Achi news desk-
STV reports today that Humza Yousaf’s party is about to end the agreement with the Greens.
It comes after members of the Green party reacted furiously to the Scottish Government abandoning some of its climate targets as well as the NHS’s decision to delay prescribing puberty blockers in Scotland for new patients.
The Greens were due to vote on whether to remain part of the Scottish Government – where co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater hold ministerial posts.
Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater became ministers in Nicola Sturgeon’s Government as a result of the agreement.
The parties reached a power-sharing agreement after the 2021 Holyrood election when the SNP fell one short of the 65 MSPs needed to form a majority government.
The Greens won a record eight seats, up two from the previous vote, and their position as the only other pro-independence group in Holyrood gave them leverage over the SNP.
By the summer, both parties had signed the Bute House Agreement which included a range of policy commitments on areas from gender to housing and the climate.
Harvie, the longest serving Green MSP, became minister for carbon-free buildings, active travel and tenants’ rights while his co-leader Lorna Slater became minister for green skills, circular economy and biodiversity.
They were the only Green politicians to come into government in the UK, and it remains so.
Despite many challenges over the past three years – including the risk that the deal will end if Kate Forbes beats Yousaf in the SNP leadership contest – the commitment of both sides has been steadfast.
But two major announcements on April 18 revealed a deeper rift between and within the parties.
