SCOTTISH Greens have demanded continued spending on independence plans as the price for backing the SNP’s Budget, while thousands face the choice between heating and eating.

Green MSP Ross Greer made the demand after Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton proposed that the £3.44 million spent by the Scottish government on promoting independence be axed.

The cash had been used to enable senior civil servants under the direction of ministers to produce a series of more than a dozen papers speculating on the behaviour and policy choices of a future independent government, ranging from attitudes to the EU and foreign policy to currency.

Mr Greer said: “The SNP must categorically rule out this cut.

“Conceding on this point would not only rule out the Scottish Greens’ voting for their Budget proposals, it would destroy the wider independence movement’s trust in the Scottish government.

“The Yes movement can always rely on the Scottish Greens’ support.

“I hope that the SNP is able to quickly reassure us all that the government’s work towards our shared goal of an independent Scotland at the heart of the European Union will continue.”

The Red Paper Collective’s Vince Mills hit back, saying: “It is remarkable that while countless homes go unheated this winter, tens of thousands rely on foodbanks to eat, and hot on the heels of a report that tells us that across the UK including Scotland there are excessively long waits NHS waiting lists, the Greens should demand more money is wasted in the pursuit of plans for Scottish independence which everyone else knows is a pipe dream.

“Last year the Scottish government spent £3.44m on developing imaginary plans, which could have gone on the very real problems afflicting the Scottish population.”