'Vote Yes' for SNP/Green deal, Nicola Sturgeon tells party members

In a video message attached to a digital ballot sent to members, Nicola Sturgeon urged SNP members to back a deal with the Scottish Greens to “cement the pro-independence majority at Holyrood”.

The SNP’s national executive committee has already rubber stamped the deal, but members are being given the chance for a consultative vote on the matter.

First Minister and SNP party leader Nicola Sturgeon has urged her party members to back the deal with the Greens.

The agreement, which was published last week, will see co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater become ministers in the Scottish Government, taking on two wide-ranging portfolios.

They will include decarbonisation of transport and a new deal for tenants, and a green skills and industry focus portfolio.

Scottish Green members will also be asked to vote on the deal at the end of this week, which is the final hurdle before it comes into force.

In a video to members launching the survey, the First Minister put the push for another independence referendum front and centre.

She said: “I’m asking you to vote yes [on the deal with the Greens].

“By doing so, you will help me cement the pro-independence majority at Holyrood.

“With your support, the SNP and the Greens will work together to accelerate progress towards independence, address the climate emergency, tackle poverty and reform public services.

“This is about doing politics better – working together to build a greener, fairer independent Scotland, so let’s get on with that job.

“As always, I am asking you to vote yes.”

The co-operation agreement created a shared policy platform agreed by both sides that would be pursued by the Scottish Government, with independence listed as the first point in the 51-page document.

The two parties agreed to pursue another vote on independence in the first half of the parliamentary term, meaning before the end of 2023, if the threat of coronavirus had subsided.

On Twitter, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Douglas Ross, attacked the deal, stating: “Confirmation, as if it was necessary, that this nationalist coalition is all about pushing to split up the country.”

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