Key moments
Humza Yousaf has said that he will not resign as first minister as he faces confidence votes in himself and his government following his decision to sack the Greens from government.
The embattled first minister cancelled a planned speech this morning but did appear this afternoon in Dundee to make an announcement about investment in affordable housing, where he told reporters that he wanted to “reset” his government. He has written to Holyrood’s other leaders inviting them to a meeting in an attempt to “make minority government work”.
Analysis: SNP was right to give Greens the boot
I opposed this deal from the very start. I was the sole voice who, at the SNP group meeting in summer 2021, spoke out clearly against going into this deal. My argument was that we would alienate the numerous key groups in society of whom the Greens disapprove (Fergus Ewing writes).
They would shut down oil and gas and chemical industries; stop fishermen from fishing in huge swathes of the sea; tell farmers how to do their job and stop producing food — their primary purpose. They would implement policies which, like heat pumps, are unaffordable and pursue targets, such as the climate change ones recently dropped, which were simply unachievable.
Perhaps the sense of smug superiority that the Green ministers exuded was their most unattractive feature. Now the Bute House agreement has joined the policies in the bin and Humza Yousaf has the chance to change tack and concentrate on the real priorities of most people: jobs, the economy, growing business, the NHS and education.
Advertisement
Read more: Humza Yousaf should have known this coalition deal was doomed
The Times view: Beyond the Fringe
Supporters of proportional representation and coalition politics would do well to study the case of the Scottish Greens. This fringe party, with a membership some 7,600-strong, was, between August 20, 2021 and yesterday, the extremist tail wagging the Scottish National Party dog.
Among other lunacies, the Greens championed Scotland’s misconceived, indeed downright sinister, hate crime law that on its passing resulted in a frenzy of Orwellian denunciations to the police. The Greens were — are — keen proponents of the discredited transgender ideology that saw hundreds of children fed puberty blockers with disastrous effects (they think children as young as eight could be eligible to change gender). And in 2015 they called for the legalisation of Hamas.
Thankfully, the party was pushed out of government. Farewell, then, to the flakey fringe and hello to — well, what exactly?
Mr Yousaf, who as a minister in the government of Nicola Sturgeon was heavily complicit in the woke and authoritarian excesses of her reign, must now devise a practical agenda taking the SNP back towards the mainstream and electability.
Advertisement
Read more: The demise of the SNP-Green coalition promises an era of uncertainty
Lib Dems back no confidence motion
Humza Yousaf’s appeal for unity has done little to dissuade concerns about his leadership among MSPs.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats have announced they will back Labour’s motion of no confidence in the SNP administration.
Alex Cole-Hamilton, the Scottish Liberal Democrats leader, said: “I want to see a government that is focused on driving down waits for healthcare, tackling the sewage in our rivers and taking action on the cost of living. This is clearly not that government.
“For that reason Scottish Liberal Democrats are prepared to vote no confidence in this failed nationalist regime and will provide the remaining signatures required to bring this motion to parliament.”
Analysis: The shaky house that Yousaf built
Advertisement
A half-built block of flats in Dundee is an inauspicious backdrop for a first minister attempting to salvage his premiership (Kieran Andrews, Scottish political editor, writes).
The project is years late and was incorrectly built but it is where Humza Yousaf began his fightback, announcing £80 million for affordable housing to dampen the flames rising around him. The investment amounts to a £150 million cut after the sector was deprived of cash in the budget.
After his big announcement, Yousaf bristled when reporters said he had been “humiliated” by the Greens and asked whether he was a “lame duck leader”.
“Let’s forget the tired clichés — I’m out here delivering on the priorities of the people,” he said.
Four times he was asked whether he had considered resigning after yesterday’s chaos, and replied: “No, because I intend on winning that vote of confidence”.
Advertisement
He was less resolute when asked how he might win, given that he has alienated every party at Holyrood. “We will negotiate,” he said.
Yousaf insisted he was determined to remain in post. But the mood around him was flat.
The most passion came from a resident angry that onlookers were blocking his parking space. “Get out the road,” he shouted from his window before speeding past. Whether Yousaf takes his advice remains to be seen.
Scottish Tories back Labour motion
The Scottish Conservatives want to “remove the entire” government, the party leader has said, as he pledged to support the Labour motion of no confidence.
Douglas Ross told Times Radio that Yousaf had been a “failure” as first minister.
Advertisement
He said: “I want to remove the entire Scottish government. They have been focused on independence above everything else. Our health service has suffered, our education system has suffered, our funding for local government has been cut to the bone — all while the SNP have obsessed about independence above the priorities of people across Scotland.
