Humza Yousaf is facing the biggest threat to his premiership yet, as it appears the SNP’s coalition with the Scottish Greens is on the brink of collapse.
The Greens have been furious with the SNP since last Wednesday when the Scottish Government ditched both its flagship climate emissions target and rowed back on allowing transgender children to access hormone drugs.
On April 18, the SNP confirmed it was ditching its world-leading pledge to cut carbon emissions by 75% by 2030.
Last week the Scottish Tories tried twisting the knife, saying it was a surprise that Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater, the Scottish Green co-leaders who signed that agreement, had not resigned their ministerial posts in embarrassment.
This morning, STV is reporting that the Bute House Agreement – the 2021 deal that saw the SNP and Greens enter into a formal governing coalition – is on the brink.
Political editor Colin Mackay reports: “The Bute House Agreement seems about to break.”
Meanwhile Mr Yousaf is to hold an emergency cabinet meeting later today, further signalling the political crisis.
Scottish ministers usually meet on Tuesdays, however have been reconvened for a second meeting at 8.30 this morning at Bute House.
It is not known what is on the agenda, but the BBC also points to the ongoing speculation about the future of the governing coalition.
Should the Greens pull out of the deal, it could leave Mr Yousaf’s very premiership on the line.
With 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, any Government requires 65 MSPs.
The SNP have just 63, leaving them short of an overall majority.
Meanwhile the anti-independence opposition parties – the Conservatives, Labour and Lib Dems – have 57 seats.
It’s unclear whether the Greens, despite potentially calling time on their coalition deal, would support the SNP in a confidence vote.
Last week the Scottish Greens confirmed that members would vote on whether their party should remain in power with the SNP.
Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said issues had “come to a head”, with his members demanding a debate on their future in government.
On Tuesday, Mr Harvie also said he would quit his role if party members voted to dissolve the Holyrood coalition.
He warned that leaving Government would be a “mistake”, and if the Greens returned to the opposition, “I genuinely don’t see how it would be realistic for me to carry on in that way in those circumstances”.
Former SNP minister Alex Neil, however, has argued that his party’s deal with the SNP is doing “enormous damage” to the SNP’s reputation.
