PATRICK Harvie has hit out at "factionalism and toxicity" from Scottish Greens members who have taken to "anonymous leaks, smears and insults" in one of his final speeches as party co-leader.
Harvie called on members at the party’s spring conference in Stirling to engage in “positive debate” rather than "undermining" and "damaging" the party's reputation on Saturday.
It comes after he previously warned members against "anonymous briefings" to the media and "insulting other members".
“Times when instead of speaking up in an open and democratic way, a small minority of members have taken to anonymous leaks, smears and insults, undermining the work of fellow members and damaging our whole party and our reputation by doing so.
“I want to appeal to everyone, lets make sure that the next few months see a positive campaign that lifts our party up, one that lives up to the best of our values, not one that descends to the factionalism and toxicity that characterises too much of political debate.
“The vast majority of our members and our voters have had more than enough of that. I’m asking everyone in our party to call it out when they see it, and show those who behave that way that it’s not welcome in this party.”
Harvie paid tribute to the late Christina McKelvie, whose funeral on Friday was attended by hundreds of people, as he led a moment of applause instead of a moment of silence.
Reflecting on his recent announcement that he would not be re-standing in the party's leadership election set to take place in the summer, Harvie said he was “turning the page now, both for myself and for the party”.
Harvie reflected on how the party’s public perception has changed since he was first elected in 2003, joking that “the Daily Mail knew what to make of us.”
He continued: “As the first MSP to be elected as an out candidate, when I started talking about equal marriage and civil partnership, they splashed a front page with the headline ‘Green threat to the family’.
“In the article that followed, they fretted ‘describing himself as bisexual, enjoying relationships with both men and women!’. I mean if they’d written ‘hoping for...’ it would at least have been accurate.”
Harvie added that the Greens’ time in government was “shorter lived than it could have been”, as he continued: “Now some of our most important work is being undone or watered down by the SNP.”
He closed his speech by saying he looked forward “to our party having the debate we truly deserve in the coming months” in the run up to the leadership election.
'Labour have betrayed the workers of Grangemouth'
Party co-leader Lorna Slater then took to the stage, where she thanked Harvie for his work as fellow co-leader and handed him a bottle of organic wine, on top of which sat a pin badge depicting the Tardis in the art style of Vincent Van Gogh.
Slater joked that the two were the ministers of “bikes and buildings” and “bugs and bins” during their time in government under the Bute House Agreement.
She also hit out at the Labour Government, as Parliament was recalled on Saturday to debate emergency legislation on the future of British Steel.
“Although they look set to nationalise British Steel, they have betrayed the workers of Grangemouth.”
Slater also spoke on the recent spate of wildfires seen across Scotland in the last few weeks.
“I know I’m not the only one who has been really shocked by the wildfires that we are seeing across Scotland right now,” she told party members.
“This is the climate catastrophe accelerating. Governments around the world have let us down. They didn’t listen to science, they didn’t cut carbon emissions, they didn’t stop their destruction of our eco-systems.
“What we are seeing now in Scotland will only get worse if governments continue to prevaricate, unsure of how to politically manage the cost of moving to an economy that isn’t dependent on fossil fuels.”
