UK government blocked bottle return scheme to give SNP a 'black eye', court told

A UK authorities curate blocked Scotland's vessel instrumentality strategy successful bid to springiness the SNP a "black eye", a tribunal has been told.

Former circular system curate Lorna Slater accused ex-Scottish caput Lord Alister Jack of acting successful "bad faith" erstwhile helium refused to assistance an exclusion for solid bottles nether the Internal Market Act (IMA).

This determination led to the Scottish authorities changing its plans for its deposit instrumentality strategy (DRS) successful 2023.

A UK-wide DRS is planned but it is not expected to statesman earlier 2027.

Biffa Waste Services is suing the Scottish authorities astatine the Court of Session successful Edinburgh, seeking £166m of reparations implicit the determination to hold the scheme.

Giving grounds connected Tuesday, Ms Slater said Lord Jack had "single-handedly undermined" the strategy utilizing what was efficaciously a ministerial veto.

The Scottish Greens MSP said: "Alister Jack saw a governmental accidental - and relations betwixt the governments were not bully - to springiness the SNP a achromatic oculus and to undermine my credibility, due to the fact that helium could.

"He had effectual powerfulness of veto to the Scottish DRS."

Read more:
Lorna Slater gave 'emphatic' assurance astir DRS, tribunal told
Scottish authorities 'utterly irresponsible' implicit DRS, tribunal hears

Giving grounds past week, Lord Jack dismissed the proposition his concerns were politically motivated, insisting it was "beholden" to him arsenic Scottish caput to "ensure our businesses and our consumers were protected".

Ms Slater, erstwhile co-leader of the Scottish Greens, said her authorities had been acceptable an "impossible" information successful narration to the deposit level to beryllium applied to containers covered by the DRS.

She said that successful negotiations implicit the exclusion successful aboriginal 2023, the UK authorities had said the level successful the Scottish strategy needed to lucifer that of the UK scheme.

However, she said the UK level had not been acceptable yet.

"The UK authorities were mounting a information connected the Scottish authorities that the Scottish authorities could not perchance meet," she said.

She added that her authorities had not "anticipated" that the UK authorities would usage the IMA to artifact a strategy that each 4 nations were moving to implement, and which had been acceptable retired successful the 2019 UK Conservative Party manifesto.

The proceeding continues.