JOHN Swinney has called Anas Sarwar's negotiation tactics during Scottish Budget discussions "foolish" and revealed Alex Cole-Hamilton is in a "better position".
It comes after Sarwar confirmed Scottish Labour will abstain on a vote on the Budget, which means the SNP should have the numbers to pass the Budget when it goes to a Holyrood vote before the end of February.
The Scottish Labour leader further said that his party would only vote for the Budget if the Scottish Government “stopped pretending that this Budget lifts the two-child benefit cap”.
The First Minister has now hit out at the demand, telling the Sunday Mail Sarwar "has put all his cards face up on the table", unlike LibDem leader Cole-Hamilton.
Swinney said: “LibDem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton is in a stronger bargaining position today than Anas Sarwar is because Anas has said Labour are abstaining while Alex has said no such thing.
“I will remove the two child cap as soon as possible but I can’t do it by April and Anas knows that. It's a foolish point.
“He has put all his cards face up on the table and Alex Cole-Hamilton has not.
“He is holding his cards and he is discussing them with us and I will be respectful of that.”
Swinney will say he is willing to put in the “hard yards” on the issue during the upcoming statement in Stirling on Wednesday.
The event will be one of a series of speeches prior to the Budget vote.
He will highlight measures to alleviate child poverty, including £3 million to develop systems to mitigate the two-child benefit cap – which the Scottish Government aims to do in 2026.
