THE SNP was last night preparing for a round of intense negotiations after the Conservatives insisted that they had not given the backing needed to get the Scottish Government's Budget through Parliament.
Annabel Goldie, the Scottish Conservative leader, reacted to suggestions that her party has become too close to the SNP by denying she had come to any agreement with Alex Salmond.
Goldie's remarks were the latest move in a round of horse-trading
that the parties will engage in over the next three weeks as the SNP Government attempts to steer the crucial legislation through Holyrood.
As the leader of a minority administration, Salmond requires support from at least one of the main opposition parties, giving rivals the chance to squeeze concessions out of the Government.
Government sources have suggested Salmond is confident he will be backed by the Tories and the Greens, ensuring his £33bn Budget is passed through Parliament – despite possible opposition from Labour and the Liberal Democrats.
Yesterday, Goldie responded to critics, who have suggested the Tories are not demanding enough from the Government in return for their support.
She said: "This must be a serious Budget to deal with Labour's recession. Our duty is to deliver real help to ease the pain of Gordon Brown's broken economy. However, contrary to the picture that has been painted so far, the Scottish Conservatives have made no deals and given no commitments."
Last year, Salmond threatened to resign and trigger an election if the SNP's first Budget failed to get support. This year, finance secretary John Swinney has repeated the threat, but the idea of going to the country during an economic crisis appears an unrealistic scenario.
Last year, the Tories voted with the Government after securing a commitment for 1,000 extra police officers and an acceleration of business rates cuts. This year, they are demanding a £10m-a-year guarantee that every state school pupil will be given a week of "outdoor adventure education" during their studies.
And it is understood that the Government is close to backing their plans for a new hospital bed-by-bed monitoring system to tackle hospital infections.
The most important demand from the Greens is a home insulation scheme that would cost £100m a year.
The Lib Dems appear to have already forced themselves to vote against the Government, having had their request for a 2p cut in income tax to stimulate the economy flatly turned down by the SNP.
Labour, the largest opposition party, has been keeping its cards close to its chest, but its shadow finance spokesman, Andy Kerr, has had two meetings with Swinney.
Labour wants Swinney to place more emphasis on saving jobs and creating new ones.
Sources within the party say that they are still far from satisfied with what is on offer, although they have been encouraged by the conciliatory language used by Swinney when he launched the Budget on Friday.
The SNP's opponents are now drawing up amendments that can be considered at the committee stage, which gets under way in 12 days after MSPs vote on the bill at stage I on Wednesday.
There will be room for manoeuvre right up until January 28 when the stage III version of the bill comes before Parliament for the last time.
