ALEX Cole-Hamilton has said there are “areas of great communality” between both the SNP and LibDems as reports suggest the parties are preparing for final talks on a prospective deal.
The Scottish Budget will be announced on Wednesday with the SNP looking to strike a deal with other parties to ensure it passes.
As a minority government, the SNP need one party to either abstain or supports its plans.
We told in this week’s Sunday National how the Scottish Greens have spelt out two conditions for them to support the SNP.
The Scottish LibDems previously said they would vote down the upcoming Budget if it contains even a “penny” promoting independence.
Speaking to The Herald on Sunday, Cole-Hamilton said: “We have voted for Government budgets before.
“We did so in 2021 and that was right in the foothills of the Scottish election. We don’t hunt as a pack with the other opposition parties just as a wheeze to embarrass the Government.
“We do what is right for our values.”
He said that he did not think the what the LibDems were asking for is “unreasonable” and that one area of communality included the “desire to alleviate poverty” and benefits for carers.
Independence spending
The Herald on Sunday also asked Cole-Hamilton to clarify his stance on independence spending, which he said related to cash or civil service time being spent “on the pursuance of a prospectus for a future independent Scotland and on the mechanics of a second independence referendum”.
He also said he was demanding the SNP would not take up parliamentary time debating independence.
Cole-Hamilton (below) told the newspaper: “There has also been a non-fiscal ask of the Government as well.
“We’ve said to them we [would] take a very dim view if in the next year which this Budget covers that parliamentary time is devoted to rehashing the arguments over the independence question.
“We have so many areas of public policy for Government and ministerial attention, warning lights are blinking across the dashboard.”
Cole-Hamilton pointed to the fact that John Swinney axed the minister for independence role, with Jamie Hepburn now serving as the Minister for Parliamentary Business.
There has also been no further publication of policy papers on independence with the latest Building a New Scotland paper on justice published on April 25, before Swinney was First Minister.
Cole-Hamilton also said he would like to see no more money spent on the National Care Service and called for a “meaningful lift” in council funding.
One SNP source told The Herald: “What Alex Cole-Hamilton said to The Herald on Sunday is very positive.
“It’s interesting that some people think a deal’s been done.”
However, they added that discussions remained ongoing and that “as Alex Cole-Hamilton said there is a lot of communality”.
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: “The Scottish Government has a clear mandate to provide the people of Scotland with the information they need to make an informed choice about their future.
“Decisions on future papers will be taken in due course.”
