Voters think SNP 'has lost the plot' claims former minister as tensions with Greens rise

Voters think the SNP "has lost the plot a bit" as a result of its powersharing deal with the Greens, a veteran Nationalist has warned.

Alex Neil - who served as a minister under both Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon - said it would benefit both parties if the Bute House Agreement signed in 2021 now came to an end.

Green members are furious after the Scottish Government last week ditched a key target to reduce carbon emissions by 2030.

They have now forced an extraordinary general meeting of the party next month which will vote on whether the powersharing deal with the SNP should continue.

Neil, a former SNP MSP, today laid the blame for much of the Nationalists' woes at the door of the Greens.

He told BBC Radio Scotland that voters now think the SNP has “lost the plot a bit”.

Neil claimed the co-operation agreement had resulted in the Greens having “got far, far more influence in dictating policy – much more than they should be”.

The former health secretary added the “Greens seem to be dominating” in government and “the SNP seems to just be accepting anything that the Greens propose no matter how electorally unpopular it is”.

He branded that “really bad news for the SNP”, adding: “I think it would be much healthier politically for both parties if we went our own separate ways in terms of coalition.”

He accused the Greens of having forced through cuts of £200 million to the Scottish Government’s housing budget, saying they had insisted reductions be made elsewhere to protect spending on active travel.

Neil said: “We have seen £200 million cuts from the housing budget so that the Greens can protect what is called the active travel budget, which is basically new cycle lanes that are often not wanted and not needed.

“In my view, housing is a far, far higher priority than cycle lanes but the Greens would not agree to cut the active travel budget so we could keep the housing budget intact.”

He insisted the SNP could “retrieve a lot of the situation” if the party “changed direction”, with the former health secretary adding: “One of the ways in which we can change direction and send a more positive message out to our own voters is by ditching the coalition with the Greens.

“I think that overnight would actually help our situation and help us to turn round the polls.

“I honestly believe people are not enthusiastic about Labour, they are only voting for them because they think we have lost the plot a bit.”

Jackie Baillie, Scottish Labour deputy leader, said: "The crisis in the SNP-Green government is only deepening with this latest broadside from an SNP grandee against the Bute House Agreement.

"The fact of the matter is that Humza Yousaf is losing control over his government and rank and file Green members are now realising that they have been used as a human shield for SNP failure.

"This disastrous SNP-Green government is failing our economy, our public services and our country. "

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