an extraordinary day of drama in the chamber of the Scottish Parliament last Wednesday, finance minister John Swinney believed he had won over the Greens, offering £33 million of the £100 million Harvie wanted to insulate homes across Scotland. However, what Swinney could not guarantee was that this money would come from new funds, leaving a question mark over cash previously set-aside for fuel poverty. As a result, Harvie decided that the two Green MSPs should vote ‘No’ and due to the tightly balanced nature of Parliament this was enough to cause the Budget to fall.

The full consequences of the vote are yet to be fully realised, but Alex Salmond has maintained that he will resign if the SNP fail to get their Budget passed through Parliament. The First Minister will now have one final attempt to achieve his aim but if the Budget fails yet again he will undoubtedly be forced to resign and face another election.

Harvie believes that the Greens’ recent influence in Parliament demonstrates his party’s political competency and ambition, as well as helping to re-build after 2007s poor election results: 

In order for Alex Salmond to become First Minister in 2007, the Scottish Green Party signed a co-operation agreement with the SNP. Despite assurances at the time that this wouldn’t bind Green MSPs to support the SNP, critics believed the party would be expected to toe the Government line. Last week’s Budget vote was a clear indication that this hasn’t been the case, yet what is the exact nature of the unique agreement and does it help or hinder the Scottish Green Party?

“The agreement that we have with the SNP reflects the fact that we have more policy areas in common with them and reflects the fact that both parties felt that there was an opportunity to work together on some specific issues but it doesn’t bind us to voting for them, it doesn’t bind us to voting for their budget for example which is highly contested at the moment and it doesn’t prevent us from being critical where need’s be.

“Last week for example the SNP announced they were going to review their anti-nuclear policy, and we see that as potentially doing for their environmental credentials what Labour’s anouncement on the third runway at Heathrow did for the Labour credentials which is deeply disappointing. So we’re happy to criticise and challenge where need’s be but there’s a number of areas where we can work together and so we’re keen to maximise those opportunities.”

Being the leader of the Green Party which puts climate change awareness and action at the heart of party-policy, Harvie is understandably disappointed at the recent announcement to build a third runway at Heathrow and the proposed legislation to expand Glasgow and Edinburgh airports. However, he is optimistic about public opinion rapidly swinging against the projects:

“As for Glasgow and Edinburgh it’s a different scale of proposal there; they’re not talking about new runways or new terminal buildings. What’s going through at the moment is about surface access, about getting more passengers through the doors. Now obviously that leads to more flights. Right now we need to thinking about flying less, I don’t think we need to stop flying altogether, but we need to fly less than we do now and we need to understand that sometimes getting to London, or to the continent is going to take longer by train and actually, there’s a lot to be enjoyed about that pace of travel.”

Asked whether voters’ perception of the Greens as a single-issue party has caused them problems, Harvie responds,

“I think the only single-issue party in Scottish politics is the SNP and it hasn’t held them back very much. They have one uniting principle which is independence and within that people who are as far left as far-right as the conservatives. So the single-issue tag isn’t the end of the world, but actually I’m continually amazed and satisfied at the level of coherence there is, not just within the Scottish Green Party but between Green parties all around the world on issues such as civil liberties, our approach to the economy, on out attitude to the role of the state…we’re a party that is very united.

“I think the economic crisis at the moment gives us an opportunity to start questioning ideas about the way we’ve been running the economy about the materialism and the consumerism of society and put together some solutions that are good for the planet and save people money at the same time.”

Harvie studied at Manchester Metropolitan University and describes his own student life as a ‘learning’ experience:

“I enjoyed being a student a little too much, and enjoyed studying not quite enough” he states with more than a hint of nostalgia: “I had an office in my student union staggering distance from the bar and I spent lots of time doing that and not doing enough of my course. It’s not a student career I would advocate. I think you’ve got to put a few eggs in the academic basket as well and increasingly students these days are facing such economic pressures that there’s a danger their lives will become all work and no play. It’s important to try and get a balance between work and play, between academic and life studies.”

Harvie views the role students will play in combating climate change as vital to determining future practice and policy across all professions:

“Very often when universities or colleges clean up their act environmentally its been because of student leadership; working and campaigning for years on specific issues…we need to be transforming the economy, our society and our politics during the twenty-first century and so creating a kind of ‘can do’ sense of the opportunities that change can bring us, creating that sense, that buzz around that at university level among students and for them to take that out into every walk of life - that’s really got to be part of the mission of universities.”

“There are homophobic voices out there who would be happy if equalities issues just went away – if lesbian, gay and bisexual people just crawled their way back into the closet again. That’s not going to happen but it’s important that we’re able to be open and explicit in advocating for equality…if we’re not forthright about it then there is a danger that things will go backwards.”

Harvie is the first openly bi-sexual leader of a political party in the UK and while he doesn’t see himself as a role model, he argues that his position demonstrates how far politics has come in accepting and dealing with equality issues:

“We’re at a point in politics where people can be out; where people can be open about their sexuality, their identity and who they are and that shouldn’t hold back someone’s career. Is there homophobia in politics? Well there’s homophobia in society and democratic politics is supposed to reflect the whole of society so you would expect there to be. I’m pleased to say that it’s not as strong as it once was. But it’s not a position where you can just rest on those laurels, there’s still discrimination…so although there’s legislation in place we need to empower people to use it. It will continue to be important for all politicians to recognise that they represent and serve the interests of all their electorate not just those who represent a kind of artificial stereotype of what ‘normal’ is supposed to be.”

This week Patrick Harvie has achieved political prominence and considerable media attention, despite being the joint-leader of smallest party in Holyrood. Moreover, in so doing, he has set himself up as one of the most independent thinking and uncompromising characters in Scottish politics. What is yet to be seen is how he will build on this new position. The revised SNP Budget this month will make for interesting viewing, while the failed one last week seems to have catapulted the career of a marginal leader - placing him firmly on the path for greater success.  

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