Swinney urges ‘good faith’ from other parties in Budget talks

John Swinney says his upcoming Budget will contain proposals advocated by other political parties, urging opponents to work with him in “good faith”.

The First Minister is understood to be meeting other parties ahead of his Budget being published on Wednesday afternoon.

As the SNP is in a minority in the Scottish Parliament, it will need to seek help from others in passing the annual Budget Bill.

During a visit to the Vintage Vibes charity in Newhaven, Edinburgh, on Tuesday, the First Minister was asked if he would call opposition parties’ bluff by seeking an early Holyrood election if they block his Budget plans.

I hope those proposals will be welcomed with good faith

He told journalists: “We’re going into this Budget process in good faith.

“The Government will set out tomorrow a Budget which is a product of an extensive amount of dialogue and discussion with all political parties.

“But also with multiple stakeholders in Scotland, in the business community, in local government and in the third sector.”

He said the Government has listened carefully to other parties and groups, adding: “Some of those proposals are proposals I’ve heard argued for publicly by other political parties.

“I hope those proposals will be welcomed with good faith by other political parties and that we do what we’ve all got to do within the Scottish Parliament, which is to work together to secure a Budget that can meet the needs of the people of Scotland.”

Any potential Budget deal would likely be with one of Holyrood’s two smaller parties – the Greens or Scottish Liberal Democrats.

On Tuesday, the Scottish Greens said funding for climate projects and council budgets would be their “red lines”.

Scots want to see John Swinney and the SNP showing some common sense for a change in this week’s Budget

The Lib Dems have said they cannot back any Budget which contains money for Scottish independence preparations.

Vintage Vibes is an organisation which supports older people by tackling social isolation and loneliness through the projects it delivers.

A UK Government spokesperson said: “The Chancellor’s Budget fixed the foundations of the UK economy and delivered change for working people in Scotland, protecting their payslips from higher taxes while delivering more money than ever before for Scotland’s public services.

“People in Scotland would rightly expect the Scottish Government to use its record £47.7 billion settlement to deliver on their priorities, including creating good jobs and making people in Scotland better off.”

Scottish Conservative finance spokesman Craig Hoy said: “Scots want to see John Swinney and the SNP showing some common sense for a change in this week’s Budget.

“They should start by undoing the damage of their tax rises which have punished hard-working people and struggling businesses.

“The Scottish Conservatives have outlined our bold and ambitious tax proposals.”

Among the Tories’ asks for a Budget deal are ditching the 20p and 21p rate of tax and implementing rates relief for leisure, hospitality and tourism businesses that would mean restaurants and pubs pay nothing.