DEREK Mackay’s budget faces almost certain defeat in Holyrood tomorrow, with the Scottish Greens making clear that they cannot back the government unless significant changes are made to local council funding.
As the SNP don’t have a majority in the Scottish Parliament, they need the support of at least two other MSPs to pass their spending plans for the next year.
The Tories and LibDems have said they won’t back the deal unless the SNP take independence off the table. That is unlikely.
Labour have called the budget “not fit for purpose”.
Mackay has pinned hopes on winning over the six Green MSPs.
But talks have been faltering for weeks, with Mackay reluctant to back Greens’ plans for council finance.
Tensions are running high, with the Scottish Government warning that a failure to back the budget could jeopardise funding for schools and hospitals.
On Monday, the SNP MSP Gillian Martin even warned the Greens that they could bring the government down and risk Nicola Sturgeon’s mandate for a second independence referendum.
She tweeted: “I get desire for more spend for councils- in ideal world we’d have the funds to do that and everything else. Pay offers for teachers/increase in salaries for public sector workers can’t be found if we need to increase spend. If budget fails we might lose indyref mandate too”
Yesterday, Green party co-convenor Patrick Harvie said tomorrow’s vote was purely “on the Budget” and “not a vote of confidence” in Sturgeon’s administration.
“There are both supporters and opponents of the SNP who seem to think it’s about bringing down the Government. It’s not,” he tweeted.
“If the budget falls, as it did in 2009, the Government will simply have to reintroduce it and try again to reach agreement with an opposition party.”
Harvie also blasted the other opposition parties for not putting “forward positive ideas for change”.
“I honestly think it’s shameful that other parties haven’t done so yet. Some of them demand the impossible, others demand the indefensible.”
Harvie continued: “Even councils led by the SNP’s own party colleagues are making it clear that the brutal cuts they face will be deeply harmful, and we’ve been working hard for months now to prevent that.
“It’s disappointing that we still don’t have a fair compromise from the Government. But if @DerekMackaySNP is still willing to give ground, we are still focused on achieving what’s needed for Scotland’s local services, the people who deliver them and those who rely on them.“
Scottish Labour’s Finance spokesperson James Kelly said all opposition parties needed to “send Derek Mackay back to the drawing board”.
LibDem MSP Alex Cole-Hamilton suggested an early election could be on the cards: “If their inability to get a budget through necessitates a new Scottish Parliament election then I have every hope that people in Scotland will want to use that to eject the nationalists,” he said.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “People would be astonished if they saw opposition parties playing political games that jeopardised funding for schools and hospitals”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel