Scotland under Green Party leadership - your thoughts?

[EvelynBeatrice]

What would it be like?

I’m envisaging governance by people the majority of whom have never worked outside Scottish politics.

Dark unsafe streets - street lights and flood lighting of our historic buildings a waste of energy.

People openly shooting up on street corners - those not occupied by prostitutes. No prisons except for what they deem ‘violent crimes’, so presumably burglars and drug pushers free to ply their trade; shoplifting effectively decriminalised leading to fewer shops and choice - perhaps major chains pulling out.

The decamping over the Border of the higher rate taxpayers who don’t work for the state resulting in huge loss of tax revenue. Same for large companies. Presumably therefore massive increases in public borrowing?

Am I a pessimist?

Scotland has already been run under the Green Party as part of a coalition government.
I dont think anything like that happened then. I take it you were hoping for Reform?

!!! Yes, of course I want Reform. Anyone who doesn’t think that all prisoners should be freed, drug taking and prostitution a free for all and boys permitted to occupy girls changing rooms is obviously a reform supporter and worthy only of contempt.

What would it be like? An uncosted and badly run shitshow, penalising anyone who earns a decent wage.

Apart from the utter fuckups by Scottish Greens when their MSP's, given power only by the Bute House agreement and not by, you know, votes, managed to fuck up the little they were given to do (heat pumps, DRS etc)...

...they are absolutely deranged. Proper radge.

And any Green party MSP's and candidates who were actual, proper environmentalists/had any sort of environmental experience have long since left the Scottish Greens in horror, leaving people with no life experience who've gone straight from Youth Parliament/student politics into the Scottish Parliament to pursue increasingly bizarre policies.

There are no words to describe how appalling it would be - a nightmare scenario

"Of course I want Reform" - some of us would say this is just the opposite spectrum from the Greens - ill-informed policies, bar-room legislation, just from the extreme right rather than extreme left, with islamophobia rather than anti-semitism.

You do understand that I was being sarcastic?

Kate Neven, a Scottish Green candidate who is likely to win her seat has called for the complete abolition of prisons in Scotland. Not reduced numbers or non custodial sentences for lesser offences but a 'Scotland with no prisons'. Even the co-covenor of the Scottish Greens had to make a public statement where she said 'erm, hang on, maybe we need prisons for the most extreme crimes'

I saw someone on Twitter who went into prisons as part of his degree and he said, yes there were some poor souls in prison but there were also some people you'd be nervous sitting with in a well lit room, never mind a dark alley.

I agree.

🤣🤣🤣

OP… you can’t be serious.

Your take on what it would be like is pretty similar to the comparison of all those pandemic movies where law and order breaks down in the opening act and what actually happened in the pandemic (sheltering at home and watching the news every night).

1. they are not going to take away your streetlights… perhaps replace the bulbs and ensure the light is cast downwards maybe.
2. the idea of legalising prostitution and drug taking is the regulate and offer protections to vulnerable people caught up in it. Very successful policies in other countries. It does depend on effective legislation and is very unlikely is the Greens are just part of a coalition.
3. You MUST be aware by now that dismantling the prison system doesn’t just mean crime runs amok? It’s a far more nuanced policy which is trying to address the root causes of crime (poverty, racism, disability discrimination etc.) Again, as a coalition partner, probably the best they can hope for, this might end up just being more counselling services in prisons.
4. As a higher rate tax payer who tried out life over the border, I can assure you I’m better off in Scotland. Life here is pretty good and I’m surrounded by far fewer Reform supporters.

An unmitigated disaster.

There are numerous fatalities on our iocal trunk road each year. It has been waiting years to be dualled. When the Greens were in bed with the SNP, they blocked it.

So, more people dying- no thanks.

The Green coalition was a complete disaster. Fortunately there's no Green candidate in my constituency but there is a Reform one - what does that mean for the state of pur politics.

Not going to happen. And the Scotland you foretell is alien to the Scotland I know.

They don't deserve to hold the amount of power they have. They aren't voted in by sufficient numbers of people. The coalition gave them powers they were not able to exercise safely and wisely.

Thankfully we don't have a Green candidate.
Sadly we do have Reform.

Funny I was just reading a newspaper report that the greens want to cancel all duelling of the A9 and A96 and invest im transport instead before I came across this thread. I literally said to my husband how daft that would be given how busy and how many people die on those 2 roads in crashes every year. I personally know off 4 people killed on the A9 so want to see it dualled to stop other families suffering the hell those poor victims families are living.

I dread to see the damage the Greens would do to Scotland. Its already in a huge mess so they would probably finish it off. However no other major party is appealing at the moment. None seem to be doing anything to support hard working Scottish people

The Greens can go on about using public transport all they like - fine if you're in the south with frequent services. We have hourly buses and 2 hourly trains 12 miles away, so little choice than use the deathtrap roads.

Pretty much the same across most of the Highlands to.

Kate Neven (the one who wants to abolish prisons) is also keen to pay reparations for slavery. She doesn’t seem to have the slightest clue how fucked the Scottish economy is. I was listening to an IFS podcast where the head of the Fraser of Allander Institute said the only hope of the Scottish government remotely paying the SNHS vastly inflated payroll this year is hoping the UK government chuck them some one off consequentials to make up for the UK government bailing out English councils SEND bills. Relying on a one off payment to plug a hole in this year’s pay. That’s the stupidity of the Scottish government. I can only conclude they thought they’d get Indy soon and so walk away from the bin fire into a far bigger one. Or by truly imploding the economy they can claim Indy is the only way to fix it. Or some such nonsense to fool the gullible.

2027/28 is the year the Scottish economy implodes. But yes, let’s pay money to people who weren’t personally affected even though we weren’t personally responsible either. They’re brain dead cretins.

Listen to the podcast if you want to fully understand the shit we are in:

ifs.org.uk/articles/what-does-election-mean-scotlands-future

A bloody shit show, worse than it is just now, which is saying something.

On your no 2, society should be run for the benefit of the law abiding majority, not the dysfunctional, however unfortunate. The greatest good of the greatest number…

Legitimising drug selling and abuse and prostitution is far more likely to lead to greater exploitation of the vulnerable by criminal elements rather than otherwise.

Will they eat your hamster too 🤣

Wouldn’t put it past them …

Every project they’ve touched has been a disaster.

Gads!! We got our white envelopes through from Nigel..No thanks min straight into recycling bin.