A SCOTTISH Greens activist has called out the party after it was revealed it had been offering meetings with senior politicians in exchange for money.
It was found by the Sunday Mail that the meetings had been on offer for more than a year, including when Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater were ministers as part of the Bute House Agreement with the SNP.
It’s understood the party first offered explicit access to its MSPs in October last year when lobbyists were offered the chance to buy an “exhibitor reception” for the price of £700.
The offer promised to give lobbyists an “invitation only opportunity to talk to MSPs, councillors and observers”.
Niall Christie, who ran as a Scottish Green candidate in Glasgow at the General Election, said supporters of the party should expect better conduct from their leaders.
He posted on Twitter/X: “It’s undeniable we would be fuming and urging action if this was our political opponents.
“We should be holding ourselves to the same standard.
“We should be better than this and should expect more of our leaders than allowing their political positions to be sold for profit.”
The move by the Greens could fall foul of the Scottish Parliament’s lobbying rules.
The parliamentary code states that “members may participate in events for which others are charged a fee attend”.
However, it adds that “there could be some concern that events falling into this category could be a means of ‘buying’ access to MSPs. It is important that there should be no grounds for such a perception".
There have been growing calls for Harvie and Slater to resign from their positions following the revelations, with insiders accusing leaders of a "cover-up".
One source told The Herald: “The cover up is as bad as any cash for access on show here.
“Members have had no questions answered while our leadership hide behind attacks on this story – failing to take any responsibility."
Will Dinan, a senior lecturer in communications at the University of Stirling, said it was a “bad look” for the party and “appears to breach the rules” in place.
He said: “The Greens appear to have travelled some distance from when they were champions of probity when in opposition in Holyrood.”
Harvie and Slater were active travel and biodiversity ministers respectively in the Scottish Government from August 2021 until April this year when the Bute House Agreement was scrapped by then first minister Humza Yousaf.
A spokesperson for the Scottish Greens claimed the story was "misleading and inaccurate".
They said: "The story in the Sunday Mail was extremely misleading and inaccurate and we are considering next steps.
"No private or 'cosy' meetings with MSPs or Ministers have ever been offered to anyone in exchange for money and nor would they be.
"The reality is that a charity sponsored a buffet lunch that was attended by over 100 people, including members, MSPs and journalists, at which they had a table to hand out campaign literature and speak to people. This is a far cry from what has been reported.
"Having charities and campaign groups sponsoring sections of conferences is a common practice for all political parties."
