The public will “welcome” the First Minister’s “transparency” in his efforts to lock out Reform UK at Holyrood, John Swinney has said.
The First Minister said he would be seeking talks with the leaders of all political parties in Holyrood in a bid to foster better relations, but Lord Malcolm Offord’s fledgling party would be snubbed.
Mr Swinney wrote to the leaders of the other parties in Holyrood following last week’s election as he touted a Government he heads as operating “on a basis of cross-party co-operation”.
Speaking to the Press Association during a visit to the Western General Infirmary in Edinburgh, Mr Swinney said: “I think I’ve just got to be clear with the public and just set it out the way it is.
“I think the public will welcome transparency and openness from the First Minister, making it clear that what I said during the election – that I wouldn’t co-operate or collaborate with Reform – is what I’m going to do after the election.
“There’s no surprise about it, there’s no news announcement that’s been made, I’m just setting out, today, what I’ve said before the election.”
The First Minister’s team circulated a press release on Monday with comments from Mr Swinney reiterating his opposition to working with Reform.
Mr Swinney also did not rule out not backing a member’s Bill from Reform, regardless of its aims.
“Parliamentary procedures are of their own identity, I, of course, will answer parliamentary questions from Reform members,” he said.
“I will, of course, respond to members’ debates that come forward.
“But what I won’t do is engage in political co-operation and collaboration with Reform – I won’t have anything to do with it.”
Mr Swinney’s visit to the Edinburgh-based hospital, he said, was to see “some of the great strengths in the National Health Service”.
“It also illustrates my determination to make sure that, in every respect, we’re doing all that we can to improve the performance and the effectiveness of the National Health Service,” he said.
Mr Swinney remains the First Minister but faces a vote in Holyrood next week to officially re-elect him to the post, though he is not expected to face a great deal of difficulty in securing the required votes.
Speaking to the BBC, Reform UK Scotland’s deputy leader Thomas Kerr accused the First Minister of “political posturing”.
“We’ve not even stepped foot in the chamber yet,” he said.
“These are politicians who are doing political posturing before we’ve even stepped foot in the chambers of the Holyrood Parliament.
“So, I think it’s ridiculous for them, it’s anti-democratic, we’ve seen this last year when John Swinney held his anti-democratic summit, it backfired on him then… this will backfire on him.”
Gillian Mackay, the co-leader of the Scottish Greens, who won 15 seats in Thursday’s election, said: “It’s important that parties work together to address the cost-of-living crisis and the other huge challenges that we face.
“The people of Scotland didn’t elect us to shout from the sidelines; it was to turn Green priorities into action.
“The Scottish Greens will work constructively, like we always have. That is how we delivered free bus travel for young people, ended peak rail fares and wiped out school meal debt.
“That is the same approach that we will take in the years ahead so that we can cut the cost of transport, lower bills and fix a broken childcare system.”
Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay described the move as a “self-serving PR stunt” by the First Minister.
“If he was genuinely seeking ‘common ground’, he wouldn’t be renewing his push for another divisive independence referendum,” he said.
“Swinney didn’t achieve his self-imposed ‘mandate’ of an SNP majority, so now he’s shamefully moving the goalposts.
“If other party leaders want to fall into this chancer’s trap, that’s up to them – but I won’t.”
Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said parties had to “find common ground where it exists”.
“In due course, there will be time to discuss these matters, but the ink is barely even dry on the results and John Swinney has not been reappointed as First Minister yet,” he said.
“We need the parliament to focus on fixing our NHS, addressing the cost of living crisis, and getting Scottish education back to its best.
“Equipped with the extra votes and extra seats which people have entrusted to us, and using our more powerful position in this new parliament, our fight for change with fairness at its heart starts right now.”
The invitation to the other party leaders comes after the First Minister was greeted at the Scottish Government’s base at St Andrew’s House in Edinburgh by the country’s top civil servant, Permanent Secretary Joe Griffin.
More than 100 civil servants applauded in the lobby of the building as the First Minister arrived on Monday morning.
