THE Scottish Greens have launched their manifesto with an apology to the tens of thousands of supporters denied a chance to vote for them.

Co-convener Patrick Harvie said he was “sorry” to Green voters around the country who, like 95 per cent of the electorate, didn’t have a Green candidate in their constituency.

The party is standing in just three of Scotland’s 59 Westminster seats - Edinburgh North & Leith, Falkirk and Glasgow North, where Mr Harvie is the candidate.

After standing 31 candidates in 2015 and withholding funds from every seat except Glasgow North, the pro-independence party been accused of standing back in order to help the SNP.

The party denies this and says it lacks the money to do more.

At a cafe in Glasgow South, one of the 56 seats the party will not contest, Mr Harvie said the campaign was “tightly-focused” to give Scotland the best chance of electing a Green MP.

He said: “I'm sorry to many Green voters around the country who don't have a chance to vote Green and I know many of them have been coming down to help in Edinburgh North and Leith, in Glasgow and in Falkirk, where we are able to stand candidates.”

He said people should "challenge all of their candidates on the issues that are most important to them" in the seats without a Green option.

Mr Harvie said: "For some people the issue of climate change will be absolutely front and centre, top of the list of priorities. For others it might be nuclear weapons, it might be economic policy and the harm that is being inflicted on some of the most vulnerable people in society.

"For others it will be Scotland's ability to choose its own future.

"Put all of those issues to your candidates and judge them as individuals."

The manifesto backs a second independence referendum to give Scots an alternative to a “hard Brexit UK”, and says Green MPs would continue to push for freedom of movement and the retentions of EU environmental regulations outside the European Union.

Mr Harvie said: "We need Green voices at Westminster to stand up in defence of those critical social and environmental protections that have been hard won over the years, as well as ensuring Scotland has its right to choose its future in the future.

"The Greens have always been a pro-European party and over our time as an active part of European politics, we've achieved a lot from controlling toxic chemicals to capping banking bonuses.

"A great many of those achievements are going to be in the hands of the UK Parliament with some of the Tory backbenches calling for a bonfire of the regulations that will literally put people's lives on the line.”

The manifesto said 200,000 new jobs in Scotland come come from a low carbon economy centred on renewables, energy efficiency and oil industry decommissioning in the North Sea.

The other Green candidates are Lorna Slater in Edinburgh North and Leith and Debra Pickering in Falkirk, a decision said to be based on resources.

Tory environment spokesman Maurice Golden said the Greens were “pathetic” and wanted “to help the SNP cling on to as many seats as possible”.

He said: “The Scottish Greens have been exposed as an SNP mini-me party.

“The Scottish Conservatives are the only party which will stand up to the SNP at this election – not cave into them."

Labour environment spokesperson Claudia Beamish said the Greens were “just cheerleaders for the SNP” and should have launched their manifesto alongside the Nationalists today.

She said: “The Scottish Greens have given up any pretence of being concerned with the environment or austerity – for them it is Scottish nationalism first and everything else a distance second.”

Elsewhere on the campaign trail, Scottish LibDem leader Willie Rennie dressed as Marty McFly from the Back to the Future films to accuse the SNP of recycling old promises.

Posing by a De Lorean car in Edinburgh West, Mr Rennie highlighted a new SNP postcard showing the £1.3bn Queensferry Crossing and the slogan Building a Better Scotland.

In its 2016 Holyrood manifesto, the SNP boasted the bridge was “on time and on budget”.

It is now due to open around eight months late.

Mr Rennie said it was a prime example of how the SNP over-promised and under-delivered.

He said: “It is back to the future with the SNP and their relentless campaign for another divisive referendum. They are distracted from the day to day business of government.

“The opening of the bridge has been delayed twice. SNP ministers are so distracted they haven’t even noticed their own delays.”

Appealing for tactical votes from Tory and LibDem supporters, Scottish Labour launched a new online advert claiming only they could stop the SNP next week.

Ian Murray, Labour’s candidate in Edinburgh South, said: “The Tories just aren’t at the races - and a vote for them or the LibDems will just let the SNP back in.”

Visiting the National Mining Museum in Newtongrange, Labour’s UK election coordinator Ian Lavery also said Jeremy Corbyn would ensure no community was left behind.

“We are committed to developing an industrial strategy with skills and training at its heart ensuring individuals flourish at the same time as our economy does.”