DEREK Mackay has warned MSPs not to shut down the Scottish Government in the middle of Brexit uncertainty by rejecting his Budget.

As the SNP don’t have a majority in Holyrood, they need the support of at least two other MSPs to pass their spending plans for the next year.

But with none of the opposition parties willing to back Mackay in Parliament today, he faces almost certain defeat.

The Tories and LibDems have said they’ll only support the SNP if the independence-supporting party take the possibility of a second independence referendum off the table.

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Mackay had pinned hopes on winning over the six Green MSPs, but talks have been faltering for weeks, with the SNP minister reluctant to back calls for major changes to council finance.

Speaking ahead of this afternoon’s Stage 1 debate, Mackay called on MSPs to act “responsibly”.

“Our spending plans for the coming year contain additional money for schools and hospitals, protecting vital public services and investing in our economy, while also providing stability amid the ongoing

uncertainty caused by Brexit,” he said. “With that backdrop in mind, there has never been more need for MSPs, of all parties, to act responsibly and not add to that uncertainty.

“So I urge all MSPs to unite behind the 2019/20 Scottish Budget – that is what people the length and breadth of Scotland expect.”

The SNP minister said his proposals would lead to an increase of “almost £730 million for our health and care services, invests more than £180m to raise attainment in our schools, and gives a vital boost to our economy through a £5 billion infrastructure programme”.

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Meanwhile, Labour’s former deputy leader Alex Rowley has been carpeted by party chief Richard Leonard after he tried to unilaterally reach a Budget deal with the Scottish Government, according to reports.

Rowley, the party’s local government spokesman, wrote to Mackay saying Labour could back his Budget if the SNP minister found another £340m for Scotland’s councils.

Labour would “work to support the Government if we are able to secure protections against the worst of the cuts to local services”, the Fifer said in his letter, which was obtained by the Times.

But Leonard forced Rowley to withdraw the offer. The paper’s sources said he was spoken to “quickly and quite uncompromisingly”.

“This is embarrassing. When the SNP are decimating council budgets and rocked by a civil war, we’ve managed to make ourselves look more incompetent than them.”

Tensions are high at the moment.

On Monday, the SNP MSP Gillian Martin 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.”

Replying, Green party co-convenor Patrick Harvie said today’s vote was “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.”