Scotsman Politics: John Swinney warns of disruption if opposition parties vote down Scottish Budget

John Swinney warns of disruption if opposition parties vote down Scottish Budget

Transcript

00:00Hello, I'm Alistair Grant, the Political Editor of the Scotsman. John Swinney, the First Minister,

00:06was making a speech in Edinburgh this morning in which he warned there would be a lot of

00:09disruption if opposition parties vote down the Scottish budget. He said that if the Scottish

00:14Parliament does not agree on spending plans by April 1st, by the start of the new financial

00:19year, then public services will not be properly funded. Now, the Scottish Government is due

00:24to set out its annual budget plans on December 4th next week, but the SNP has a minority

00:30in the Scottish Parliament, so it needs to seek support from outwith the party to get

00:35those budget plans over the line. It needs the support of opposition politicians. There's

00:40been a lot of talks going on in Holyrood. It's thought that the Liberal Democrats are

00:44the most likely to potentially back the budget in exchange for some of the things they want

00:48money to be spent on, but there's also talks going on with the Greens and with the others,

00:52although the Liberal Democrats and the Greens are much more likely to back it than the other

00:56parties in Holyrood. But John Swinney, as I say, giving a speech in Edinburgh this morning

01:01at the Royal Society of Edinburgh, very much focused on his overall vision for Scotland,

01:07the need for collaboration, but he also made some quite pointed remarks about the budget

01:11process, very much appealing for support from the opposition parties. He said that no political

01:17party is a mere bystander in this process. He said that opposition for opposition's

01:23sake is all well and good when governments have comfortable majorities, but put simply

01:28in the Scottish Parliament today, if there is no collaboration, there is no budget bill.

01:34Now, speaking to journalists after his speech, John Swinney did say that he and the SNP are

01:40ready for an election, an early election if it comes to that. Ultimately, if he can't

01:45get his budget plans through Holyrood, that could lead to the collapse of the Scottish

01:49government and a snap election, although that seems unlikely at this stage. And I think

01:53it's fair to say that there's not many political figures in Scotland that would welcome an

01:58election at the moment, certainly political parties in Holyrood. But this is definitely

02:03one to watch over the coming period. As I say, talks ongoing in Holyrood and the SNP,

02:09John Swinney needs support from somewhere to get their budget over the line.