THE Scottish Greens will not back the SNP Budget if it means cuts to council funding, members have voted.
A motion – tabled by MSPs Ross Greer and Gillian Mackay – was passed at the Greens conference in Greenock on Sunday, which stipulated that the party would seek mechanisms to guarantee that a Scottish Budget they agreed to support would not later be altered by the Scottish Government.
But it was also later amended to include a commitment that Green MSPs would also vote against the Budget if ministers try to cut the cash provided to councils and insisting that councils should be given new powers to raise additional funds.
The amendment – brought forward by Green activist Ellie Gomersall and councillor Anthony Carroll – was almost not debated at conference due to a procedural disagreement on Saturday led to the agenda being thrown out and derailing proceedings.
But it was subsequently debated on Sunday morning alongside the Budget motion and then passed overwhelmingly.
“What's important is that, yesterday, grassroots members made our voice heard and voted to ensure that motion would be heard and force a vote on it," Gomersall said.
"That means that our Green MSPs are now tied to voting against any Budget that does cut local authority budgets and to try and really push the SNP to fund our local governments properly.”
The power-sharing deal between the SNP and the Greens at Holyrood ended earlier this year, which means First Minister John Swinney (below) and his government need to find support from at least one of the opposition parties in the Scottish Parliament if the Budget is to pass.
To that end, negotiations between the two parties have taken place in the run up to the Budget, which will be unveiled by Finance Secretary Shona Robison on December 4.
Greer told said that the overwhelming support of members for the motion and amendments “shows how challenging budget negotiations will be for the government”.
“Scotland is in a financial crisis, largely as a result of budget cuts made by the Tories and Labour in Westminster but which Holyrood must deal with the consequences of. Finding agreement in that context will be a challenge,” he said.
“The Scottish Greens believe that we must use every lever available to protect people and planet. That’s why we worked in government to deliver programmes like the Nature Restoration Fund and expansion of free school meals, both of which the SNP are now cutting back on.
“My motion also reflects the lack of trust caused by these cuts. Our MSPs will only support a budget if the government agrees that we are involved in its delivery. We will not risk passing a budget only for the SNP to drop the Green parts later on.”
