SNP passes last-minute budget with Green party backing

First minister Nicola Sturgeon and finance secretary Derek Mackay, centre, arrive at Holyrood, Edinburgh.The Scottish National party has secured the support of the Greens to pass its government’s budget just hours before the first key vote on the spending plans.The deal was reached on Thursday afternoon after days of intense negotiations with the SNP minority government, which centred around Green demands for an immediate boost to local government funding and, longer term, an alternative s