“But what we have already seen in reaction to the Labour motion being put down by [Anas] Sarwar is that it is not gaining support from crucially the Greens. They have said they will back our motion of no confidence in Humza Yousaf. They are not saying the same about the motion of no confidence in the entire Scottish government. Ultimately, we are on the brink of removing Humza Yousaf from office. He has been a failure as first minister and we have an opportunity next week to end his time in office.”
Asked if the Conservatives would support the Labour motion of no confidence, Ross said: “Yes, we will.”
Opposition need to act in good faith, says Yousaf
A defiant Humza Yousaf is adamant that he will win over the opposition parties before any confidence vote next week.
He said: “I intend absolutely to fight that vote of confidence. I’ve got every intention of winning that vote of confidence. And let me say to the opposition: for minority government to work in the interest of the people of Scotland also requires the opposition to act in good faith. And to the Greens, I’ve obviously heard their anger, their upset.”
He continued: “What I will do is be writing to all the political party leaders, all the party groups represented in the Scottish parliament, including of course Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater [co-leaders of the Scottish Greens], asking them to meet with me, to say how do we make minority government work. It’s in the best interests of the people of Scotland that all of us act in good faith and make it work.”
Yousaf broke our trust, say Greens
Patrick Harvie, the Scottish Greens co-leader, said it was “pretty clear” that Humza Yousaf was not able to unite the Scottish parliament following the collapse of the Bute House Agreement.
He said it was now up to the SNP to find a suitable leader despite Yousaf’s pledge that he would “compromise” with MSPs.
Harvie said: “He needs to bear the consequences of that reckless and damaging decision [to abandon the agreement]. I think it’s pretty clear he’s not the person who is going to be able to bring together a majority of parliament.”
Asked if there was any way back for Yousaf in terms of working with the Greens, he said that the first minister had broken their trust.
“He still hasn’t really given any clarity on why he made such a dramatic U-turn and broken a promise on which he was elected as first minister,” he said. “So it’s very difficult to see how you can have a conversation that leads to a constructive outcome on the basis of that lack of trust.”
First minister ‘shows no clear purpose’
Nicola Sturgeon’s former chief of staff has criticised Humza Yousaf’s failure to present a “clear narrative, clear purpose or good communication” as his premiership hangs in the balance (John Boothman and Kieran Andrews writes).
Liz Lloyd, for nine years one of Sturgeon’s most trusted aides before her shock resignation in March last year, said the first minister’s decision to scrap his coalition deal, known as the Bute House agreement, with the Scottish Greens would be “either the making of or the ending” of his premiership.
Read more: Humza Yousaf is out of allies for knife-edge vote on his future
Yousaf extends olive branch to Greens
Scrapping the Bute House power-sharing agreement with the Scottish Greens was the “right thing to do”, Humza Yousaf has insisted.
As the fallout from the decision to sever ties with the Greens intensified, Scotland’s first minister said he would speak with the Greens’ leaders, Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater.
If the Greens vote against him in next week’s confidence votes, he would likely need the support of Ash Regan, of Alex Salmond’s Alba Party, to cling to power. She has said that she will not support Labour’s confidence vote on his government.
In extending an olive branch to the Greens, Yousaf said he understood that they would feel hurt by his decision to end the power-sharing deal.
He said: “I empathise with their position because I understand how they must be feeling.”
Yousaf wants to ‘make minority government work’
Humza Yousaf was asked if he would work with Ash Regan, the Alba Party leader, whose vote could prove critical to his political survival.
The first minister said he would be writing to all leaders inviting them to a meeting in an attempt to “make minority government work”.
Asked about Regan again, he said: “Ash Regan has written to me to say she would be willing to have a discussion.”
Regan came third in last year’s SNP leadership contest before defecting to Alex Salmond’s party, Alba. She is Alba’s only MSP and Salmond has said that she is the Scottish parliament’s indisputable kingmaker.
Yousaf accused opposition parties of “playing games”.
I won’t resign, insists Yousaf
Humza Yousaf has insisted that he will not resign as first minister.
The embattled SNP leader told journalists that he would be “fighting” the confidence vote.
He said he would contact each of the Scottish party leaders as he sought to “reset” his premiership.
Asked whether he would resign, Yousaf said: “I intend to absolutely fight that vote of confidence.”
Labour: Britain now has two broken governments
Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, said that Labour would back a motion of no confidence against Humza Yousaf and that it had tabled a further motion against the whole Scottish government.
Speaking during a visit to Teesside, she said: “If Anas Sarwar and Scottish Labour are successful with that amendment, the government will fall and there’ll be fresh elections. We now have two broken governments: the SNP in Scotland and the Conservatives in Westminster. It is time for fresh elections in Scotland and across the UK.”
