THERE will be two Scottish Government ministers from the Scottish Green party in a power-sharing deal between the SNP and Greens.

The draft agreement between the two parties, based on a model used in New Zealand, has been published.

The proposal states: "The First Minister, after consultation with the co-leaders of the Scottish Green Party, will nominate two MSPs from the Scottish Green Party to be ministers.

"The First Minister, after consultation with the co-leaders of the Scottish Green Party, will appoint two special advisers. These special advisers will be given the responsibility of supporting these ministers in their work and supporting the wider delivery of the shared programme.

READ MORE: SNP-Greens co-operation deal approved by Scottish Cabinet

"The First Minister commits to consulting with the co-leaders of the Scottish Green Party before making any alterations to the responsibilities of these ministerial offices or making any new appointments to these ministerial offices."

The two Green ministers will each be given roles on Cabinet Sub-Committees.

One will sit on the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Legislation, while the second will sit on a newly created Cabinet Sub-Committee on the Climate Emergency.

The two parties have been locked in negotiations since May, after the SNP came one seat short of an overall majority at the Holyrood election.

While both parties have said there will not be a formal coalition between the two, the agreement would see them work together on key issues.

On Sunday, Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said the two parties had been "trying to finish off those last bits of discussion".

The Scottish Tories and Labour have raised concerns about any deal.

Scottish 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.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar (below) has challenged the Greens to stand against further cuts to council budgets.

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He said: "If the Greens are to be anything more than simply the SNP's lackeys, they need to rediscover their principles and fight for a greener Scotland rather than roll over to the SNP every time the going gets tough."

A spokesperson for the Scottish Greens said: "It's no surprise that parties only interested in scoring political points would be alarmed about any suggestion of co-operation in the interests of people and planet.

"People vote Green to get results, and over the last five years the Scottish Greens have achieved more from our manifesto than Labour and the Tories combined. We will continue to do that, whatever happens."

A spokesperson for the First Minister said: "Following the SNP's record landslide election win in May, the First Minister extended an open invitation to all parties to discuss areas where they thought they could work closely with the SNP in Government for the common good – in the face of the extraordinary challenges facing us such as the climate emergency and recovering from the pandemic.

"The fact that Labour and the Tories chose not to pursue that offer says far more about them than anyone else."