06 December 2002
The SNP and the Conservatives rounded on the Labour-Liberal Democrat Cabinet following the leaking of a document outlining plans for legislation up to 2007.
The leaked paper was presented to the Cabinet sub-committee on legislation by Patricia Ferguson, the minister for parliamentary business, more than two months ago.
The document mentions the possible reform of voting in local government elections and a reduction in local authority control over schools.
SNP leader John Swinney said: 'The Labour-LibDem legislative programme is breathtaking, not for what it says but because it is so lacking in anything designed to tackle the real issues.
'Jim Wallace has sold out the proud tradition of Liberal politics and allowed his party to become a wholly owned subsidiary of the Labour Party.'
The LibDems have denied the claims. A spokesman said: 'We will be fighting the next election on an independent manifesto conceived by Liberal Democrats.'
He added: 'It is not arrogance, it is prudence, to try to do something for the future.'
PFdec2002
