Nicola sturgeon's deal with 'madcap' greens 'will damage indyref2 support'

Simon Johnson Scottish Political Editor 22 August 2021 9:30pm BST Nicola Sturgeon's power-sharing deal threatens to damage support for independence thanks to the inclusion of

"mad-cap" Scottish Green policies on cutting road building and North Sea oil, one of her former ministers has warned. Alex Neil, a former Health Secretary, told the Telegraph that

the SNP-Green deal would have no impact on the First Minister's chances of persuading Boris Johnson to drop his opposition to a second independence referendum. Instead he warned that

the Greens "forcing" the SNP to sign up to their "damaging" transport and energy policies in the agreement could backfire on the independence campaign. Mr Neil, who stood

down as an MSP at May's Holyrood election, said the adoption of policies that voters consider "damaging to their interest" would result in both the SNP and the independence

campaign losing support. In particular, he highlighted a pledge in a shared policy programme to cut spending on new roads, which stated: "We will not build road infrastructure to cater

for forecast unconstrained increases in traffic volumes." He also raised concerns about a section backing a speedy transition away from North Sea oil and gas that is "fast enough

to protect the planet", with Mr Neil warning that tens of thousands of highly-paid workers in the sector will "turn on us" if their jobs are not replaced. At a joint press

conference on Friday, the two Scottish Green co-leaders praised Ms Sturgeon for a "significant change of direction" over her previous support for oil and gas after she urged the

Prime Minister to think again about granting a licence for the huge new Cambo oil field near Shetland. But Mr Neil said: "It does not make sense environmentally or economically to get

oil from the Middle East when it's available on our doorstep in the North Sea." Patrick Harvie, one of the Greens' co-leaders, said yesterday he did not believe the SNP would

have changed its position over Cambo if it had not been in negotiations with his party. He said that in recent history there would have been "celebration" among the SNP at the idea

of new extraction of oil and gas in the North Sea, which formed a major part of the Yes campaign's economic case for separation in the 2014 referendum. "This is not the end of the

journey, but it's a really important first step and it's happening because Greens are in there pushing for it," he said. Under the deal, which falls short of a full

coalition, the eight Green MSPs signed up to the bulk of the SNP government's policy agenda. including an independence referendum. In return they will get two junior ministers. But they

can continue to criticise the SNP government in eight exempted areas, with the two Green leaders confirming at the press conference that they do not believe that economic growth is not a

"sensible measure" of progress. At the same event Ms Sturgeon said the fact she now leads a majority government, after she fell short of that target in May's Holyrood

election, meant it was "impossible" for Boris Johnson to ignore her demands for another separation vote. The SNP's ruling national executive committee voted unanimously on

Saturday to back the deal and it will go to Green members for approval next Saturday. 'COMMON SENSE MUST PREVAIL' Mr Neil, who served in both Alex Salmond and Ms Sturgeon's

governments, said he was not opposed to a deal in principle "but it has to be one where common sense prevails and there are aspects where Green policy is damaging to the economy and

environment." He said: "The danger is we will lose more votes as a result of these mad-cap policies than we will win. Going ahead with some of these daft policies the Greens are

forcing on us is going to lose us more votes than anything we gain. "If the electorate think we're pursuing policies that are damaging to their interests then we are going to lose

support. And if that means there's no progress on independence then clearly that's going to be problematic." As an example, Mr Neil warned there would be a voter backlash in

his former Airdrie and Shotts constituency if improvements were not made to the A77 trunk road. He also said it would be "economic madness" not to complete upgrades to the A9 and

A96. Scottish voters will not change their view on independence one way or the other simply because the Greens have joined the government, he added. But sources close to Ms Sturgeon argued

that the two pro-independence parties being in power together would mean a formal request to the Prime Minister would carry more weight with the UK Government and Scottish voters.