TIME TO HAND THE SCOTTISH GREENS THEIR P45 SLIPS
The Greens are incapable of adapting to reality or changing circumstances, and represent a hindrance to hard-up Scots.
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ONE of the things about party manifestoes is that most people do not believe them, so never bother to read them. While this mentality is understandable, it is nonetheless a mistake. When a manifesto is unveiled for an election season, while the political party is unlikely to honour every pledge (sometimes they do not even bother trying to), it nevertheless provides an insight into that party. A manifesto gives you an idea about the aspirations and dreams of a political party - of where it would ideally like to take a country.
If that political party ends up in power after an election, their manifesto takes on an even more important hue. It is a reference point about their ministers thinking once they are ensconced in high office.
In the case of the Scottish Green Party, their 2021 election manifesto really is worth acquainting ourselves with. Especially since Lorna Slater MSP is now Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity. And in a context of a rising cost of living, growing food insecurity and rising household poverty, her policy positions regarding the agriculture and aquaculture industries are important.
Worryingly, Ms Slater’s party manifesto commits her to seeking unrealistic, economically damaging, and deeply anti-business goals.
In the case of aquaculture, not merely do the Scottish Greens seek the complete freezing the Scottish fish farming industry, their manifesto outlines an ambition to shut down the industry entirely.
“Introduce a moratorium on the licensing of new salmon farms and the expansion of existing ones until environmental and animal welfare concerns are addressed”1
Going on to explicitly say
“Phase out open cage farming.”2
So not merely placing a moratorium (freeze) on the ability of the fish farming industry to grow, they also seek to abolish it entirely.3 This is the manifesto that Lorna Slater is working from, this is her political aspiration.
But this isn’t all, the Greens actually concede the economic importance of this self-same fish farming industry they wish to freeze and eventually shut down completely
“Salmon farming is a major industry in coastal Scotland, and the Scottish Government has set a goal of doubling production by 2030”4
And the fish farming industry really is important. According to figures produced by Salmon Scotland, Salmon exports alone produces hundreds of millions of pounds for Scotland’s economy,
“Almost £192 million worth of salmon was exported from Scotland in the third quarter of 2021, down slightly from £202 million in the second quarter. However, overall Q1-Q3 exports in 2021 have eclipsed the whole of 2020 during the pandemic.”5
£192m in exports for Scotland, and that was only Salmon and only one economic quarter.
But apparently none of that matters to the Scottish Greens. Rather than seek to fix the problems with fish farming, they instead seek to simply close the entire industry down. And let us be frank, there are legitimate concerns with fish farming, such as the negative impact on wild Salmon when farmed Salmon escape into the wild. This is a real concern, but surely the solution is improved investment in the industry’s equipment, better regulation and improved business practice? Surely that makes more sense than seeking to place a halt on the industry’s capacity to grow or expand as a precursor to shutting it down entirely?
And all of this matters to you, even if you do not yourself live in a coastal community earmarked for economic vandalism by the Scottish Greens. Right now Scotland is battling rising food insecurity, and a significant cost of living crisis (even before the Russo-Ukraine war). The BBC revealed that food bosses are warning the public they can expect food prices to skyrocket 15%6
The Two-Sisters Food Group, specialising in poultry and chilled products - have said they are currently already paying 50% more for the chickens it sources from farms. Add in the fact that 25.4% of the world’s entire wheat supply comes from Russia and Ukraine7, you can expect the cost of everything agricultural to skyrocket. Ukraine itself is an exporter of corn, wheat, rapeseed, soybeans, barley. The Russo-Ukraine war is going to significantly worsen our food insecurity and cost of living crisis. And both of those were already major challenges for Scotland even before the war in the east.
But despite all of this, the Scottish Greens have steadfastly refused to row back on their manifesto mentality. As a party, they are revealing a concerning disregard for reality, and an inability to change with evolving circumstances.
We should all really be quite alarmed by this, and the food producing industry has been for a long time. As far back as May last year the National Union of Farmers warned the SNP-Green coalition represented a real threat to their members,
“The National Farmers Union Scotland issued a statement after news broke of the SNP-Green co-operation talks which hinted strongly at tensions between farmers' priorities and those of Green politics.”8
The Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation also saw clearly what was coming their way after Nicola Sturgeon - bizarrely - decided to hand high office to an extremely minority party
“The Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation says talk of a possible SNP-Green coalition government, or co-operation deal, is concerning its members.
