Patrick Harvie says Greens '˜can't support' SNP's budget at the moment

Scottish Green Party co-convener Patrick Harvie has said his party is unable to support the Scottish Government's budget at this stage.

Green co-convener Patrick Harvie

Speaking on Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme, Mr Harvie said the Greens wanted to see Finance Secretary Derek Mackay embrace a more progressive tax regime.

He also criticised cuts planned to council services.

As Finance Secretary of a minority government, Mr Mackay requires some opposition support to get his budget through Holyrood. Given that the SNP and the Greens both favour Scottish independence, Mr Mackay might have expected a sympathetic hearing from Mr Harvie for his plans.

But the Green co-convener said the budget was not progressive enough.

Mr Harvie said: “They could change the relationship between the basic rate – reduce the first half of it and increase the second half of it so that it is only the high earners that pay a bit more.

“They [Scottish government] could change the threshold in the higher rate. They are proposing to increase that, not by as much as the UK, but still increasing it - that represents a tax cut for high earners.”

The Green politician also attacked cuts to local authority budgets.

“I don’t think we could support a budget that has such astonishing cuts to local authority services,” he added.

Mr Harvie also suggested Scotland could revisit the independence question before the UK leaves the EU.

“I think a reasonable guess would be that if Scotland chooses to have this question again - if the UK digs its heels in and refuses to respect the way Scotland voted to remain in the EU - then maybe some point around half way mark of the two year Brexit negotiation or not long after the half way mark.”

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