Leader: Will Humza Yousaf throw the Greens overboard to keep his administration afloat?
Less than a month after his narrow victory as “continuity candidate” in the SNP leadership contest, his efforts to present himself as a “fresh start for Scotland” have been overshadowed by each new development in the police investigation into his party’s finances.
Mr Yousaf’s task has been made all the more onerous by the SNP’s power-sharing agreement with the Scottish Greens. It no doubt seemed like a good idea at the time to his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon, after the SNP failed to win a majority at the 2021 Holyrood election.
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Hide AdBut the deal hastened her downfall, as the incoherence of her position on the Green’s “red line” issue of gender self-identification became apparent with the housing of a double rapist in a women’s prison.
With the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill blocked by the UK government, other policies driven by the Scottish Greens now threaten Ms Sturgeon’s successor and his administration.