THE SNP lacks “any solid achievement” in power, the party’s former deputy has said.
Jim Sillars also said Nicola Sturgeon’s administration was “most noted for its incompetence”, citing rising poverty, record drug deaths and “exam chaos” among other issues.
He predicted the First Minister’s government would “unravel” over the coming months, and that her power sharing deal with the Scottish Greens would “merely accelerate that process”.
Mr Sillars, who was deputy leader to Alex Salmond in the early 1990s and has a new book out, made his comments in a letter to the Times today.
He said readers of the newspapers south of the border were “lucky”, given the track record and activity of the SNP in office.
He wrote: “We in Scotland are now lumbered with a government that is simultaneously for and against economic growth, with a “circular economy” minister likely to drive business round the bend.
“Leaving aside its constant reference to a referendum, Nicola Sturgeon’s government is most noted for its incompetence: from the ferries fiasco, the “Saudi Arabia of wind” claim despite there not being a wind turbine building industry in Scotland, new hospitals hardly fit for purpose, rising poverty and record drug deaths to exam chaos.
“The SNP is brilliant at spin but lacks any solid achievement.
“The day after the election in May I told friends that these failures would catch up with Sturgeon’s government, which would unravel over the next 12 to 18 months.
“Getting entangled with the Greens will merely accelerate that process.”
Former Scottish Tory leader Baroness Ruth Davidson promoted the letter on Twitter, saying Mr Sillars was “not pulling any punches”.
Despite his criticism of the SNP down the years, Mr Sillars remains a member and a supporter of independence.
However he urged people to vote for the left-wing Rise alliance on the Holyrood list system in 2016 and for Mr Salmond’s Alba party on the list this year.
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