A spokesman said the manifesto plans have the potential to prejudice the sector's future and thousands of jobs.”9
Turns out they were correct. The Scottish Greens have given no indication that their thinking has changed. Indeed, the Greens have offered little reassurance to the industry. A Green spokesman explains,
“that environmental harm and fish welfare was a higher priority than phasing out caged fish farms altogether.
He explained that the party's intention was to support industries in finding alternatives to harmful and polluting activities, and not to force sudden change.”10
What that means in plain English is that the Greens plan on continuing to work toward stopping the opening of new fish farms, and want to block the expansion of existing ones. They are, according to themselves, not in a rush to shut down the entire fish farm industry. Do you feel reassured? I sure don’t.
But where would a conversation about food, business, growth and changing global circumstances be without also highlighting yet another deeply irresponsible Scottish Green policy. This time, their enemy are the farms on land as opposed to those operating off coast.
The Greens have recently doubled-down on their commitment to continue with ‘rewilding’, despite the looming food crisis.
What rewilding means is humans stepping back, letting nature reclaim land to restore ecosystems. The upshot of expanding rewilding land is diminished land for farming. But the Greens do not seem to care that accelerating and continuing with expanding rewilding in the jaws of the Russo-Ukraine war driving up agricultural prices will hurt the public.
Lorna Slater - who is biodiversity minister remember - has insisted she “will not let the looming food crisis — caused by the war in Ukraine — distract her from addressing Scotland’s “nature emergency”.”11
“Slater, asked if she would be prepared to convert wild land into farms, said: “We are still in a nature emergency that hasn’t gone away . . . so it’s a no.
“The way to tackle this is by tackling food waste so that farmers can produce food that they will know ends up on people’s plates, especially those people who are struggling with their cashflow.””12
I guess all those grappling with rising food insecurity, the growing cost of living crisis can just suck up the pain? Lorna thinks rewilding is of greater immediate priority, so you can just go whistle.
And that Ms Slater seeks to blame supermarkets and households for the food insecurity and cost of living crisis due to food waste is simply incredible. It is further evidence of a Scottish Green Party simply incapable of confronting reality or changing to meet shifting events.
Amid the major asymmetric shocks to global agriculture resultant from the Russo-Ukraine war, Lorna wants to accelerate rewilding, restrict available farm land, shut down the fish farming industry and blame people for food waste.
The Scottish Green Party is incapable of adapting to reality or changing circumstances. They are unfit to be in office, and the longer they are, the greater the damage will be. I think p45s are in order to save Scotland from the pestilent Scottish ‘Green’ Party.
Scottish Green Party (2021), ‘Our land, sea and environment: our seas and coasts’ Scottish Green Party Manifesto, https://greens.scot/ourfuture/our-seas-and-coasts
Ibid
Fraser, Douglas (2021, May 28), ‘Fish farmers concerns over prospect of coalition with Scottish Greens’, BBC News, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-57276122
Scottish Green Party (2021), ‘Our land, sea and environment: our seas and coasts’ Scottish Green Party Manifesto, https://greens.scot/ourfuture/our-seas-and-coasts
The Fish Site (2021, November 21), ‘Salmon farming’s economic impact on Scotland’s regions revealed’, The Fish Site, https://thefishsite.com/articles/salmon-farmings-economic-impact-on-scotlands-regions-revealed
BBC, (2022, March 14), ‘Cost of living: Food boss says prices could rise by up to 15%’, BBC News, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-60734384
Haddad, Mohammed, Duggal Hanna (2022, February 17), ‘Infographic: Russia, Ukraine and the global wheat supply’, al-Jazeera, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/17/infographic-russia-ukraine-and-the-global-wheat-supply-interactive
Fraser, Douglas (2021, May 28), ‘Fish farmers concerns over prospect of coalition with Scottish Greens’, BBC News, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-57276122
Ibid
Ibid
McLaughlin, Mark (2022 March 13), ‘Rewilding still on agenda despite looming food crisis, says Green minister: Ukraine war is bound to lead to shortages, say farmers and producers’, The Sunday Times, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/rewilding-still-on-agenda-despite-looming-food-crisis-says-green-minister-q53hnn7qq
Ibid
Good, well-written article.
Slater has zero-grasp of the urgency and realities of living with ongoing hardship; hers is a selfish, punishing approach to individuals and jobs.