Robin Harper looks back on twelve years in Parliament

May 6^th 1999 was a historic day in Scottish politics. Not only did this date mark the first Scottish parliamentary election for more than 250 years, but it also saw the election of the UK’s first Green parliamentarian. Twelve years on, Robin Harper MSP sits resplendent sporting his trademark multi-coloured tie, looking back over a frontline political career which will come to an end when he stands down as an MSP on March 22^nd.

The road to electoral success was a long one for the politician and for the Green party. Harper can pinpoint the exact date that his personal journey began. He says: “The 11^th of July 1985 when Rainbow Warrior was sunk was the very specific trigger for my interest in environmental politics.”

Outraged by the sinking of Greenpeace’s flagship vessel, Harper, then a Modern Studies teacher at Boroughmuir High School, joined the fledging Scottish Ecology Party, which would shortly evolve into the Scottish Green Party. Harper was identified as a leader within the movement from the outset. He says of his early days: “I got involved (with the organisation of the party) in the first party meeting I attended, which they asked to hold in my house which should have aroused my suspicions.  Then at the AGM of the Edinburgh branch I was asked to become the convener for the Edinburgh area, so I became an activist on my very first day.”

By 1986, Harper stood for election as a councillor in the  Tollcross ward garnering around 3% of the vote. Over the next thirteen years, Harper was the Green Party candidate at eleven Local Authority, European and Westminster elections all over Scotland. As Harper says: “Wherever in Scotland there was an election, I was there saying ‘Let me stand as a Green candidate.’ I’m glad to say I was never turned down.”

The advent of the Scottish Parliament offered Harper and the Greens a real opportunity for electoral success. The Green party polled 6.9% in the Lothians list vote, enough to secure a seat for the party’s top candidate – Robin Harper.  Of his landmark election he says: “In terms of elation there was nothing to beat making history in 1999. That was just extraordinary.”

The party used their success in 1999 as a stepping stone to further electoral gains. Indeed  the election in 2003 saw six more Green MSPs elected to Holyrood alongside Harper. Of that night he says: “It was a different sort of elation in 2003, to come back with six more MSPs it was a ‘Could you believe it’ moment to do so well.” Though the 2007 election saw the party’s representation at Holyrood cut back to two, Harper and Patrick Harvie, the party did perform well at Local Authority elections in Scotland on the same night.

As an MSP throughout the parliament’s twelve years, Harper admits that he will miss the day-to-day cut and thrust and the “wonderful staff and friends from all sides of the parliament.”. He is also a staunch defender of the parliament’s record saying: “The smoking ban, which other countries have adopted, mental health legislation and the abolition of tuition fees and prescription charges – all these things mount up. We have now passed an amount of specific Scottish legislation that would have taken Westminster 100 years to pass.”

Of his own contribution, Harper feels great satisfaction from what he describes as “little victories” such as widening discussion subjects and having amendments on individual bills passed. Indeed he says: “Every single time an amendment is accepted, is cause for a small celebration.”

Harper certainly feels he is leaving Holyrood with the Green party in a strong position. He says of the forthcoming election: “Of course every election is an opportunity, but this one in particular is a fantastic chance to get back to or better our previous numbers.”

As for his own future, Harper will not be slowing down too much just yet. While he does intend to spend some time pursuing his hobby of collecting acorns he will remain a busy man. On March 12^th he launches his autobiography, Dear Mr Harper, while on March 24^th he attends his first meeting as a board member of the National Trust for Scotland.

One way or another, the Scottish public has not seen the last of Robin Harper and his multi-couloured scarves and ties!

Robin Harper Joins the Board of National Trust for Scotland

Others are looking forward to the political fight in May but  retiring Green MSP, Robin Harper, is planning his life after politics.

He said today:-”I am delighted to announce my election to the new board of the National Trust for Scotland. I will be starting work on the board just a few days after standing down from parliament, and am looking forward to it very much. I am sure the work will be as exciting and rewarding as my last twelve years in the Parliament, and it looks as if I will be quite busy enough not to miss it!”

Harper explained that, in his opinion, it will be a very strong board with the skills and experience to assist in securing the future of NTS. From a good starting point with reassuring improvements in legacies and donations this year, although in the long term there is no room for complacency.

