THE SNP wanted a co-operation agreement with the Greens in order to avoid having ministers in the Scottish Government “facing down motions of no confidence every other week”, Lorna Slater has told her party’s members.
Speaking at a question and answer session about the co-operation agreement published on Friday, Slater expanded on what the Greens and SNP each hoped to get from the deal.
The party’s co-leaders, Slater and fellow MSP Patrick Harvie, urged members to vote for the agreement, calling it an “extraordinary opportunity” to see their aims enacted, including reforming the nation’s transport executive.
The agreement would see two Green ministers enter government, although it has to first pass a vote of Green party members, which will be held on August 28.
READ MORE: What the SNP-Green deal tells us about plans for independence and indyref2
Harvie said that it has not yet been decided which of the Greens seven MSPs will take on ministerial duties, but said that it would likely be announced “early next week” and certainly “well before” the members’ vote.
Speaking to party members, Slater said: “If you [Green members] decide that we should be part of government then we have an opportunity that we’ve never had before to actually implement bits of our manifesto. That’s what this is all about.
“What the SNP are getting out of this is stability. They have a lot of stuff they want to do.
“The First Minister truly intends this to be a transformational parliament, particularly on things like the climate emergency and child poverty. What she doesn’t want to be doing is facing down motions of no confidence every other week.
From left: Patrick Harvie, Nicola Sturgeon, and Lorna Slater
“She doesn’t want to be working in a toxic atmosphere where she’s fighting her way through day after day after day. What they want is to say, if we put together legislation that you’re happy with, will you vote for it?”
Towards the end of the previous Scottish parliament the SNP government faced several no-confidence votes.
Two were brought against Deputy First Minister John Swinney, one for his role in the SQA results scandal and another for failing to release legal advice linked to the Alex Salmond affair.
Sturgeon herself also faced one over accusations she had misled parliament.
The government won all three, thanks in no small part to the support of the Scottish Greens.
As Green MSP Ross Greer explained on Twitter, the agreement now contains a “commitment to support the government in votes of confidence”.
This agreement does include a commitment to support the government in votes of confidence but that is in exchange for our sharing in shaping the policy programme and taking these kind of decisions. It wouldn't have got to the point of a VONC needing threatened.
— Ross Greer (@Ross_Greer) August 20, 2021
The Holyrood chamber is currently split down the middle, with 64 SNP MSPs and 64 opposition ones. If the deal is passed, Sturgeon will lead effectively a “majority government”.
READ MORE: SNP and Scottish Greens will work together to 'develop' case for independence
Harvie also hinted at sweeping reforms for Scotland’s national transport agency.
Saying that Transport Scotland are effectively only “road builders”, the Green MSP said his party would aim to “transform the governance [of the body] so that their priorities are transport justice and transport sustainability”.
“If you liked what we did to the SQA recently, you’re going to love what we’re going to do to Transport Scotland,” he added.
The SQA will be scrapped under plans to reform Scotland’s examinations system. An expert panel tasked with overseeing the reforms was announced earlier this week.
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