A NEW transport strategy drawn up by the SNP Government has been dismissed as “meaningless drivel”.

The Scottish Greens sharply criticised the plans, which came on the eve of the publication of the Scottish Budget later today.

The Greens have helped the minority SNP administration pass its last three tax and spending plans.

Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said the new “national transport strategy” presents a "compelling vision for the future of transport in Scotland over the next 20 years".

It seeks to outline the role of transport in reducing inequalities, tackling the climate emergency and helping to deliver economic growth while improving health and wellbeing.

But Scottish Greens transport spokesman John Finnie said it could barely be described as a strategy at all. He said: “Transport emissions are playing a significant role in our climate and public health emergencies.

“This document may acknowledge that, but without any real strategy to lower them it is meaningless drivel."

Conservative MSP Jamie Greene said the strategy was "alarmingly bereft of detail".

And Transform Scotland, which campaigns for more sustainable transport, was also critical, insisting there was "nothing of substance" to reduce emissions.

The Scottish Government said more than 60 organisations and 6,500 individuals had made a contribution to the document.

The transport sector is responsible for 37 per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions.

Mr Matheson told Holyrood: "The strategy recognises the biggest moral endeavour of our times in addressing the global climate emergency. There is a responsibility for us all to act, but it is important that Government leads from the front and by example."

He accepted the "need to make sure there are tangible, very specific measures which are taken forward", but said these will be included in a separate delivery plan being published this summer.

Elsewhere, he said the Scottish Government is bringing forward long-term funding for bus infrastructure of more than half a billion pounds and has committed to decarbonising the railways by 2035.