Scottish Greens' Radical Shift: Environment to Independence

On May 1st, Robin Harper, the Scottish Greens first ever elected member at Holyrood back in 1999, just dropped a serious warning.

He's calling the current party a bunch of extremists, pushing wild ideas that could wreck things.

With polls showing Greens surging ahead of Thursday's election, leaders Ross Greer and Gillian McKay might end up holding the balance of power if.

John Swinney's S&P falls short of a majority.

Things shifted hard after Harper's time.

The party ditched its main focus on the environment for independence pushes and heavy trans activism under Patrick Harvey starting in 2008.

Now, their iron deals with the S&P for budget support, trading votes for their wishlist without a full coalition like the failed butthouse deal.

Folks are fired up over their extreme stances.

One candidate wants to scrap prisons entirely, which could free hundreds of murderers and rapists.

Leaders say that's short-term thinking, but it fits their push to reform gender laws, letting self-id and to women spaces despite core blocks.

Victims and cops see it as putting criminals first.

They're also all in on ending drug criminalization, mirroring their English counterparts by legalizing everything from heroin to meth with regulated, sales.

Add in calls to probe Israelis for war crimes and vaping restrictions, and critics say it's out of touch, especially amid Scotland's drug deaths.

Crisis.

Former Greens like Harper, now with labor, say the party's lost its environmental roots for elite radicalism.

If Swinney needs their backing to stay first minister, these policies could shape Scotland's future in ways that leave everyone on edge.