Achi news desk-
His intervention comes following attacks by the Greens and the SNP on each other as the parties head towards the Westminster election.
Mr Ewing also noted that the Greens were telling voters not to support the SNP, publicly attacking the SNP and suggesting they were open to an agreement with Labor at Holyrood.
The SNP Member of Parliament for Inverness and Nairn said that the trust needed to maintain the Bute House Agreement between the two parties had broken down and that the “cornerstone” of the agreement had “crumbled”.
“The cooperation agreement with the Greens states that its ‘cornerstone’ is ‘mutual trust and good faith'”, he said in his article in The Herald.
“It is clear from the recent blistering attacks by Green MSPs, incl [Ross] Greer, [Lorna] Slater and [Patrick] Harvey on the SNP government, that this trust has broken down and that goodwill, if there ever was, no longer exists.
“The cornerstone of the Bute House deal has crumbled. It is now time for the Bute House deal to get the boot – and that boot must be given before the UK General Election.”
He added: “In the upcoming election, our Green ‘partners’ are even encouraging voters not to vote for the SNP.
“Independence has been quietly dropped from their agenda. The Greens are cozy with Labour. How can we continue to be partners with a party whose leaders routinely abuse us? As Humza heap praise on them, they express contempt for us… Before the UK General Election campaign begins in earnest, Humza must extricate the party from this Faustian Pact with a small group of extremists who’ n admit themselves.”
Mr Ewing is an outspoken critic of the Bute House Agreement and the Greens describing the party’s MLAs as “wine bar revolutionaries” in April last year as he criticized them and the Scottish Government for their plans to transition away from oil and gas.
He has also repeatedly attacked policies promoted by the Greens that the SNP developed under former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and have now been shelved.
The delayed proposals include the recycling deposit return scheme (DRS), gender recognition reform, and plans to limit fishing off coastal communities. He was suspended by the SNP for a week last autumn for supporting a motion of no confidence in Ms Slater over her handling of the DRS.
He has also been critical of ongoing policies including heating in buildings schemes which set deadlines requiring householders and businesses to remove fossil fuel heating equipment from properties to meet climate change targets.
Mr Ewing continued: “This dire deal is destroying the party as more and more people and key parts of the economy become the subject of the Greens’ blustering and glamourous contempt: sectors including oil and gas, private rental housing , mortgage finance and investment, fishing. , farming for our food, aquaculture, productive forestry, the chemical industry and tourism.
“The Greens so called ‘policies’ would eliminate these industries and eliminate the jobs of hundreds of thousands of smart, decent, hard working people all over the country and all of them serving Scotland well… A message to Humza: “Sorry mate: Failing to end this terrible deal is political madness and electoral suicide.”
Mr Ewing renewed his calls for the Bute House Agreement to end after the Scottish Greens urged people not to vote for the SNP at the next general election, accusing Mr Yousaf’s party of being “reluctant to step up when necessary in order to protect our common future. ”
The blistering attack on their partners in the Scottish Government came after Mr Yousaf claimed that there would be a vote for Mr Harvie and that Ms Slater’s party would be “wasted”.
Over the weekend, the Scottish Greens revealed that they had chosen 32 candidates for the upcoming election, up from the 22 fields in 2019.
On Sunday, Mr Harvie insisted that there would be no electoral agreement with the SNP and that he would not have “those kind of talks” with the First Minister.
Speaking to The National, Mr Yousaf said he had “a huge amount of time” for the Scottish Greens but said a vote for the party would be a waste.
“Of course they are our partners in government, but in a Westminster election, especially when we face a challenge from Labour, the danger of voting for the Greens – who are not going to win a single seat in the Election General of Scotland. , I think they would be the first to admit that – would that be a wasted vote,” he said.
“If you want to promote the cause of independence, if you want a party that matches your values - whether that’s social justice or the climate or the welfare economy – then the SNP is the party you need to be voting for her.”
Responding last night to Mr Ewing’s comment, Scottish Greens MEP Ross Greer hit back at the SNP MLA’s mockery, arguing that there was nothing in the Bute House Agreement that prevented the two parties from challenging each other in elections.
“It is clear that Mr Ewing’s strange fixation with the Scottish Greens is not fading. He must find a hobby that is less harmful to his blood pressure,” he said.
“Any high school Modern Studies pupil could tell you that the Scottish Government and the UK Parliament are different institutions.
“Perhaps Mr Ewing should spend some time reading the Scotland Act rather than continuing this constant whining about the Bute House Agreement.”
He added: “If he has read the Agreement and thinks it covers the Westminster elections, then I would suggest he is owed a refund from that expensive private school he attended. Reading and comprehension skills would be the poor this sees him failing the National English 5 exam these days.”
“We are proud to give more people than ever before the opportunity to vote for the Scottish Greens and for a fairer and greener Scotland. People and the planet have no time to waste on parties unwilling to take bold action on the climate.
“Every vote for the Scottish Greens sends the strongest possible message to Westminster, namely that Scotland demands urgent action on the climate and nature crises.”
SNP Spokesman: “SNP members voted overwhelmingly to support the Bute House Agreement in 2021, and voted to elect First Minister Humza Yousaf as party leader, who stood on a platform endorsing the arrangement with the Greens, who’ n consolidate the pro-independence majority in Holyrood.
“Support for the House of Bute Agreement has delivered results such as securing a better deal for tenants, accelerating Scotland’s progress to Net Zero, and launching free bus journeys for under 22s.”
