Greens acting the part as protesters

IT IS fortunate Derek Mackay’s Budget saw increased support for Creative Scotland and the arts because the Scottish Greens sure could use some lessons in method acting.

The faux outrage of the Green crew over the cuts to council services and their swift, if inadvertent, capitulation by naming a price of £150million for their six votes in parliament fools no one.

Patrick Harvie and his crew have set the dramatic bar very low for their support to get the SNP Budget through.

Local government, where the biggest impact on cuts to services to the elderly and vulnerable will be felt, needs £545million just to stand still – and a lot more if the SNP bragging about breaking the one per cent public sector cap is to be reality.

The Greens, comfortable in their middle class support base and their own built-in sanctimoniousness, will not worry too much about how budgets impact on council cleaners, roadmen, administrators and care workers who keep public services running.

Asking for £150million will give the Greens the appearance of protest but the suspicion lingers that whatever the talks produce will be about the sum that Mackay has set aside for the purpose.

The Greens, this year like last year, are in the SNP’s pocket. At least they are consistent, which is one of the basic attributes of TV acting when frequent re-takes are needed.

Maybe by next year the Greens will have learned their lines better.

Their role in this budget production is wooden, predictable and very unconvincing.