SCOTTISH Conservative hopes of pushing through a vote of no confidence in both the Deputy First Minister and First Minister have been dealt a blow after the Greens suggested they would not have their backing.
Patrick Harvie, the Scottish Greens' co-leader, told BBC Good Morning Scotland that some had been looking to turn the committee’s inquiry into “a piece of opportunistic political theatre”.
He suggested that his party would not support the Tories’s motion of no confidence in First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as it was “untenable” given that the committee had not yet reached a conclusion.
Harvie also suggested that his party would not support a vote of no confidence in Deputy First Minister John Swinney after he released the legal advice provided to the Government around the Alex Salmond case.
READ MORE: Tories say no-confidence motion in John Swinney and Nicola Sturgeon is on table
The news will come as a blow to the Tories, who need the support of all of the opposition parties in order to secure the number of MSPs needed to vote down the SNP minority government.
Harvie told the BBC radio show he was “utterly dismayed at the way that this issue has been turned into a piece of opportunistic political theatre”.
“There are very serious issues involved in this, but if we’re taking those issues seriously then we should be making sure that the committee, which all political parties agreed should be established, can do its work.
“It’s completely untenable for John Swinney to withhold from the committee information that it needs to do its work, but it’s equally untenable for the Conservatives not to give the committee the time it needs to do its work.
“They’ve launched a motion of no confidence, or are threatening to, into the First Minister before they had heard her evidence and before the committee has been allowed to complete its inquiry.”
Pressed on whether the Greens would support a motion of no confidence in Nicola Sturgeon if the committee report found her to have been in the wrong, Harvie said he would need to see the hypothetical document in full, “not just the headlines”.
He went on: “I want to see this committee given the information it needs and the time that it needs. I want to see the report that it comes out with, I also want to see the outcome of the independent investigation into the ministerial code.
“Let’s remember that this committee, while important, is composed of politicians. It’s pretty transparent that there are people involved in that process who are being nakedly party political and opportunistic about it.
“Those who are pre-empting the committee and deciding what the outcome should be before the evidence has been heard. That shows contempt for the committee inquiry.”
The Green MSP said that everyone in Scotland, and not just MSPs, would be allowed to pass judgment on the issue in just nine weeks at the Holyrood election.
READ MORE: 'Utter disgrace': Martin Compston slams Tory push for no-confidence vote
However, he denied the Greens were avoiding alienating Yes supporters who may give his party their list vote by pandering to the SNP. He said that wouldn’t explain his party’s position on other issues, including on the vote of no confidence in Swinney.
The Greens last week said they would support a vote against Swinney should he refuse to release the legal advice the Government received around the defence of its handling of harassment complaints against former First Minister Alex Salmond.
Harvie told the BBC: “The situation is that the bulk of what’s been asked for has been provided and a few documents, as far as I understand it, are still waiting for legal permission from other people to allow the Government to provide them.”
However, he said that if Swinney failed to provide all the documents needed and requested then the question of a vote of no confidence may well return.
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