Humza Yousaf’s position as first minister is in danger, but the problems predate his leadership
A year ago, Scotland’s newly elected first minister, Humza Yousaf, said that the Scottish National party’s 2021 pact with the Scottish Greens – giving him a majority in the Holyrood parliament – was “worth its weight in gold”. As recently as Tuesday, Mr Yousaf was publicly buffing his treasure, insisting that he hoped the deal would continue. Less than 48 hours later, however, he decided it was time to sell, scrapping the pact and pledging instead to lead a minority SNP government for the remaining two years of this Scottish parliament. Shortly afterwards, the furious Greens vowed to back next week’s Conservative motion of no confidence against the man who had “betrayed” them.
The split is no surprise. Last week, the Scottish government scrapped its pledge of a 75% cut in carbon emissions by 2030, and its legally binding annual reduction targets. It did so after the UK Climate Change Committee declared the target “no longer credible” because not enough groundwork had been done. The Scottish Greens reacted with anger; an emergency meeting was planned for May to decide whether to continue in government. Meanwhile, some SNP backbenchers made clear that they had had enough too. On Thursday, anxious to show decisive leadership, Mr Yousaf got in first, dumping the deal.
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