SNP Budget Battles: Caught Between Independence Dreams and Real-World Demands
The SNP faces a high-stakes political balancing act this year as they try to pass a budget with a minority government. After years of enjoying dominance at Holyrood, the party is now at the mercy of opposition parties whose demands are not just heavy, they are diametrically opposed. The Scottish Greens want more spending on independence preparations, while the Liberal Democrats have made it clear they will not support any budget that includes such allocations.
For the SNP, this is not just a tough challenge. It is a mess of their own making. Losing their majority after internal divisions has left them scrambling to find allies in a Parliament filled with sceptics and critics. Now, as Finance Secretary Shona Robison prepares to unveil the budget on 4 December, the SNP faces an almost impossible juggling act.
The Liberal Democrats, led by Alex Cole-Hamilton, are taking a pragmatic but hardline stance. While they are willing to negotiate, they have laid out a series of demands that pull the SNP in one direction, away from independence and toward fixing Scotland’s immediate crises.
Cole-Hamilton has criticised the SNP for years of financial mismanagement, pointing to cuts in housing, mental health services, and addiction programmes. These are areas where the Lib Dems want to see serious investment. Cole-Hamilton has also made it clear that his party will not support any budget that allocates funds to preparations for independence.
“Make no mistake, we are on the up,” he told his party conference recently, warning the SNP that they would have to “move mountains” to win Liberal Democrat support. For Cole-Hamilton, the priority is addressing Scotland’s current problems, not pursuing what he sees as the SNP’s ideological obsession with independence.
On the other side of the spectrum are the Scottish Greens, who have been a more consistent partner to the SNP in recent years. But even they are drawing a line in the sand over this budget. Their main demand? That the SNP maintain, or even increase, the funding allocated to independence preparations.
Ross Greer, the Greens’ finance spokesperson, has warned that his party will not support a budget that bows to Lib Dem demands on this issue. For the Greens, Scotland’s independence is not just a long-term goal but an urgent priority, especially given the current political climate at Westminster.
“It is vital that the Scottish Government continues to build a detailed and inspiring case for independence,” Greer said. He added that conceding on this point would not only cost the SNP the Greens’ support but would also alienate the wider Yes movement.
This puts the SNP in a bind. If they yield to the Greens, they risk alienating the Lib Dems entirely. But if they capitulate to the Lib Dems, they could destroy their relationship with the Greens, a party that has been one of their few consistent allies.
The real problem for the SNP is that the demands of these two potential allies are not just different, they are polar opposites. The Lib Dems want independence preparations scrapped entirely, while the Greens see those preparations as non-negotiable. Trying to satisfy both parties is like trying to mix oil and water.
This dilemma leaves the SNP with three unpalatable options:
Side with the Greens: They could push forward with funding for independence, but that would guarantee losing the Lib Dems’ support, making it almost impossible to pass the budget.
Side with the Lib Dems: Cutting independence spending might win over the Lib Dems but would alienate the Greens, potentially fracturing what remains of the pro-independence coalition.
Unlikely Bed Fellows: The SNP could try to craft a left field deal with either Labour or even possibly the Tories, definatly the least likely but if they can’t reconcile with their former friends, The Greens, or friends of convenience, The Lib Dems, they might have no choice.
This political deadlock is not just an unfortunate coincidence, it is the direct result of the SNP’s own mistakes. Once a dominant force in Scottish politics, the SNP lost its majority due to internal divisions and strategic missteps. The leadership turmoil following Nicola Sturgeon’s departure further weakened the party’s position, leaving it vulnerable in a Parliament now filled with sceptics and critics.
By failing to maintain their majority, the SNP has put themselves in a position where they are no longer setting the agenda. Instead, they are forced to negotiate with opposition parties that are all too happy to exploit their weakened state.
This year’s budget negotiations highlight a deeper problem for the SNP: their inability to bridge the gap between their ideological goals and the practical realities of governing. Scotland faces pressing issues, from a housing crisis to mental health challenges to one of the worst drug mortality rates in the world. Yet the SNP’s focus on independence continues to overshadow these immediate concerns.
The Liberal Democrats are demanding a budget that prioritises practical solutions to these problems, while the Greens are pushing for a long-term vision of independence. Both positions have supporters, but the SNP’s inability to satisfy either side is a reflection of their broader governance struggles.
The SNP has little time left to find a solution. The stakes are high, not just for the party but for Scotland as a whole. A failure to pass the budget would be a political disaster, but compromising too much risks alienating key allies and further eroding the SNP’s already fragile position.
In many ways, this is a problem of the SNP’s own making. By losing their majority and allowing internal divisions to fester, they have handed power to opposition parties eager to impose their own agendas. For a party that once dominated Scottish politics, this is a humbling, and entirely avoidable, fall from grace.
Passing a budget in these circumstances will require not just political skill but a willingness to make tough choices. The question is whether the SNP is up to the challenge, or whether they will once again find themselves stuck between competing demands they simply cannot reconcile.