Reeves added: “The SNP are terribly divided and that is having a real impact on lives and communities across Scotland. We don’t just want another leader of the SNP — we’ve already had two during this parliament so far.”
She said that voters needed a general election and an early Holyrood election.
Alba rejects Labour’s motion of no confidence
Ash Regan, the only Alba Party MSP, will not back Labour’s motion of no confidence in the Scottish government.
A spokesperson for the party said: “Anas Sarwar’s grandstanding is just an attempt to remain relevant. Unionist parties should beware in their glee. As much as Humza Yousaf and the SNP find themselves in a tricky predicament, independence supporters will not turn back to the yoke of Tory and Labour mediocrity. Alba Party are now ensuring that independence supporters have a party they can turn to.”
Separately, the Scottish Tories’ motion of no confidence in Yousaf has secured the backing of more than 25 MSPs, ensuring that it will be debated and voted on.
• Scotland deserves a reset, says Ash Regan
The SNP has 63 MSP in the Scottish parliament; the Conservatives, Labour, Greens and Liberal Democrats have 64 between them.
The SNP needs Regan, a former SNP MSP, to vote with them to avoid defeat. Her vote would lead to a 64-64 tie. In the event of a tie, the presiding officer, Alison Johnstone, can cast the tie-breaking vote but would be expected to vote in favour of the status quo.
Bold move that ended in disaster
At first, the Scottish Greens put a brave face on it. At 7pm on Wednesday, Humza Yousaf’s private office summoned the party’s leadership to Bute House, his official residence, for a meeting they knew would seal their fate.
Patrick Harvie, the party’s co-leader, and Ross Greer, the MSP, who was crucial to keeping the co-operation agreement going, decided to decamp to The Pakora Bar behind the Scottish parliament.
They were seen laughing and smiling “gallows humour”, according to one source — in stark contrast to the stricken faces of Harvie and Lorna Slater, his fellow co-leader, after the first minister told them they had been sacked on Thursday morning.
Read more: How Yousaf’s bold move ended in disaster
JK Rowling: Yousaf’s fate in hands of a Terf
Yousaf to speak this afternoon
Humza Yousaf is expected to make a “major announcement on housing” in the coming hours — but would not be resigning, Sky News has reported.
It comes after he cancelled a planned speech about strategy this morning at Strathclyde University, where he had been due take part in a Q&A session and take questions from the media.
Analysis: Yousaf’s authority is draining away
There are times when events make political leadership very difficult, if not impossible (Professor James Mitchell writes).
The SNP’s failures in office are increasingly obvious, Peter Murrell has been charged with embezzlement, Nicola Sturgeon remains under police investigation and the party is deeply divided.
But even in more propitious circumstances Humza Yousaf would have been out of his depth as party leader and, more importantly, as first minister.
His lack of judgment, absence of ideological ballast and poor communication skills must leave many who voted for him as leader a year ago questioning their choice. The weakest cabinet since devolution struggles to get to grips with mounting challenges.
Read more: How the coalition breakdown will affect SNP’s election chances
Why the power-sharing deal collapsed
Humza Yousaf ended the power-sharing deal between the SNP and the Greens spectacularly yesterday afternoon.
The pact was signed by Nicola Sturgeon in August 2021 after the May Scottish parliament election, when the SNP emerged as the largest party but without an overall majority. The Scottish Greens won eight seats, enough to give the two pro-independence parties a working majority at Holyrood.
The Bute House Agreement set out the expectations for each party and a shared policy programme which included environmental policies, a commitment to implement rent controls and a “fair fares review” for public transport.
The agreement came under strain after the Greens said they would put the future of the deal to a vote by their members.
The immediate reason for the collapse of the deal was ministers’ decision to abandon a 2030 climate target — a major humiliation for the Greens.
Some in the Greens were also unhappy over the decision to pause the prescription of new puberty blockers at Scotland’s only gender clinic for young people.
Yousaf facing two votes
Two confidence votes are to be tabled at Holyrood next week.
The Tories want to hold a vote of confidence in Humza Yousaf specifically. The motion states simply: “The parliament has no confidence in the first minister.”
Labour, meanwhile, want to hold a vote of confidence in the whole Scottish government.
Losing that vote would require Yousaf to resign along with all of his ministers.
Vote to be held next Wednesday
The confidence vote, which is expected to be held next Wednesday, would not be binding but would be a significant political blow to Yousaf and he would be expected to resign.
That would leave 28 days for a majority of MSPs to elect a new first minister by a simple majority.
If they were unable to do that, parliament would be dissolved and an early election called.
Yousaf must resign, says Scottish Labour
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, has said that Humza Yousaf’s resignation is a matter of “when, not if”.
