Harvie: Yousaf cannot unite Parliament and SNP must consider replacement
The Scottish Green co-leader said there is now a ‘lack of trust’ towards the First Minister after he ended a powersharing deal.
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Your support makes all the difference.A co-leader of the Scottish Greens has said it is “pretty clear” Humza Yousaf will be unable to unite Holyrood as he urged the SNP to consider the First Minister’s replacement.
Patrick Harvie said Mr Yousaf had “broken the trust” of the Scottish Greens when he “unilaterally” ended the powersharing Bute House Agreement between the two parties on Thursday.
Speaking to the PA news agency on Friday, Mr Harvie said: “Very clearly, he doesn’t have the confidence of Parliament, I think that’s going to be clear. We said very clearly the responsibility of the decision (to end the deal) is on him. He needs to bear the consequences of that reckless and damaging decision.
“I think it’s pretty clear he’s not the person who is going to be able to bring together a majority of Parliament.
“I think the SNP really need to consider, who do they think they can put forward as a first minister who is capable of gaining the support of the majority of Parliament? The ball is in their court on that question.”
He said the Greens will not support former SNP leadership candidate Kate Forbes, but added: “We have worked well and constructively with a number of ministers across the Government and a number of other members of the SNP.”
Asked whether there is anything the First Minister can say to the Greens to get them back on side, Mr Harvie said it would be “very difficult” following the breakdown in 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,” the Green added.
“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.”
Speaking to PA in Dundee, Mr Yousaf said it was “not the intention” to upset the Greens by ending the Bute House Agreement, and he again stated he hopes to work with the party moving forward.
He said he will be writing to the political leaders of all Holyrood parties to discuss working together on an issue-by-issue basis.
Mr Yousaf said: “I don’t regret the ending of the Bute House Agreement but I’ve heard their upset, I’ve heard their anger. I can honestly say that was not the intention.”
He said he “really valued the contribution” of Mr Harvie and Green co-leader Lorna Slater during their time in Government.
“That upset and anger, that wasn’t meant from me, and I look forward to hopefully a response from Patrick and Lorna to the letter I intend to write them in the coming days.”
While the Greens have said they will vote against Mr Yousaf in a vote of no confidence, the party has said a complete breakdown of government that leads to a snap election would be a “reckless bit of drama for drama’s sake”.
Prior to Mr Yousaf ending the deal, a vote on the future of the Bute House Agreement had been due to be put to Green members at an emergency meeting following criticism within the party of the Government’s decision to scrap a 2030 emissions target and the pause in prescribing puberty blockers in Scotland.
Mr Harvie said his party has seen “quite a surge” in people joining the Greens since Thursday.
He said the number joining is “something like 40 times the normal daily number of new members”.