John Swinney to stress 'benefits of collaboration' in speech

John Swinney will emphasise the benefits of collaboration and consensus when he delivers a speech in Edinburgh on Wednesday morning.

The First Minister’s remarks come ahead of the Scottish Budget being published next week.

The SNP will need to seek support from another party in order to pass its spending and tax plans for the next financial year.

Mr Swinney will elaborate on his priorities in government during his speech in Edinburgh, though he is not expected to set out specific policy announcements ahead of the Budget.

He is expected to say: “Scotland is best served when we collaborate, when we build consensus and work together across sectors, across disciplines and across cultures.

“The need to do so has never been more urgent. For the issues we face now are complex, pervasive and entrenched – and they are mounting.”

Mentioning challenges such as Brexit and coronavirus, Mr Swinney will add: “The temptation then arises to throw money and strategies at a problem, or simply to find someone to blame for it, because the hard work of finding true consensus, of peer reviewing ideas in good faith, can feel unrealistic in our increasingly polarised reality.

“We must maintain enough hope and energy to work together, to understand the root causes and the complexity of problems and to find the right solutions.

“These solutions may not always be quick or easy – but that does not make them any less necessary.

“This is the approach that people should expect from a Swinney government.”

He will also stress the need for government to be close to the communities it serves, describing it as “government from the ground up”.

Scottish Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie said her party “will always work constructively to deliver for the people of Scotland, but the truth is the SNP is out of ideas”.

She added: “With almost one in six Scots stuck on an NHS waiting list, our schools falling down the international league tables and our justice system in turmoil, Scots need more than soundbites from the First Minister.

“Our country needs a change in direction and, frankly, a change in government.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat MSP Willie Rennie said: “Over the last 17 years SNP ministers have castigated opponents and shifted blame to everyone else, so they will have to go some to convince us they are now imbued with consensus and compromise.

“The SNP often reach out for support when they are in trouble and that’s certainly true now. There is a lot to fix with a sluggish economy, an NHS with huge waits, a social care sector on its knees and an education system under great stress.

“We will work in good faith because we do need to pass a Budget but the SNP will need to make an offer that is big enough to make it possible for us to support.”

Shadow finance secretary and Conservative MSP Craig Hoy said: “John Swinney must think Scots are buttoned up the back.

“His sudden conversion to trying to create consensus in Parliament is rich considering he has been at the heart of a SNP government who have divided Scotland for the past 17 years.

“The SNP leader also appears to have discovered new parts of the country which have been completely abandoned by his party.

“If John Swinney is really focused on growing Scotland’s economy, then this Budget must herald a change in approach from his high-tax, high-spend agenda.”

He added: “The Scottish Conservatives have outlined our common sense Budget proposals as an alternative to the cosy Holyrood left-wing consensus, which will start to undo the damage of SNP tax rises and reward aspirational workers and businesses across Scotland.”