I’ll vote down a budget with penny of independence spending, says Cole-Hamilton

The leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats has said he would vote down any Holyrood budget that contains spending on independence.

Alex Cole-Hamilton said he would instruct his MSPs to vote against a budget that included as little as a penny on the constitution.

He said his party is a “long way” from backing the Scottish Government’s tax and spending plans for the coming year.

But Mr Cole-Hamilton said that the SNP governing as a minority administration means it is “incumbent on all parties to try and forge a way ahead” and pass a budget.

Finance Secretary Shona Robison will deliver the budget on December 4.

The SNP has 62 MSPs – three short of a majority – meaning the party will need support from opposition MSPs to pass its spending plans.

The party had previously relied on the Greens, which have seven, but that ended following the scrapping of the Bute House Agreement.

The Lib Dems have four MSPs in Holyrood making the party potential kingmakers in the budget.

I don't see a circumstance where any Liberal Democrat could vote for a budget that so clearly was spending money on the constitution

But Mr Cole-Hamilton said there were “fundamental problems” between the “ideologies and approach” taken by the SNP and Lib Dems.

He told the BBC’s Sunday Show: “The SNP will have to go a long way to persuade us that, whilst they may delete things like any independence spending from their budget, they won’t just go back to their old ways of spending all political oxygen on the constitution.”

Asked if independence spending was a red line for the Lib Dems, he told the programme: “I don’t see a circumstance where any Liberal Democrat could vote for a budget that so clearly was spending money on the constitution.”

He added: “I think that would be a massive misuse of public funds, even no matter how small.”

Asked if he would vote against a budget that contained a penny on independence spending, Mr Hamilton said: “Yes, I would vote it down.”

According to campaign group Scotland in Union, the Scottish Government has spent up to £3.5 million on independence since the 2021 Holyrood elections.

That includes spending on papers promoting the break up of the union, Humza Yousaf’s now-axed independence minister and his staff as well as the failed court battle on whether the Scottish Government is allowed to hold a constitutional referendum.

Mr Cole-Hamilton said he had met with the Scottish Government “on a couple of occasions” to discuss the budget, and added that the “direction of travel is reasonably positive”.

“But there is still a massive gulf between us,” he said, “and in large part, it’s down to the financial circumstances in which we find ourselves.”

The Scottish Greens have said they would vote against any budget that did not contain independence spending.

Ross Greer, the MSP leading the Greens’ negotiations with the Government, said he would be “deeply concerned” if ministers scrapped what he described as “modest spending” on the constitution.

He said: “The SNP must categorically rule out this cut. Conceding on this point would not only rule out the Scottish Greens’ voting for their budget proposals, it would destroy the wider independence movement’s trust in the Scottish Government.

“The Yes movement can always rely on the Scottish Greens’ support.

“I hope that the SNP is able to quickly reassure us all that the Government’s work towards our shared goal of an independent Scotland at the heart of the European Union will continue.”

First Minister John Swinney previously said he would work with all parties to pass this year’s budget and pointed out that most SNP budgets have required support from opposition MSPs.

The Scottish Government has been approached for comment.