As Labour tabled its own no confidence motion on Friday, Sarwar said: “It would be untenable for the SNP to assume it can impose another unelected first minister on Scotland.”
He added: “Scottish Labour has no confidence in Humza Yousaf or this SNP government. That is why we are laying a motion today to this effect, to say that the parliament has no confidence in the Scottish government. It is for the people of Scotland to decide who is first minister, not just a group of SNP members.
“Removing Humza Yousaf alone will not deliver the change we need. We need to get rid of the entire SNP government, which has left almost one in six Scots on an NHS waiting list, public finances in chaos and public services at breaking point.
“The people of Scotland deserve a fresh start, this can only come with a Scottish election.”
The Scottish Greens, Yousaf’s former allies, have also vowed to vote against him in a motion of no confidence.
Analysis: Crisis sets back key argument for independence
The Bute House Agreement, which gave independence parties in Scotland a majority at Holyrood and the Greens a place in devolved government for the first time, is over (John Boothman writes).
Humza Yousaf, the first minister, announced the end of the power-sharing deal signed by his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon in August 2021 between the SNP and the Greens because it had “run its course”. He said his party would rule as a minority administration.
But the reality is rather more nuanced. With a general election coming down the tracks and the SNP polling behind Labour for the first time since 2015, Yousaf and his party’s MPs are staring down the barrel of a gun.
Read more: SNP risks election annihilation with or without Green Party pact
Salmond capitalises on backlash
Ash Regan, the party’s only MSP, is now the indisputable kingmaker in Scottish politics. With Humza Yousaf’s political future hanging on a knife edge, Regan’s vote is crucial.
Salmond is capitalising on the backlash triggered by Yousaf’s decision to end the power-sharing deal with the Greens.
On Thursday he said that the first minister’s new-found “kamikaze instinct” would cost him. Salmond told Times Radio: “If I were Humza Yousaf, I’d get drafting a very favourable answer, otherwise he’s going to be known, I suppose, as ‘Humza the Brief’, with a one-year tenure as first minister, and that will be that.”
Have your say
Regan ‘is most powerful MSP’
A tight vote over Humza Yousaf’s future is expected at Holyrood next week as MSPs seek to end his 13-month tenure as first minister.
The date and time of the vote is yet to be confirmed by parliamentary authorities.
Alex Salmond said that Ash Regan, who defected to Salmond’s party last year after losing the SNP leadership contest, was now the “most powerful MSP in the Scottish parliament”.
With the Greens voting in favour of the no-confidence motion, that means 64 out of 128 MSPs do not back the first minister.
The SNP have 63 MSPs. As the only Alba Party MSP, Regan’s vote could determine Yousaf’s political future.
Yousaf vows to come out fighting
Stephen Flynn, the Westminster leader of the SNP, said that Humza Yousaf would “come out fighting”.
Flynn, regarded by many as a future party leader, said he expected Yousaf to win the confidence vote in Holyrood next week.
Asked if it was a mistake to end the power-sharing deal with the Scottish Greens, Flynn told Today on BBC Radio 4: “I firmly believe it was the right thing to do, because the first minister wanted to reset the focus of the Scottish government on the priorities of the Scottish people.
“That, of course, means providing jobs and opportunities for our young people, growing the economy, protecting our NHS from the worst excesses of … Westminster and dealing with the cost-of-living crisis. He was absolutely right to do that.”
“What I would gently urge all politicians in Holyrood to do now is to have some cool heads and some calm words this weekend to reflect upon the consequences of any decision [on whether to change the first minister].”
He added: : “Humza Yousaf is a man of profound integrity. I had a conversation with Humza last night. He was reflective, but he was also very clear to me that he’s going to come out fighting because he believes in what he says. He believes in delivering for the people for Scotland. He believes in creating jobs and opportunities for the next generation.”
Yousaf cancels speech
Humza Yousaf has cancelled a planned speech at Strathclyde University after ending the power-sharing deal with the Scottish Greens.
He had been due to speak about the labour strategy in an independent Scotland, take part in a Q&A session and take questions from the media. Instead, he is facing a motion of no confidence.
Scotland deserves a reset, says Ash Regan
Ash Regan, the Alba Party MSP, said that Scotland “deserves and demands a reset” as speculation over Humza Yousaf’s future intensified.
Yousaf needs to secure the support of Regan — who came third in the leadership contest that he won last year before defecting to Alba, Alex Salmond’s party.
She may hold the key to his future in the vote of confidence.
Regan said that her priorities were Scottish independence, “the dignity, safety and rights of women and children” and providing competent government.
She added that her “door is open” to discuss a proposed bill on holding a referendum on whether the Scottish parliament should have the powers to hold another independence vote.
