PATRICK HARVIE noted the importance of political discipline as he opened the Scottish Green Party conference in Greenock on Saturday. The Greens “must continue becoming the effective and professional political force we are capable of being,” said the party’s co-leader.
 
Hours after he stepped off stage, the gathering descended into chaos as Green members voted to abandon the day’s proceedings by comprehensively rejecting their proposed agenda. Much to the leadership’s chagrin, the hall emptied for the day without a single motion going to the floor.
 
In a procedural dogfight that would have tested even this newspaper’s most rule-bookish readers, grassroots Greens scored a major victory over their co-leaders, both of whom — together with most of their MSP group — voted to retain the day’s agenda.

Far from a tedious breach of standing orders, the political disagreement which underpinned these shenanigans may yet have significant ramifications for the rest of Scotland.
 
When members sought to amend an emergency motion on this year’s Scottish Budget brought by Ross Greer MSP and Gillian McKay MSP, their path was blocked.

The conference’s standing orders committee (SOC) sought to hear the amendment — which would have bound Scottish Green MSPs to vote against any SNP Budget package which included local authority cuts — from the floor rather than by default.