A UK authorities minister blocked Scotland’s bottle return scheme so as to give the SNP a “black eye”, a courtroom has been advised.
Former round financial system minister Lorna Slater accused ex-Scottish secretary Lord Alister Jack of performing in “bad faith” when he refused to grant an exclusion for glass bottles beneath the Inside Market Act (IMA).
This choice led to the Scottish authorities altering its plans for its deposit return scheme (DRS) in 2023.
A UK-wide DRS is deliberate however it isn’t anticipated to start earlier than 2027.
Biffa Waste Companies is suing the Scottish authorities on the Court docket of Session in Edinburgh, looking for £166m of reparations over the choice to delay the scheme.
Giving proof on Tuesday, Ms Slater stated Lord Jack had “single-handedly undermined” the scheme utilizing what was successfully a ministerial veto.
Picture:
Former Scottish secretary Lord Alister Jack pictured final 12 months. Pic: PA
The Scottish Greens MSP stated: “Alister Jack noticed a political alternative – and relations between the governments weren’t good – to present the SNP a black eye and to undermine my credibility, as a result of he may.
“He had effective power of veto to the Scottish DRS.”
Giving proof final week, Lord Jack dismissed the suggestion his issues have been politically motivated, insisting it was “beholden” to him as Scottish secretary to “ensure our businesses and our consumers were protected”.
Ms Slater, former co-leader of the Scottish Greens, stated her authorities had been set an “impossible” situation in relation to the deposit stage to be utilized to containers lined by the DRS.
She stated that in negotiations over the exclusion in early 2023, the UK authorities had stated the extent within the Scottish scheme wanted to match that of the UK scheme.
Nevertheless, she stated the UK stage had not been set but.
“The UK government were setting a condition on the Scottish government that the Scottish government could not possibly meet,” she stated.
She added that her authorities had not “anticipated” that the UK authorities would use the IMA to dam a scheme that every one 4 nations have been working to implement, and which had been set out within the 2019 UK Conservative Social gathering manifesto.
The listening to continues.
