Lib Dem opposition crumbles as Airborne Initiative is closed

• Scottish Executive escapes defeat on closing Airborne Initiative rehabilitation centre by two votes

• Liberal Democrat rebellion crumbles with 1 out of 16 MSPs voting against Executive

• Jack McConnell claims funding better spent on non-custodial schemes

• Critics claim centre was closed following embarrassing BBC documentary

Key quote

"[The Liberal Democrats] spineless capitulation in the face of an Executive that offered precisely nothing shames them" – Nicola Sturgeon, MSP

Story in full THE Scottish Executive last night narrowly avoided defeat in a vote over the future of the Airborne Initiative for persistent young offenders after a rebellion by the Liberal Democrats crumbled.

Only one of the Lib Dem group in the Parliament voted in favour of retaining the project, despite support for it in their last election manifesto.

An SNP amendment to a parliamentary motion called on ministers to reconsider the decision to withdraw funding from the initiative, which faces closure with the loss of 26 jobs.

Defeat was avoided by just two votes, after the Liberal Democrat MSPs - Donald Gorrie and Robert Brown - voted with the Executive, despite both of them earlier in the day speaking in favour of keeping Airborne running.

The SNP amendment fell by 63 votes to 61.

The narrow victory for the Executive came after ministers withdrew almost 600,000 of funding from the centre at Braidwood House, in Carluke, Lanarkshire, forcing it to close.

Critics believe the project was shut down after ministers were embarrassed by Chancers, a fly-on-the-wall documentary which showed inmates taking drugs and absconding. However, the Executive has insisted that the centre had failed to perform and that the decision was taken on the basis of critical social-work reports.

Last night, there was a furious reaction from opposition parties, led by Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP justice spokeswoman who proposed the amendment.

"Liberal Democrat MSPs have spent all week grandstanding in support of the initiative, but when the time came for them to stand up and be counted, they were nowhere to be seen," she said. "Their spineless capitulation in the face of an Executive that offered precisely nothing shames them."

Robin Harper, the leader of the Green Party, who led a parliamentary campaign to save the Airborne Initiative, added: "I am dismayed that after impressive speeches from Liberal Democrat MSPs, they allowed themselves to be coerced by the Executive into voting against a perfectly reasonable request to take another look at Airborne."

Jack McConnell, the First Minister, insisted there would be no reversal of the decision , saying it would be better spent on non-custodial schemes judged to deliver better value for money.

Keith Raffan, the only Lib Dem to vote against the Executive, insisted ministers had to keep the programme alive while MSPs could consider the issue fully.