THE SNP have said they are open to working with Alba or Unionist parties to pass a budget – as new research showed the majority of their voters would prefer the party to strike a deal with the Greens.
Alba have published research which found that only a third of SNP voters wanted them to work with Alex Salmond’s party.
A FindOutNow poll commissioned by Alba found that 28% of those who voted SNP in last month’s General Election wanted John Swinney’s party to work with MSP Ash Regan to help pass a budget.
Because her support would still fail to take the party over the threshold to command a majority, the SNP would still need to cut a deal with others to get a budget over the line.
The Greens have pointed out that they are more popular with SNP members and have the numbers to help their former power-sharing partners get a budget over the line without the need for more deal-making.
The survey, which polled 1505 Scots, found that across all voters the most popular option, with 46% support, was to work with Unionist parties including any combination of Labour, the Tories or the LibDems.
Most SNP voters said they wanted the party to strike a deal with the Scottish Greens, reminiscent of the Bute House Agreement which was collapsed by former first minister Humza Yousaf (above) earlier this year.
Some 62% of SNP voters said they would like to see the SNP make a deal with the Greens which included bringing back some of the former’s policies which have since been ditched by the Scottish Government.
But the survey found this was unpopular with many other Scots, with only 4% of Tory voters backing this option and less than one in five Labour voters backing the return of Green policies.
An SNP spokesperson said: “The SNP will always work constructively with others to make a real difference to the lives of people in Scotland.
“Despite the huge financial pressure facing the Scottish Government as a result of Labour’s decision to continue Tory austerity, the SNP is focused on delivering on the priorities of the Scottish people – eradicating child poverty, promoting economic growth and making our public services sustainable.”
Alba Party deputy leader Kenny MacAskill (below) warned Swinney against bringing the Greens back into the fold – saying they “had their fingertips all over almost every single unpopular policy failure of the Government”.
The former justice secretary added: “John Swinney does not have his troubles to seek and although he may have replaced Humza Yousaf as first minister he did not change the parliamentary arithmetic.
“When I was a member of the Scottish Government it wasn’t always easy to pass a budget but we had the support of the public on our side and the opposition feared an early Holyrood election as we were governing competently and rolling out popular policies. This has not been the story in recent years. The Green Party have had their finger tips all over almost every single unpopular policy failure of the Government.
“Bringing back Green Party policies might help the Scottish Government win a budget vote but it’ll result in them further losing the country.”
He argued that siding with the Unionist parties meant the SNP would be “held to ransom and they will pay the price at the ballot box in two years’ time”.
MacAskill said that bringing Regan onside would mean the Government would take “action on independence, make governing competently a priority and start focusing on the people’s agenda again instead of being stuck in the apertures of niche party political issues”.
But the Greens have hit back, saying the SNP did not need to “work with fringe groups whose public support is next to non-existent”.
MSP Ross Greer (above) said: “This poll shows that two-thirds of SNP voters want John Swinney to work with the Scottish Greens on a progressive policy agenda to deliver a fairer, greener Scotland.
“Green MSPs have delivered for Scotland both from government and opposition. We passed the emergency rent freeze, rolled out free bus travel for young people, cancelled school meal debt, allocated record government investment to climate action and scrapped peak rail fares.”
He said the termination of the Bute House Agreement meant “we have seen the SNP roll back on this agenda and reverse some of these policies,” adding: “That's despite polling showing SNP voters overwhelmingly support our progressive agenda.”
Finance Secretary Shona Robison is sharpening her axe ahead of a statement to Parliament next month after the end of recess where she is expected to make the case for swingeing cuts to public spending because of “profound financial pressures”.
She has hit out at a lack of clarity from Westminster on the state of the UK public finances – and highlighted how the SNP had been left with “no choice” but to replicate Labour cuts like ending the universal Winter Fuel Payment for pensioners.
John Swinney will later in September unveil his first Programme for Government – also the first time an SNP government has had to outline their legislative agenda as a minority government in four years.
