THE Deputy First Minister has confirmed his party are willing to work with others following the deal with the Scottish Greens.
John Swinney told the party conference today that they were not “closing the door” on other parties, but warned those who continued to “oppose everything” were going to be left behind.
The MSP also criticised the Conservatives handling of Brexit, and warned that the country faces a hard winter due to labour shortages and food supply chain problems.
In his speech, Mr Swinney explained that “by reaching agreement with the Greens, we are not closing the door to working with other parties.”
He continued: “If they want to join us in delivering a more open, more constructive, more European style of politics, our door is open.
“But if they want to continue their role as negative naysayers, the parties that oppose everything, but offer nothing then they will quite simply continue to be left behind.
“Through our agreement with the Greens we are demonstrating that a new, constructive, collaborative politics is possible.
“That openness and inclusiveness is in stark contrast to the rancour and divisiveness we see on show day in and day out at Westminster.”
Mr Swinney said Boris Johnson and Michael Gove were mounting a “concerted effort” to “dismantle devolution”, adding: “ When they said they wanted to take back control, they didn’t just mean from Brussels, they also meant from Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast.”
He said they were “removing powers from our parliament and bypassing the Barnet formula on funding decisions” and cited a comment by Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford, who suggested “too often the UK Government acts in a aggressively unilateral way.”
Mr Swinney then warned about the impacts of Brexot, saying: “There is perhaps no greater example of how the Union has failed Scotland than the sorry saga of Brexit.
“Despite the warnings, despite it being against will of the people of Scotland, and in the grip of a pandemic, the Tories pressed ahead with the hardest of breaks.
“Boris Johnson once spoke of Brexit and the ‘sunlit meadows beyond’, but the reality he has delivered is food rotting in our fields because there is no one there to pick it.”
He said the UK Government’s “draconian” action on immigration from the EU “has been a disaster for the economy” across the UK, and continued: “Perhaps the most obvious example is the empty shelves in our supermarkets.”
Mr Swinney warned that “every sector will feel the chill wind brought on by Brexit, and there is no end in sight.”
He added: “The Tories are unwilling and unable to take the simple steps required to fix the problem they themselves have created.
“The UK is facing a winter of discontent and Westminster isn’t working.”
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