SNP veteran Alex Neil has called for party members to have a say on any deal Nicola Sturgeon’s government strikes with the Scottish Greens. It comes as the Tories and Labour attacked the prospect of the two independence parties going into a formal working relationship.
The former health secretary, who stood down from Holyrood ahead of the May election, was responding to an article in The National which reported Green members will be invited to an emergency meeting on August 28 outlining any new working arrangement. Reports last weekend suggested the deal may be published today.
The Scottish Greens’ rules require any power sharing agreement at Holyrood must have the consent of members. Insiders have said the vote “could be tight”.
READ MORE: EXPLAINER: Why are the SNP and Greens doing a deal?
Neil wrote on Twitter: “The party members must have a say before any deal is signed.” He referred to an earlier post about The National’s report by SNP MP Joanna Cherry.
She wrote: “Looking forward to hearing plans for @theSNP members to scrutinise and provide views on any deal to be agreed with Greens.”
All 7500 members of the Scottish Greens are to be invited to the online emergency meeting to debate and vote on whether to give the deal their approval. Turnout for the meeting is expected to be high.
READ MORE: SNP and Greens' co-operation deal faces 'tight' vote from grassroots members
Earlier this month it emerged that the SNP and Scottish Greens are “95%” agreed on a Holyrood co-operation deal. The two parties have been in negotiations since May when the SNP fell one seat short of an overall majority.
Any new working agreement would formalise the pro-independence majority in Holyrood and allow the Scottish Government to brandish their pro-environmental credentials in time for the COP26 summit in November.
Speaking about the negotiations in May, the First Minister told MSPs: “As we embark on this process, we are setting no limits on our ambition.
“So in that vein let me be clear that while this is not a guaranteed or pre-agreed outcome, it is not inconceivable that a cooperation agreement could lead in future to a Green minister or ministers being part of this Government.”
Patrick Harvie, the Scottish Greens co-leader, said at the time the people of Scotland were looking for “grown-up politics”.
READ MORE: Will Greens be given slot at FMQs if they join the SNP in government?
Ahead of the prospect of the deal being published today, the Scottish Tories and Labour went on the offensive. Opposition parties attacked the Greens and SNP ahead of a deal between the two sides.
Tory net zero spokesman Liam Kerr said the Green manifesto from May’s election was a “doctrine to start a war on working Scotland”, after it proposed a move away from North Sea oil and gas and the end of new road-building projects.
Greens have insisted their proposals to end extraction and exploration in the North Sea would be part of a “just transition” and would include retraining for the workforce in the north-east.
“Patrick Harvie will push for the end of the oil and gas industry at the first chance he gets, abandoning the 100,000 jobs which depend on it,” Kerr said.
“They have no interest in energy transition. They want an unfair conclusion of our North Sea sector which is developing the very means to hit net zero.” He added: “This deal is just another way for the SNP to push for another divisive referendum.”
Labour leader Anas Sarwar challenged the Greens to stand against further cuts to council budgets.
“The grim reality is that this coalition isn’t a surprise, it is just formalising what we’ve seen for years – Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP hammering our public services with cuts and the Greens nodding along,” he said.
“From voting against pay rises for care workers, failing to reform the council tax and tripling cuts to Scottish councils, this confirms the long-held suspicion that the Scottish Greens are just a branch office of the SNP.
An email sent to Green members said the final agreement was being mulled by civil servants and lawyers.
The SNP have been approached for comment.
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