Thursday, February 5, 2009

The Green 'no' was logical and inevitable

I don't want to fall into the classic AM2/Scottish Unionist trap of according undue significance to the vagaries of 'Cybernat opinion', but I must admit as an SNP supporter I am just a little troubled at the venom being directed at the Greens for voting against the budget. Of course, there's a fair bit of venom coming in the other direction too, but the bottom line is that we need the Greens every bit as much as they need us, so cool heads are called for on all sides.

Whatever we might think about the Greens' decision last Wednesday, once they had voted that way a second 'no' was logical and inevitable - given that they were being presented with a package that was actually slightly inferior to the first time round. But by the same token Green supporters have to recognise that John Swinney's decision to water down the deal was equally inevitable - because the defeat last week forced him to do deals with the other opposition parties, and at the end of the day there is only a fixed sum of money to go round.

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