SCOTTISH First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney has made a desperate plea to other parties to support his party’s draft Budget.

He said that blocking the Budget risks “catastrophic reduction in service delivery” and “feeding the forces of anti-politics and populism” in his first speech of the new year today.

The SNP needs the support of other parties or individual MSPs to pass the Budget, which includes restoration of the winter fuel allowance to pensioners in Scotland.