Scottish Greens will not back down in Humza Yousaf row, co-leader says

Humza Yousaf’s leadership hangs by a thread as he approaches a confidence vote this week, with the Scottish Greens remaining unequivocal that he no longer has their support after he axed their power-sharing agreement.

The first minister blindsided colleagues by ripping up the Bute House agreement, brokered by Nicola Sturgeon after the 2021 Holyrood election, which cemented a progressive pro-independence majority in the Scottish parliament.

On Friday Yousaf said he would not resign as first minister and vowed to win the vote, brought by the Scottish Conservatives and likely to be debated on Wednesday or Thursday – although he would not rule out an early Holyrood election.

Slater told the BBC: “This was a spectacular breach of trust, from on Tuesday saying the Bute House agreement was worth its weight in gold to stopping it unilaterally on Thursday.”

Michelle Thomson, the MSP who ran the SNP leadership campaign for Kate Forbes, who lost narrowly to Yousaf last March and has been critical of many of the Green-influenced policies, expressed regret at the manner in which the partnership ended.

Speaking to Kuenssberg, Salmond appeared to pull back from Sunday newspaper reports that he was demanding an electoral pact between Alba and the SNP, after Scottish government sources rejected it overnight as a “fantasy”.