CIRCULAR Economy Minister Lorna Slater has issued a statement dismissing a Tory vote of no confidence against her as "a shameless political stunt" to distract voters from troubles being faced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Tory net-zero spokesman Liam Kerr lodged a motion of no confidence in Slater at the Scottish Parliament on Monday, which gained the backing of his party colleagues.
It is expected to be debated at Holyrood after 5pm today.
Scottish Labour has also said it will be supporting the motion.
However the co-operation agreement between the SNP and Scottish Greens, which gave the smaller party two ministerial positions, means it stands little chance of passing.
In a statement, Slater pledged the Scottish Greens will stay in government and will continue to deliver the change that Scotland needs, she pledged.
Slater said: “This is a shameless political stunt from a Tory party that holds Scotland and our democracy in contempt. They can see that with Scottish Greens in government we are building a fairer, greener and better Scotland, and they don’t like it one bit.
“We are here to stay, and will continue to deliver the change that is so vital.
“When the Tories destroyed Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme, they destroyed jobs, they destroyed environmental progress, and they undermined Scotland’s parliament.
“Whether they did it for a stunt so they could bring forward absurd motions like this, to distract us from the Tory horror show in Westminster, or because of their links to the industry, we will never know.
"But I do know that the only people who should be held responsible for the Tory’s catastrophic decision making in Westminster are the Tories.”
The Scottish Government blamed Westminster for the latest delay to the DRS, after the UK Government decided glass should be excluded from the scheme so it is the same across the UK.
Kerr said: “We feel we have no option but to bring this motion forward, because Lorna Slater has demonstrated that she is out of her depth as a minister.
“I don’t say this lightly, but I struggle to think of a minister who has struggled so much in their brief in the seven years I’ve been in the Scottish Parliament.
“Her handling of the deposit return scheme has been shambolic from day one, with her refusal to engage with business or heed their warnings that her plans were unworkable.”
Kerr said the UK Government had offered to work with Slater to make the DRS viable, but she had instead “resorted to anger, division and blame”.
He also blamed Slater for the potential collapse of Circularity Scotland, the industry-funded company set up to administer the DRS.
Kerr said: “The First Minister has stated that he does not agree and has full confidence in Lorna Slater.
“But I call on all MSPs of all parties to get behind this motion.”
Scottish Green MSP Mark Ruskell defended Slater, who is one of the party’s two co-leaders alongside Patrick Harvie.
“This is a shameless and cynical stunt by the Tories, who are getting increasingly desperate every single day as their party and their leadership falls apart,” he said.
“The reality here is that Lorna Slater has done an incredible job to bring in Scotland’s first deposit return scheme. It was ready to go.
“But the Tories stepped in at the last minute and they scuppered the scheme.
“Now they have the absolute audacity, the brass neck, to actually try to blame Lorna Slater for their decision.
“This is completely absurd.”
