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00:10 I'm Patrick Harvey.
00:35 I'm co-leader of the Scottish Green Party.
00:37 And we're here to launch our candidate, Cameron Eadie,
00:41 his election campaign for the Rutherglen and Hamilton West
00:44 by election.
00:45 That's yet to see a date set, but candidates and activists
00:48 are getting out around the constituency already,
00:50 knocking on doors and drumming up support.
00:53 I think it's going to be a really interesting one for us.
00:56 We've obviously stood here at a regional level.
00:59 We haven't fielded a constituency candidate,
01:01 though, in recent years.
01:02 So we're going to be really interested to see
01:04 where the green support is coming from
01:06 and what people's issues are.
01:07 We know that increasingly, people
01:09 see the connection between the climate emergency and things
01:12 like the cost of living crisis.
01:14 We know that food prices are going
01:16 to be impacted by the climate emergency
01:18 if we don't get a grip on carbon emissions and do it fast.
01:22 People are very, very clear, as we're
01:23 seeing images of the climate emergency on our television
01:26 screens pretty much every day this summer.
01:29 That is going to impact us all in constituency like this
01:32 and right around the country and the world.
01:34 So it's really important that green ideas are put front
01:36 and centre into our campaign.
01:38 Pat, are you worried about splitting the independence
01:40 vote?
01:42 We're very clear that putting green ideas on the agenda,
01:46 getting green names on the ballot paper
01:48 is hugely important.
01:49 Greens being in the room has shifted the debate
01:53 at Holyrood.
01:54 It's shifted the debate in local council chambers.
01:57 And we believe that with more green voices at Westminster
02:00 as well, we can shift the debate there as well.
02:02 That's so important, especially at a time
02:05 when we see UK parties ditching environmental policies very
02:10 rapidly.
02:11 Or right throughout the summer, we've
02:12 seen a stream of environmental policies being
02:14 abandoned by the UK parties.
02:16 It's really important that green voices
02:18 are there to say that agenda needs
02:20 to be put front and centre.
02:21 It is the only future we have.
02:24 So it's entirely consistent with the direction of travel
02:26 for many years now for the Scottish Greens
02:29 that we put forward candidates, put forward green ideas.
02:32 And I'm delighted that Cameron Eadie will be doing that
02:34 in Rutherglen and Hamilton West.
02:36 We're going to be knocking on every door that we can reach.
02:38 We're going to be speaking to as many voters as we can.
02:41 And we're going to be raising the issues
02:43 that the green agenda is here to represent.
02:45 And it will be up to the voters to decide
02:48 how well we're going to do.
02:49 But however well we do in this by-election,
02:51 we'll continue to build on the level of support
02:54 that we've got and make sure that we go forward from here,
02:56 taking green politics forward.
02:58 Because it is, as I say, Scotland's and the world's
03:02 only future.
03:02 I'm looking to give the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West
03:05 the opportunity to vote for a candidate that
03:07 is pro-independence, pro-EU.
03:10 I'll put the climate crisis front and centre of my campaign
03:13 and everything that I do.
03:15 And I'm not afraid to take bold action
03:17 on collecting child poverty at the Tory cost of living crisis.
03:21 I want to bring about change that will ultimately only
03:24 be brought about by voting for the Scottish Greens.
03:26 There's been a lot of organising going into this campaign.
03:29 I was selected as a candidate almost four weeks ago,
03:34 despite what Labour might have said yesterday.
03:37 I'm Lorna Slater, co-leader of the Scottish Green Party.
03:39 And I am here to help launch our campaign for the Rutherglen
03:43 and Hamilton West by-election.
03:45 We've got excellent candidate Cameron Eadie,
03:48 who will be standing here, who's a young person with great vision
03:51 for the future.
03:53 This election is about independence,
03:55 but it's about so much more than independence.
03:57 We've seen over the summer wildfires across the world,
04:01 extreme weather.
04:02 We are clearly in a climate emergency.
04:04 Of course the Greens are going to stand,
04:06 because without us in the room, climate
04:08 gets left by the wayside.
04:10 Climate is something that affects all of us.
04:13 We absolutely need to take urgent action on the climate
04:16 and nature crises.
04:17 And having a Green in the room makes
04:19 sure that won't get forgotten.
04:21 So many times, the cost of living crisis
04:23 and the environmental crisis go hand in hand.
04:25 For example, if we look at our policy of free bus travel
04:28 for everyone under 22, that is the perfect example
04:31 of saving people money, making sure they
04:33 have more money in their pocket, and reducing carbon
04:35 emissions at the same time.
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