THE SNP Government has warned it would be “unconscionable” if MSPs voted down the budget this week and added to the uncertainty caused by Brexit.
Finance Secretary Derek Mackay is expected to hold more talks with opposition parties today in the run-up to the first crunch vote on the 2019/20 budget due on Thursday.
However the government appears deadlocked in negotiations with the Scottish Greens, who are demanding a more generous budget for Scotland’s 32 councils.
The minority SNP administration has relied on the Green support top pass the last two budgets, and if the Greens don’t budge, it could imperil the government.
Labour, the LibDems and Tories say they will vote against the budget at Stage One.
Mr Mackay, whose SNP leadership hopes would be dashed by a budget defeat, discussed the situation with the Scottish cabinet on Tuesday morning.
He is expected to have a series of meetings over the coming 48 hours.
After the cabinet, the First Minister’s official spokesman said: “We’re intent on getting a deal done. It’s imperative that we do see progress on the budget.
“At a time like just now, when we have the maximum amount of Brexit uncertainty, it would be unconscionable for parliament to vote down the budget.”
He added: “It’s for other parties to justify how they may vote against the budget. We’re always optimistic. There’s the potential for agreement to be reached, but we’re not there yet.”
He said people across Scotland would be astonished if opposition parties “play political games in a way that jeopardised frontline funding for schools, hospitals and everything else.
“We now have substantial taxation responsibilities, and there’s a tax resolution to be passed as well. So to enable taxes to be properly collected, this has to go through.
“With that in mind, and the very, very real concern over funding for public services, ordinary people would be absolutely astonished if a solution wasn’t found.”
Asked if the government was threatening an election if the budget was voted down - as happened in 2009 after an initial attempt - he did not repeat the threat of a decade ago.
“We are not talking about an election, we’re talking about getting the budget passed.”
The final disagreement with the Greens is understood to be about the ring-fencing of local government funding, which restricts how councils can spend around £500m.
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