AN SNP councillor has resigned from the party because of the co-operation deal with the Scottish Greens.
Geva Blackett, representative for Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside on Aberdeenshire Council, said she will now serve as an independent.
Blackett claimed that the agreement between the SNP and Scottish Greens, revealed on Friday 20 August and will see two Green MSPs enter government, meant policy was being made “with little or no understanding of the challenges remote rural communities face”.
She also claimed that rural jobs were “under threat” due to the Greens who would push through an “agenda damaging” to local residents.
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Blackett raised the issue of the “uncertain future” of Aboyne Hospital and “disarray” of the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) as examples of the Scottish Government’s failure to understand rural communities.
The SNP said Blackett's resignation was "disappointing" and said she had a "number of frustrations" with the party for some time.
In a lengthy post on Facebook, Blackett said: “As I said in my resignation email to my group leader, with Friday’s announcement that the SNP government have entered a power-sharing deal with the Greens, coupled with the Braemar ambulance situation and the current uncertainty surrounding the future of Aboyne hospital, I have regretfully concluded that my constituents will be best served by me resigning from the SNP, allowing me to speak up with an independent voice.”
Blackett said she wants to put the interests of her ward “above party politics”.
She added: “In my view, government policy is being made with little or no understanding of the challenges remote rural communities face. I can no longer support this and at the same time say to you, my constituents, that I am doing my best to get - for example - the health services we really need and indeed if we lived in an urban conurbation would get.
Details of the SNP-Greens co-operation deal were released on Friday last week
“Aboyne Hospital’s uncertain future and the apparent disarray of the Scottish Ambulance Service being just two examples.
“We must have solutions that meet local needs – one cap does not fit all.”
The Aboyne Hospital in Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, had staff and resources sent elsewhere in March 2020 as the pandemic hit the country, and local residents now fear it may be closed permanently.
In 2007, the SAS withdrew the Braemar ambulance, and the closest vehicle has since been based in Ballater, 17 miles away. The issue came to a head in November 2020 when Pam Anderson, who died of a heart attack on the way to hospital, had to wait 40 minutes for a two man crew to arrive - as the first ambulance arrived with only one staff member.
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The 74-year-old care home manager’s husband Douglas called for better ambulance coverage after her death.
Blackett continued: “Yes funding is stretched but people should come first in our decision making be they the amazing staff on the front line of those services – the GPs, the paramedics, the ambulance technicians, the nurses, the support staff and more, all of who go beyond the call of duty over and over again – or the patients and their families who depend on speedy responses and the local community hospitals.
“Many rural jobs are under threat and involvement from the Green Party (who have less than 5% of the Scottish vote yet now have the power to dictate the future of Scotland) will no doubt see an agenda damaging to many of you pushed through to the Statute book with no thought about the wider impact.
Scottish Greens co-leaders Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie at Bute House on Friday
“On occasions I need to speak out against what is happening and that is impossible to do as an elected member of a party in government. If the SNP were in opposition and another political administration holding the reins of power in Holyrood, it would be different; I could be as critical as needed.
"But they are not and therefore I cannot. Thus, my decision to serve you as an independent voice without political constraint.”
Blackett added that she would not be resigning as councillor as by-elections are “expensive” and that she meant “no slight” to her fellow SNP councillors, adding: “My concerns lie at government policy level and most definitely not with them.”
A spokesperson for the SNP group said: “While it's disappointing that Geva has reached this decision, it has been clear for some time that she has had a number of frustrations with the party. We wish her well.”
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