Humza Yousaf in peril as Greens say they will back no confidence motion
The Scottish Greens have declared their support for a motion of no confidence against Humza Yousaf in the Scottish Parliament. This could result in him stepping down from his position as Scotland's first minister.
The ex-coalition partners of the Scottish National party announced that they will not support the man who broke their trust by abruptly terminating their joint agreement. This decision was made public just hours after the unilateral move.
Yousaf surprised both his friends and rivals on Thursday morning when he declared that he was terminating the deal with the Greens that had been agreed upon by Nicola Sturgeon in 2021. The agreement was seen as a significant shift towards cooperative politics, but that perception has changed now.
In the wee hours of the morning, he summoned Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater, who were holding the positions of co-leaders and junior ministers in his government, to communicate to them that they had been dismissed from their roles. Furthermore, he mentioned that he planned to categorically disown the agreement.
Harvie and Slater criticized the move as "cowardly" and "weak." It happened as there was growing dissatisfaction within the SNP over a series of policies that are not popular among the electorate. Yousaf's internal opponents feel that these policies were imposed on the party through the Bute House coalition agreement.
Later, an emergency meeting of the cabinet was held at 8:30 AM where they approved his decision. This led to an intense series of happenings and eventually resulted in the Greens stating their support for the Conservative party's no confidence motion that is due to take place next week. During the cabinet meeting, Harvie and Slater were not present.
Harvie said on BBC Radio Scotland that it's evident that Humza Yousaf has chosen to sever ties with the liberal pro-independence group that came about from the Bute House deal.
This situation has placed Yousaf in a vulnerable position since he recently assumed the position of first minister in April 2023. His situation has led him to come up with several agreements to appease those within his party who oppose him. Additionally, seven members from his party have recently gone against him during a parliamentary vote. Meanwhile, Yousaf faces further challenges from members of the Alba party, a nationalist center-right group formed by Alex Salmond, who is Yousaf's most vocal critic.
At Holyrood, the SNP is just two votes away from having a majority. Yousaf has the task of gathering support from his divided party to achieve this. He also needs to earn the backing of a previous SNP minister, Ash Regan, who left in October to join Alba due to disagreements with the SNP's views on gender reform and their limited approach to independence.
If the outcome is equal, Yousaf's favour will be determined by Holyrood's presiding officer, Alison Johnstone. Alison Johnstone, who was a former Green MSP, will have to cast a vote in his favour. This process follows a protocol where the presiding officers vote for the existing state of affairs.
The Scottish parliament has stated that the vote is not mandatory, and it is up to the first minister to determine how to react to it. Nonetheless, if the first minister is defeated in a no-confidence vote at a time when the SNP could potentially lose numerous seats to the Labour Party in an upcoming general election, his prospects may be compromised.
Harvie and Slater spoke to journalists at Holyrood after they expressed that they didn't see themselves collaborating with Yousaf on fresh policies or laws due to his past act of betrayal.
Harvie stated that the entire Scottish Greens parliamentary team agreed without disagreement to back the no confidence proposal, despite feeling disheartened. He continued by saying that Yousaf had decided to yield to the opinions of those who are socially and economically conservative within the SNP.
He stated that the Bute House deal was established as a trust and supply deal with easily identifiable procedures for resolving policy disagreements. Nevertheless, he remarked that Yousaf opted to disregard it, and there will be unavoidable consequences for this action.
According to Slater, they agreed to cooperate with Humza Yousaf when he was appointed last year. Their agreement was to continue working together towards the implementation of the liberal policy plan outlined in the Bute House agreement.
His choice to terminate the agreement has definitely raised doubts about the implementation of the program. He didn't offer any promises about carrying out these goals with his minority government. Moreover, it has suddenly terminated the pro-independence majority administration that the voters favored and that both parties backed.
The cause of the problem started when his administration chose to relinquish Scotland's goal of reducing its carbon emissions by 75% by 2030, which was recognized as one of the best plans worldwide. This action by the government provoked an out-and-out dissent from members of the Scottish Green party.
The uprising subsequently coerced Harvie and Slater into consenting to a prompt ballot by the Scottish Green party regarding whether or not to continue being a part of the government. This compromise unsettled Yousaf and sparked doubts about the coalition's feasibility.
Following the cabinet meeting on Thursday, the prime minister, who is at risk of losing numerous seats to the Labour party in the upcoming election, announced that the Bute House agreement had fulfilled its intended purpose. The agreement had ran its course and could no longer offer the necessary stability to the government, as stated by the prime minister.
He stated that the SNP would most likely dismiss or lessen a few policies they vigorously supported before, as the government's strategy was no longer guided by the agreement.
He stated that we must exercise prudence and caution in selecting which confrontations to engage in, and we shall be fully committed to addressing the needs and desires of the citizens of Scotland.
The head government official affirmed his satisfaction with the accomplishments made in collaboration with the Green Party, such as taking control of rail transportation, lifting 100,000 minors out of poor living conditions, enhancing environmentally-friendly power generation, and reducing taxes for the most deprived individuals.
Nonetheless, after some time, a heated and disruptive period of questioning by the first minister at Holyrood revealed that Yousaf's administration was experiencing significant chaos.
During the session, Labour proposed a sudden election for the Scottish Parliament. The Scottish Conservative leader, Douglas Ross, responded by declaring that his party would initiate a motion of no confidence. Ross stated that Yousaf was incapable of holding his position. He added that the current government coalition was expected to be disorganized and the current situation was a testament to this chaos.
As a backbench MSP, Harvie spoke out for the first time in almost three years. He criticized the first minister for giving in to the conservative movements within Scottish nationalism and the parliamentary sphere. Harvie specifically mentioned Salmond who is thought to be behind the criticism towards Yousaf's leadership, Fergus Ewing who is the strongest SNP opposer to the Greens deal, and Ross.
Harvie inquired about the person whom the first minister believes he has satisfied the most today, whether it is Douglas Ross, Fergus Ewing, or Alex Salmond. Furthermore, Harvie questioned which of these individuals the first minister trusts to provide him with a majority in parliament presently.
Earlier in the day, Yousaf assured him that he still wanted to work together on matters related to climate policy, fair taxation, and anti-poverty measures, but he chose not to believe him and ignored his statements.
Harvie stated that this has considerable implications for the Scottish Greens' stance in parliament. He added that the first minister cannot rely on the support of the Greens if they are being controlled by conservative forces.
