SNP's power-sharing agreement has 'served its purpose', Humza Yousaf says, as he scraps deal with Scottish Greens
Scottish Greens accuse the SNP of "political cowardice" after the first minister terminates the agreement first signed by Nicola Sturgeon.
Thursday 25 April 2024 15:16, UK
The SNP has terminated its power-sharing deal with the Scottish Greens following a bitter row over its climbdown on climate targets.
It comes after First Minister Humza Yousaf this morning summoned an emergency meeting of his cabinet - usually held on a Tuesday - following speculation over the future of the Holyrood deal, first struck by his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon.
Speaking at a news conference, Mr Yousaf said the benefits of his party's deal with the Greens had hitherto "outweighed the compromises" and delivered a "number of successes" - but that the balance had now "shifted".
"The agreement was intended to provide stability to Scottish government, and it has made possible a number of achievements, but it has served its purpose," he said.
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The first minister said he hoped to pursue a "less formal" agreement with his former partners and heralded what he called a "new beginning" for the SNP, saying his decision showed "leadership".
SNP 'selling our future generations'
His warm words about the Bute House agreement - which he previously described as "worth its weight in gold" - struck a different tone to Green co-leader Lorna Slater, who accused the SNP of "political cowardice".
"This is an act of political cowardice by the SNP, who are selling out future generations to appease the most reactionary forces in the country," she said.
"They have broken the bonds of trust with members of both parties who have twice chosen the co-operation agreement and climate action over chaos, culture wars and division. They have betrayed the electorate."
She added: "And by ending the agreement in such a weak and thoroughly hopeless way, Humza Yousaf has signalled that when it comes to political cooperation, he can no longer be trusted."
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Tap hereNow the Scottish Conservatives have confirmed they will lodge a vote of no confidence in the first minister, with their leader, Douglas Ross, saying Mr Yousaf had "failed" in the role and "focused on the wrong priorities for Scotland".
Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats have told Sky News they will back the motion, and the Greens will decide by the end of Thursday which way they plan to vote - but if they join forces, it is certain to pass.
However, it would still be up to Mr Yousaf to decide how to respond.
If a no confidence vote was passed on the government though, the SNP would have to appoint a new first minister within 28 days or call an election.
Has Yousaf's attempt to get on the front foot backfired?
This is absolutely explosive stuff here in Scotland today.
This is a first minister in Humza Yousaf who just two days ago was telling Sky News that he was wanting the pact with the Greens to continue.
It's all been rosy in the garden for a long time between the two parties, but things start to deteriorate in the last couple of weeks - first over the Cass report, and then the big moment when the Scottish government ditched one of their key climate targets.
At that point, the writing was on the wall. Green Party members were furious and called a vote on their future role themselves, which was due to take place in the next couple of weeks.
It could be said Mr Yousaf saw what was potentially coming and decided to take charge of the issue, rather than facing humiliation of the Greens taking themselves out of that arrangement.
But now the SNP will run a minority government here at Holyrood, and we've had confirmation the first minister will face a no confidence vote next week, the ramifications of which could be huge.
Labour have confirmed to Sky News that they will back that motion. The Liberal Democrats also doing the same. And the Greens, who are absolutely furious, are due to meet before the end of the working day to discuss how they will vote.
So has this backfired on Mr Yousaf today who was trying to get on the front foot to try and save his reputation in what has been a really difficult couple of months? Could it all end in jeopardy? We'll soon see.
The power-sharing deal, reached in 2021, was designed to facilitate governing between the two pro-independence parties in Holyrood and brought the Greens into government for the first time anywhere in the UK.
Named after the first minister's official residence in Edinburgh, it gave the SNP a majority in the Scottish parliament when its votes were combined with those of the seven Green MSPs and created ministerial posts for Ms Slater and Patrick Harvie, her co-leader.
But signs the agreement was running into difficulty came after the Scottish government scrapped its commitment to cut emissions by 75% by 2030.
The climbdown also came on the same day it was announced that the prescription of puberty blockers for new patients under the age of 18 at a Glasgow gender identity service would be paused.
As well as the watering down of climate targets, the Greens were also dismayed at the pause of puberty blockers in the wake of the landmark Cass review of gender services for under-18s in England and Wales.
It means Mr Yousaf's administration will now run a minority government at Holyrood - which he said would be "hard, it will be tough, there's no doubt about that".
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Last week the Greens said they would hold a vote for their members on the future of the Bute House agreement and Mr Harvie urged members to back it so the party could "put Green values into practice" in government.
But in the statement released today, Ms Slater said Green members were now not going to have a "democratic say", adding: "If they can't stand up to members of their own party, how can anyone expect them to stand up to the UK government at Westminster and defend the interests of Scotland?"
Speaking on Sky News' Electoral Dysfunction podcast - released at 6am on Friday - former Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson called it "a pretty bitter divorce" between the SNP and Greens.
"What's really interesting to me is are they so angry that they will vote with the other opposition parties in Holyrood against the SNP or not," she added.
"Because even when they weren't in government, they were they were pretty willing allies of the SNP.
"And it'll be really interesting as we go forward to find out whether they want to exact revenge or whether they're going to be more independent minded than they have previously been in previous parliaments."
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Tap here to followMs Davidson also said the break-up was "a sign of weakness" from Mr Yousaf, as he "had to pull the trigger before he was dumped".
She added: "His big difficulty is not everyone in the SNP was fully behind Nicola Sturgeon's idea to bring the Greens into government anyway, and it's got less and less popular within his party - as well as within the country - as it's gone on.
"So while kicking them out looks in some ways that it might be a power move from Humza Yousaf, actually it just reminds people that he was the only one of the three leadership candidates that wanted to keep this agreement and he only kind of scraped over the line with 52% in the final round of voting."