NICOLA Sturgeon's Cabinet will meet virtually today to vote on a co-operation agreement between the SNP and Scottish Greens.
A partnership deal has been made and the Cabinet vote will take place at 9.30am today to approve the proposal, according to the BBC.
The plans are based on a New-Zealand model of working together pioneered by Labour Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and that country’s Greens.
READ MORE: Calls for SNP members to be given vote on co-operation deal with Greens
The agreement is set to see a Green MSP join the Scottish Government as a minister, but it will not be a full-on coalition.
Green co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater are expected to set out details of the deal later today.
The SNP are only one MSP short of a majority at the Scottish Parliament, despite Scotland’s electoral system being set up in such a way as to make majorities highly difficult to achieve.
The deal is seen by some as a way to boost the case for Holyrood’s call for a second independence referendum when the UK Government is again approached.
READ MORE: EXPLAINER: Why are the SNP and Greens doing a deal?
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has previously said that the two parties “can help build a better future for Scotland”.
She stressed the parties were “agreeing to come out of our comfort zones to find new ways of working for the common good”.
She added: “As we embark on this process, we are setting no limits on our ambition.
“So in that vein let me be clear that while this is not a guaranteed or a pre-agreed outcome, it is not inconceivable that a co-operation agreement could lead in future to a Green minister or ministers being part of this Government.”
Slater has expressed her hope that talks with the SNP would allow them to “deliver real change”.
She said: “The Scottish Greens have always worked constructively with other parties, delivering meaningful change like free bus travel for young people."
Climate is expected to be a key area of the partnership, coming ahead of the COP26 summit in Glasgow later this year.
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