From 9m ago
Humza Yousaf reportedly abandons power-sharing agreement with Scottish Greens
Good morning. Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s first minister, has reportedly abandoned the SNP’s power-sharing agreement with the Scottish Greens. He called an emergency meeting of his cabinet this morning, and the co-leaders of the Scottish Greens, Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie, who were ministers, were seen leaving soon afterwards. Yousaf reportedly sacked them, and plans to run a minority administration.
Yousaf has not publicly confirmed this yet, but a press conference is expected later.
This is from PA Media with some background.
The Greens were angered when the Scottish net zero Secretary Mairi McAllan announced last week the Scottish government was to ditch a key climate change target.
That, combined with the decision to pause the use of puberty blockers for new patients attending the only Scottish gender identity clinic for children in Glasgow, resulted in the Greens saying last week that they would have a vote on the future of the powersharing deal.
That vote is expected to take place later on in May – but it now appears the SNP could end the Bute House Agreement before that.
The deal, which was signed in 2021 and is named after the official residence of the Scottish first minister in Edinburgh, brought the Green party into government for the first time anywhere in the UK.
It gave the SNP a majority at Holyrood when the votes of its MSPs were combined with those of the seven Greens members, and also made Greens co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater junior ministers in the Scottish government.
Without it the SNP would need to operate as a minority administration at Holyrood.
High-profile figures in the SNP, such as former leadership candidate Kate Forbes and party stalwart Fergus Ewing, have previously called for the deal to be ended.
We will have more on this as the situation develops.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9am: Louise Haigh, the shadow transport secretary, gives a speech setting out details of Labour’s plans to nationalise the rail network.
9.30am: The ONS publishes crime figures for England and Wales.
9.45am: Angela van den Bogerd, the former Post Office people services director, gives evidence to the Post Office Horizon inquiry. She is seen as one of the most Post Office executives to give evidence so far because of the key role she played in defending the prosecutions of post officer operators.
11am: An announcement is expected in the Lords confirming that the safety of Rwanda (asylum and immigration) bill has received royal assent.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
Lunchtime: James Cleverly, the home secretary, is speaking at a press gallery lunch at Westminster.
Early afternoon: Keir Starmer is on a visit to a rail manufacturing plan in the north-east of England.
Also, David Cameron, the foreign secretary, is in Mongolia on the latest stage of his trip to Central Asia.
If you want to contact me, do use the “send us a message” feature. You’ll see it just below the byline – on the left of the screen, if you are reading on a laptop or a desktop. This is for people who want to message me directly. I find it very useful when people message to point out errors (even typos – no mistake is too small to correct). Often I find your questions very interesting, too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either in the comments below the line; privately (if you leave an email address and that seems more appropriate); or in the main blog, if I think it is a topic of wide interest.
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Good morning. Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s first minister, has reportedly abandoned the SNP’s power-sharing agreement with the Scottish Greens. He called an emergency meeting of his cabinet this morning, and the co-leaders of the Scottish Greens, Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie, who were ministers, were seen leaving soon afterwards. Yousaf reportedly sacked them, and plans to run a minority administration.
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Yousaf has not publicly confirmed this yet, but a press conference is expected later.
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This is from PA Media with some background.
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The Greens were angered when the Scottish net zero Secretary Mairi McAllan announced last week the Scottish government was to ditch a key climate change target.
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That, combined with the decision to pause the use of puberty blockers for new patients attending the only Scottish gender identity clinic for children in Glasgow, resulted in the Greens saying last week that they would have a vote on the future of the powersharing deal.
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That vote is expected to take place later on in May – but it now appears the SNP could end the Bute House Agreement before that.
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The deal, which was signed in 2021 and is named after the official residence of the Scottish first minister in Edinburgh, brought the Green party into government for the first time anywhere in the UK.
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It gave the SNP a majority at Holyrood when the votes of its MSPs were combined with those of the seven Greens members, and also made Greens co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater junior ministers in the Scottish government.
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Without it the SNP would need to operate as a minority administration at Holyrood.
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High-profile figures in the SNP, such as former leadership candidate Kate Forbes and party stalwart Fergus Ewing, have previously called for the deal to be ended.
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Here is the agenda for the day.
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9.45am: Angela van den Bogerd, the former Post Office people services director, gives evidence to the Post Office Horizon inquiry. She is seen as one of the most Post Office executives to give evidence so far because of the key role she played in defending the prosecutions of post officer operators.
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If you want to contact me, do use the “send us a message” feature. You’ll see it just below the byline – on the left of the screen, if you are reading on a laptop or a desktop. This is for people who want to message me directly. I find it very useful when people message to point out errors (even typos – no mistake is too small to correct). Often I find your questions very interesting, too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either in the comments below the line; privately (if you leave an email address and that seems more appropriate); or in the main blog, if I think it is a topic of wide interest.
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Key events
The powersharing deal between the SNP and Scottish Greens at Holyrood has been brought to an end, PA Media is reporting.
Humza Yousaf reportedly abandons power-sharing agreement with Scottish Greens
Good morning. Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s first minister, has reportedly abandoned the SNP’s power-sharing agreement with the Scottish Greens. He called an emergency meeting of his cabinet this morning, and the co-leaders of the Scottish Greens, Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie, who were ministers, were seen leaving soon afterwards. Yousaf reportedly sacked them, and plans to run a minority administration.
Yousaf has not publicly confirmed this yet, but a press conference is expected later.
This is from PA Media with some background.
The Greens were angered when the Scottish net zero Secretary Mairi McAllan announced last week the Scottish government was to ditch a key climate change target.
That, combined with the decision to pause the use of puberty blockers for new patients attending the only Scottish gender identity clinic for children in Glasgow, resulted in the Greens saying last week that they would have a vote on the future of the powersharing deal.
That vote is expected to take place later on in May – but it now appears the SNP could end the Bute House Agreement before that.
The deal, which was signed in 2021 and is named after the official residence of the Scottish first minister in Edinburgh, brought the Green party into government for the first time anywhere in the UK.
It gave the SNP a majority at Holyrood when the votes of its MSPs were combined with those of the seven Greens members, and also made Greens co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater junior ministers in the Scottish government.
Without it the SNP would need to operate as a minority administration at Holyrood.
High-profile figures in the SNP, such as former leadership candidate Kate Forbes and party stalwart Fergus Ewing, have previously called for the deal to be ended.
We will have more on this as the situation develops.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9am: Louise Haigh, the shadow transport secretary, gives a speech setting out details of Labour’s plans to nationalise the rail network.
9.30am: The ONS publishes crime figures for England and Wales.
9.45am: Angela van den Bogerd, the former Post Office people services director, gives evidence to the Post Office Horizon inquiry. She is seen as one of the most Post Office executives to give evidence so far because of the key role she played in defending the prosecutions of post officer operators.
11am: An announcement is expected in the Lords confirming that the safety of Rwanda (asylum and immigration) bill has received royal assent.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
Lunchtime: James Cleverly, the home secretary, is speaking at a press gallery lunch at Westminster.
Early afternoon: Keir Starmer is on a visit to a rail manufacturing plan in the north-east of England.
Also, David Cameron, the foreign secretary, is in Mongolia on the latest stage of his trip to Central Asia.
If you want to contact me, do use the “send us a message” feature. You’ll see it just below the byline – on the left of the screen, if you are reading on a laptop or a desktop. This is for people who want to message me directly. I find it very useful when people message to point out errors (even typos – no mistake is too small to correct). Often I find your questions very interesting, too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either in the comments below the line; privately (if you leave an email address and that seems more appropriate); or in the main blog, if I think it is a topic of wide interest.