JOHN Swinney has told Keir Starmer that it would be "appropriate" for Scottish council leaders to be represented at the Council of the Regions and Nations.
The body was formed by Starmer in an effort to “rewire” the way the UK Government interacts with devolved areas.
But the inaugural meeting in Edinburgh today (Friday) has been mired in controversy because while the leaders of some English local authorities were in attendance, Scotland’s councils were excluded.
The Prime Minister and the first ministers of Wales and Northern Ireland were also in attendance, with Swinney the only Scottish representative.
Speaking afterwards, the First Minister said that it would be “appropriate” to include some Scottish local authority leaders.
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“I put that point to the Prime Minister,” Swinney told journalists.
Both the SNP’s Glasgow council leader Susan Aitken and Labour’s Edinburgh council leader hit out at the move, with the latter warning that Scottish cities beng excluded puts them at a commercial disadvantage compared with their English counterparts.
“I understand the point that's been made by the Scottish Cities Alliance and by other council leaders in Scotland,” Swinney said.
“And obviously the construction of the meeting was designed by the UK Government."
He added: “Certainly, I've put forward Scotland's interests, but there will be specific issues that will be of importance to individual local authority leaders in Scotland.
“I can understand why they would want to make it in that forum. But I will do my level best through engagement with Scotland's council leaders to make sure we advance the issues and points and concerns that they have.”
Following three hours of meetings, Starmer touted the importance of the summit, but dodged questions about his former chief of staff Sue Gray (below) – who was appointed an envoy to the nations and regions after leaving the job earlier this week – not being in attendance.
“What I expect is that I will have a direct relationship with the Prime Minister, and that's what I will pursue,” he added.
Swinney said the relationship with the previous UK government was “utterly disrespectful”, and stressed the need for action from Starmer if it is to be repaired.
“Credit where credit is due, the Prime Minister came into office and said he was going to sort that, and he has done that,” he said.
“He’s undertaken a lot of discussions with us to try to take forward a shared agenda.
“I welcome that, but we’ve got to see the fruits of that dialogue and I hope to see the fruits of that by a Budget that secures investment in the public services and in the infrastructure of our country, and significant progress on the urgent projects such as carbon capture and storage, which is so critical for the journey to net zero.”
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In recent months, Swinney has repeatedly attacked Starmer’s government over what he described as “austerity” in recent spending decisions, including the decision to means test the winter fuel payment, but he struck a more conciliatory tone following Friday’s meeting.
The SNP at Westminster has called for a £16 billion increase to the NHS budget, which would provide £1.6bn to Scotland through the Barnett formula.
The First Minister also pushed Starmer on a carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) facility in Aberdeenshire, which has again been overlooked by the UK Government for funding.
The Acorn project was given reserve status under the previous UK government and missed out on a share of £22bn which went to two similar facilities in the north of England.
“I’ve set out to the Prime Minister the critical nature of investment in CCUS within Scotland, and we’ve got a superb project that merits investment,” he said.
The issues he raised, the First Minister said, were “taken seriously” by Starmer during their meeting.
The Prime Minister, meanwhile, said he was “committed” to investing in Scotland, including through the state-owned Great British Energy, which will be headquartered in Aberdeen.
“That’s what matters to me more than anything else,” he added, “whether people living in Scotland can see a better future, a brighter future.
“A future where there’s investment coming into where they live and where they work so their living standards can go up and they can be secure in the jobs that they have, the jobs for their children and their children’s children.
“That’s why I’m so pleased about the investment decisions that have been announced.”
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