THE Scottish Greens have threatened to derail the Government unless Finance Secretary Derek Mackay delivers a “climate emergency budget”.
Because the SNP don’t have a majority in the Scottish Parliament they need the support of MSPs from one of the other parties to get their spending plans for the year passed.
Failing to do so could spark an early election.
While the Greens have given Mackay their backing in recent years, last year the negotiations came down to the wire, with Patrick Harvie’s party only agreeing to pass the government’s Budget hours before the first key vote.
In a letter to the Finance Secretary, Harvie said the Government could only rely on the support of the Greens if ministers take decisive action to lower Scotland’s emissions.
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He said: “The Scottish Greens have delivered real change in the Budget negotiations in previous years, giving Scotland a fairer income tax system, protecting local services across the country and advancing urgent environmental priorities.
“This next one must go further; it must be a climate emergency budget if it is to win our support.”
He added: “Our proposals for the next budget would see transformative investment in tackling fuel poverty, public transport and new green industries that will help tackle the climate crisis and create jobs for communities across Scotland. Derek Mackay has the power to tackle the climate emergency, he needs to accept the responsibility.”
A Tory spokesman was sceptical of Harvie’s threat: “After what’s happened in recent budgets and elections, no-one believes the Greens will reject an SNP budget – not even the Greens or the SNP.”
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon in warning to UK Government over climate emergency
A Scottish Government spokesperson said their record on climate change was “bold”.
He said: “The First Minister was the first national leader to declare a global climate emergency and we have already put in place the most stringent climate legislation of any country in the world. We are leading by example through our bold actions and ambitious targets to end Scotland’s contribution to climate change within a generation.
“The global climate emergency is at the centre of our Programme for Government and is a priority theme for the budget process, as set out in our spending review framework.”
The row came ahead of an announcement from the Treasury that the first post-Brexit Budget will be on March 11.
Chancellor Sajid Javid had initially promised to outline his spending on November 6.
The decision to delay because of the General Election has caused the Scottish Government “significant uncertainty” as it is unable to set its Budget until they know the state of the public finances.
The UK Government is set to increase borrowing in order to fund the “infrastructure revolution” promised in the Tory manifesto ahead of last month’s election.
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