Scottish Greens co-leaders told to resign over cash for access claims

A Sunday Mail investigation reported the party offered lobbyists “exclusive” access to politicians and party members through the purchasing of a “sponsored lunch” for the price of £700.

It was first offered during the party’s April 4 conference this year, and is on the table again for the upcoming conference next month.

The brochure said: “Get an exclusive table to talk to ministers, MSPs and members during lunch and advertisement in the conference programme.”

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An “exhibitor reception” was offered at October 2023’s conference which allowed people to purchase an “invitation only opportunity to talk to MSPs, councillors and observers”.

Mr Harvie and Ms Slater were both Scottish Government ministers at the time as part of the Bute House Agreement between the SNP and the Greens.

Concerns have been raised the offers could have breached the Scottish Parliament’s lobbying rules, however the Scottish Greens have strongly denied the accusations.

The Greens have also said that neither co-leader – or any MSP – had any involvement or signed off on the brochure.

But a party member has told the Herald he believes the party’s co-leaders have “covered up” the issue after Mr Harvie wrote to members on the party’s Slack communication platform to warn on “anonymous attacks” from within the party.

In a message to all party members at 11:32pm on Saturday evening, Mr Harvie said an “unnamed source” was using fringe events at conference and “quite absurdly trying to turn (it) into some kind of scandal”.

Mr Harvie’s, post seen by the Herald, said: “As any party member who attends conference knows, many external organisations take part by putting on stalls, fringes and other events which MSPs and co-leaders often speak at.

“Most of these are charities, trade unions, etc, and like every other party we charge fees for hosting these events, which enables us to make our conferences affordable and accessible for members.”

However, an insider told The Herald the response from Mr Harvie was a “cover up”.

The source said: “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.

(Image: NQ)

“It’s obvious that there are no excuses for selling access to ministers and MSPs, but Lorna, Patrick and others won’t face the music and admit to what they’ve done.

“The longer this goes on the more damage will be done to the party. We can only hope they put the party before their own careers and face the music.”

The member went on to tell us: “In my view, that is a clear cash for access issue. It’s clear cut.

“They’re saying pay us £700 and you will get exclusive rights as a result to talk to ministers and MSPs at a table”.

The source added the messaging from the co-leaders on the issue was “clearly nonsense”.

When asked if Mr Harvie and Ms Slater should resign as co-leaders, the insider told the Herald: “Yes, I think they should.”

The Scottish Greens also denies claims it hosts a “private lunch” with those who purchase the deal, and instead states it is a “free lunch” offered to all members, with MSPs “encouraged” to speak with the sponsor to thank them for the support.

According to the Scottish Parliament’s Lobbying Scotland Act 2016, MSPs must follow strict rules.

It states that while members can participate in events where others are charged a fee to attend, “there could be some concern that events falling into the category be a means of ‘buying’ access to MSPs”.

“It is important that there should be no grounds for such a perception,” the Act added.

Dr Will Dinan, a lobbying expert and senior communications lecturer at the University of Stirling, said the accusations could be a “bad look for the Greens”.

He said: “It also appears to breach the rules in place that governs access to ministers.

“There is a clear perception of privileged access created by how this sponsorship is pitched.

“The Greens appear to have travelled some distance from when they were champions of probity when in opposition in Holyrood.”

Mr Harvie and Ms Slater said 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 Scottish Greens spokesman said any claims of private lunches with MSPs in exchange for cash was "highly misleading".

He said: "At no point have organisations or individuals had the option of paying for any kind of ‘cosy’ lunch with any of our MSPs as they claimed.

“The Scottish Green Party conference is attended by a range of charities, campaign groups and stakeholders, with sponsorship options where appropriate, like all political parties do. This helps us to pay for the cost of running our conference.”

The spokesman also said the term “exclusive” was used to describe the lunch because there is a single sponsor of the lunch who is in the room with all party members.

The brochure has since been changed to remove mention of ministers and MSPs and now states the lunch would include "politicians and members".