Alex Cole-Hamilton said his party is a “long way” from backing the Scottish Government’s tax and spending plans for the coming year.
The leader of the Scottish Lib Dems has said he would vote down any Holyrood budget that contains spending on independence.
But 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.The SNP has 62 MSPs – three short of a majority – meaning the party will need support from opposition MSPs to pass its spending plans. 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.”Asked if he would vote against a budget that contained a penny on independence spending, Mr Hamilton said: “Yes, I would vote it down.”
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”.
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