First Minister John Swinney has not ruled out a snap election in Scotland if his budget fails to secure enough support to pass in Holyrood.
The SNP currently runs Scotland as a minority administration, needing just two votes from opposition MSPs to pass legislation.
But the Scottish Government’s budget this year – a draft of which will be published in December – is expected to require swingeing cuts to be made to public spending in response to financial pressures.
The Scottish Greens have helped the Government pass its budget in recent years (Jane Barlow/PA)
In recent years, the Scottish Greens have been relied upon to provide the necessary votes – in exchange for policy compromises – first as a sympathetic opposition party and latterly as a coalition partner.
But the relationship between the two parties has soured somewhat since the breakdown of the Bute House Agreement earlier this year and a series of policy shifts in the Scottish Government, meaning the Greens are no longer the certain partner ministers have come to know.
If the Scottish Government fails to pass its budget, it could spark a chain of events which will lead to an early Holyrood election – although it is unlikely political parties would want to go to the polls for fear of public backlash.
But appearing on the BBC’s Political Thinking podcast, the First Minister was asked if failing to pass his tax and spending plans would trigger a vote.
“It depends on the actions of other political parties,” he said.
The budget, he added, will be “sustainable” and will balance the books in Scotland.
But he continued: “You need 65 votes to pass a budget, we don’t have that number of votes in our party, so we’ve got to get others to vote for us.
“So we’ll work to create a set of propositions that will command support, but that puts as much emphasis on other political parties and what they’re prepared to support.”
The public know there will be a vote in 2026, Mr Swinney said, “but what I think they expect politicians to do in the interim is to get on with taking the decision to govern”.
Asked if his comments were a message to the Greens, Mr Swinney replied: “I think it’s a message to everybody, because there’s no hiding place for any political party.
“If we don’t have a budget in place on April 1, hospitals can’t get their budgets, schools can’t get their budgets, benefits can’t be paid, all sorts of things like that.”