Robin was elected as the UKs first ever Green Parliamentarian in the Scottish Parliament elections, May 1999, representing the Lothians. He is Co-Convenor of the Scottish Green Party. Robin is Convenor of the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group on Architecture and the Built Environment, Convenor of the Scottish Parliament Renewable Energy Group (SPREG) and Convenor of the Cross Party Group on Children and Young People.

Robin Harper has stood for the Greens at local, national and European elections since 1986. He was elected as Lothians first Green MSP, indeed Britain’s first Green parliamentarian on 1st May 1999. In May 2007, he was elected for the third time to the Scottish Parliament, representing the Lothians in May 2007. He is married with one stepson.

Scottish Green Party Conference in Edinburgh 5-7 November 2010

The Greens are holding their national party conference in Edinburgh this year, when their leader and still relatively new MP, Caroline Lucas, will be among the speakers.

Edinburgh’s Robin Harper will be making his final address as an MSP. You can also hear from Patrick Harvie and Andy Wightman who is billed as a leading land reform campaigner.

From the Friday night meet up in Milnes Bar on Rose Street to the Saturday night Ceilidh, this is a party political conference with a difference! The theme of the conference is Green Scotland : Making it Happen.

You can get more details of how to book a place on the Greens website.

The Dangers of Ship-to-Ship transfers

by Robin Harper MSP

I was not born or educated in Edinburgh, but have lived here for over forty years, and have had the honour and pleasure of representing Edinburgh and the wider Lothians region in the Scottish Parliament since I was elected in its first term over a decade ago.

Over the past decade, I have enjoyed unprecedented access to the city and its people, and have been delighted and surprised in equal measure. Edinburgh is my adopted and naturalised home and I cannot envisage ever leaving here in the future.

I love living and working in Edinburgh; its small scale, its rugged beauty, its spectacular architecture, its turbulent history, its wonderful green spaces, and its cosmopolitan people have together won me over and captured my heart.

I am as much now part of Edinburgh as Edinburgh is part of me, and I enjoy a fantastic relationship with the place that has been my home, my work and my most important interest for so long.

This is why I have sought to protect Edinburgh from the worst examples of the often well-intentioned schemes that are regularly foisted upon it by inconsiderate developers, selfish big business or blinkered local politicians.

For example, in recent years, I have worked with local residents and community campaigns to stop inappropriate developments in Haymarket and the Old Town, and I have thrown my weight behind campaigns to save important community assets such as Meadowbank Stadium and the Hillend Ski Centre.

Unfortunately, yet another threat to the city is looming over the horizon. Controls that were approved by the last UK Government, which put an end to plans for ship-to-ship oil transfers in the Firth of Forth are under threat from Tory and LibDem MPs in the UK Parliament.

These hard won controls were the result of a long campaign that was supported by local communities on the Firth of Forth coastline and the environmental movement as a whole. They were prompted by fears of a disastrous oil spill in the Firth, which is a Special Area of Conservation and provides a livelihood for the communities that surround it through tourism, fishing and outdoor pursuits.

The shipping industry is fiercely lobbying the new UK Government to backtrack on the controls that were put in place, and a significant group of ‘ConDem’ MPs have been convinced. Interestingly, none of them are Scottish and all of them live in and represent the south-west of England.

The need for regulation of the oil industry has been starkly highlighted recently by the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. I am determined to make sure that a similar kind of tragedy does not happen in the Firth of Forth.

Oil transfers should be confined to licensed ports where the proper safety measures are fully in place. They should not be allowed in open water, where the potential for accidents and pollution is increased many-fold and they should not be allowed in an area that is so important both ecologically but also economically.

Oil from the Torrey Canyon disaster off the Welsh coast is still adversely affecting wildlife some forty years later. We cannot afford to risk the Firth of Forth in this way.

The regulations to restrict ship-to-ship oil transfers are essential if we are to meet our international legal obligations to protect the environment. Now, just as those regulations are finally delivered, it is disturbing to see LibDem and Tory MPs in Westminster encouraging ministers to backtrack, especially when the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico shows how high the price can be when corners are cut by the oil industry.