Nicola Sturgeon has pledged to build “progressive” alliances to prop up her SNP minority Government and rebuild the case for Scottish independence alongside her “defining mission” to improve education.
Scotland’s First Minister said there is a “clear progressive majority” in Holyrood, while independence remains “a position backed by a majority of MSPs”, as she set out her programme for Government at Holyrood after being reduced to a minority administration at the Scottish election.
She pledged to make widening access to education Scotland’s key mission.
But the Scottish Conservatives, now Holyrood’s second largest party, warned Scotland’s progressive parties against “tax raids born of envy”, and attacked the “three amigos” in Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Greens for proposing tax rises.
Scottish Labour questioned the SNP’s progressive credentials, accusing it of “cynicism” by attacking Tory austerity in Westminster when ministers could reverse it at Holyrood.
The Scottish Greens attacked the SNP’s plan to scrap air passenger duty, and the Lib Dems called for investment in mental health, GPs and education.
Ms Sturgeon said a key early priority will be to bring parties together to defend Scotland’s place in the EU.
She also pledged to “continue to build the case for Scotland to become independent” – insisting this is “a position backed by a majority of MSPs in this chamber” because the six Green MSPs are also in favour of taking Scotland out of the UK.
But she stressed: “Scotland will only become independent if and when a majority of the people are persuaded, and we also know that our job is to govern, at all times, for all the people of this country.”
Ms Sturgeon said she would consider ideas from other parties – notably the Greens’ suggestion of a young carers’ allowance and Labour proposals to expand the minor ailments service.
She pledged to build alliances to fight “unfair or regressive Westminster policies such as continued austerity, the renewal of Trident or attempts to undermine human and trade union rights”, but she will not “allow the search for consensus to result in inertia or in the lowest common denominator for action”.
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said the Government has “enough to be getting on with” other than relaunching its independence campaign.
She said: “The test for us when deciding whether to support or oppose this Government will be whether we are helping or hindering growth.
“We will call out short-sighted fixes or tax raids born of envy rather than common sense.”
She added: “The three amigos leading the Greens, Labour and the Lib Dems are ganging up to form a new high tax alliance… if you want to keep charging up the valley of death – please, be my guest.
“But to the Scottish Government, I say in all seriousness: there is no long-term future in a policy direction which will only suck enterprise out of Scotland.”
Labour leader Kezia Dugdale name-checked singer David Bowie, former US president John F Kennedy and a robot called Baxter in her appeal for tax rises to invest in education.
“We would ask the richest 1% to pay their fair share so that we can educate our young people and prepare them for the future,” she said.
“That is not a tax grab, that is not the politics of envy in Ruth Davidson’s words, that is a question of fairness, it is an economic necessity.”
Green co-convener Patrick Harvie said: “The SNP may come to feel naturally entitled to propose its programme, but without a majority it will need to convince, it will need to compromise and it will need to be willing to give ground.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said: “The SNP have lost their majority. You wouldn’t think it from the statement that was made. I think it’s clear we need to recognise that and that the SNP need to reach out across the chamber.
“And it will need more than a couple of references to policies from other parties.”
