SNP fault lines grow

The travails of the Scottish National Party government continue apace. Ever since the departure of Nicola Sturgeon as leader a year ago, the separatists have struggled to maintain the dominance of the past decade. The last Holyrood elections saw the SNP lose their outright majority and necessitated a pact with the Greens. But this is now under threat after carbon reduction targets were watered down by Scottish ministers.

The Scottish Green Party is now to hold an extraordinary general meeting to vote on whether to remain in coalition with the SNP. Its leaders said matters had “come to a head”, though grassroots members will be urged to keep the deal going.

If their support is withdrawn, the SNP has vowed to carry on as a minority administration. The turmoil in the party was enhanced last week when Peter Murrell, the party’s former chief executive and husband of Ms Sturgeon, was charged with embezzling money from its funds.

These political tussles risk disguising a more fundamental issue: the unrealistic nature of environmental policies blithely announced by politicians with little idea how they can be achieved. The Scottish target of a 75 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030 has now been deemed “out of reach” by the SNP, as if it ever was feasible. It has been replaced by the aim of net zero emissions by 2045, but even this looks unlikely. Moreover, net targets mean exporting emissions to other countries, defeating the object of helping reduce carbon in the atmosphere.

There is little point in the Scottish Greens fulminating at the change of a policy that could not be achieved. It is emblematic of an other-worldly approach to public policy-making that demonstrates they are unfit to govern.