John Swinney fails to rule out snap Holyrood election as budget crisis looms

Government insiders believes the chances of an early Holyrood are low - but the idea can't be ruled out as the First Minister may struggle to win support for his draft Budget.

John Swinney has not ruled out a snap election in Scotland if his budget fails to pass at Holyrood. The SNP currently runs a minority administration, needing just two votes from opposition MSPs to pass legislation.

But the Scottish Government's draft budget in December is expected to require swingeing cuts and it is unclear if opposition support will be provided.

In recent years, the Scottish Greens have been relied on to provide the necessary votes but the relationship between the two parties broke down when Humza Yousaf kicked them out of Government.

If Swinney's Government fails to pass its budget, it could spark a chain of events which will lead to an early Holyrood election.

Appearing on the BBC's Political Thinking podcast, the SNP 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. 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, Swinney said, "but what I think they expect politicians to do in the interim is to get on with taking the decision to govern".

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Asked if his comments were a message to the Greens, 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."

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