Meddling Tory ministers are holding Scotland back from playing its full part in global climate efforts, the SNP’s new Net Zero minister has claimed.
Mairi McAllan, Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Just Transition, hit out at “unacceptable” moves by the UK Government to curb Scottish ministers’ outreach with overseas governments.
It follows a memo by Foreign Secretary James Cleverly to senior British diplomats demanding UK officials sit in on meetings between SNP ministers and foreign states.
Tory insiders claim the new guidelines are to prevent the Holyrood government from undermining UK foreign policy.
But McAllan branded the move “muscular unionism” - insisting the blundering approach could harm Scotland’s efforts to champion global “loss and damage” funding for countries worst-hit by climate change.
Speaking to the Record, the Nationalist minister added Scotland is “held back” from playing a bigger role in the global warming fight given it doesn’t control key areas like energy policy and foreign affairs.
Her remarks come after top Tory Lord David Frost - Boris Johnson’s former chief Brexit negotiator - sparked fury by claiming Scottish devolution should go into “reverse”.
Nats chiefs have long accused the Conservatives of plotting a “power grab” on Holyrood.
The Clydesdale MSP - promoted to Cabinet by Humza Yousaf last month - was part of the Scottish Government’s delegation to COP27 in Egypt in November 2022, where a historic international loss and damage fund was agreed.
Under Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland was credited as helping to “break the taboo” on the issue at COP26 in Glasgow by committing cash to countries in the “Global South” most affected by climate disaster.
McAllan said she was worried Westminster’s move to “curtail” Holyrood’s outreach with other governments could have damaging repercussions.
She said: “It is completely unacceptable. We're known for pushing others in the international sphere - loss and damage was an excellent example of that.
“Albeit the Global South have been campaigning for this for three decades, we played a small but significant part by, at COP26, becoming the first nation to directly pledge funds for loss and damage…
“So much of that came on the back of international relationship development that we've had both with our counterparts throughout world governments, but equally with Global South campaigners.
“The idea that Scotland should be curtailed from doing that is completely unacceptable.”
It comes as the UK Government has also been accused of meddling in Scotland’s domestic affairs, including refusing to green-light Holyrood’s troubled bottle return recycling scheme.
Meanwhile, North Sea drilling remains reserved to Westminster - with Tory ministers set to decide whether to approve the huge Rosebank field planned off the coast of Shetland.
McAllan - the minister in charge of the “just transition” away from oil and gas to clean energy - refused to say if she thought the controversial Rosebank development should go ahead, but said it should be subject to strict green tests.
She added: “We're not just saying we want the powers and then putting our hands in the air and saying ‘we can't do anything about this’.
“We're calling for a four-nations approach to the development of these things so we can be actively involved.”
McAllan’s promotion has come despite a period of turmoil for the SNP over party finances - as she insisted new FM Yousaf is “doing great”. Asked if the Nationalists are imploding, she replied: “No.”
But the 30-year-old - who formerly worked as a special adviser to Sturgeon - admitted to frustrations that Yousaf’s new Programme for Government had been overshadowed by the ongoing police probe.
McAllan said: “Obviously, for example, when we produce something like the prospectus that we did last week, you want that to get the attention that it's due, because it's important issues that matter to the people of Scotland - the cost of living crisis, the NHS recovery.
“We're doing a huge amount of good work and I would like to see more of that be talked about if possible.”
Following Sturgeon’s shock resignation in February, then-environment minister McAllan had been considered a potential contender in the SNP leadership race until she publicly ruled herself out.
Asked if she would ever like to be first minister one day, McAllan said: “I've seen what that job is like up close, and it's not something that anyone should consider lightly, so just now, no.”
Pressed on if she might fancy the job sometime in the future, she laughed and replied: “Who knows? Not just now, certainly.”
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