Scottish Government could collapse as Greens may vote to quit coalition

Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater have an important vote approaching – Lesley Martin/PA

Humza Yousaf’s coalition government could collapse after the Scottish Greens’ co-leader admitted he did not know which way a members’ vote will go on their power-sharing deal with the SNP.

Patrick Harvie, who is one of two Green ministers in the Scottish Government, said a vote next month on whether to end the coalition deal and return to Holyrood’s back benches was the “most important” decision in his party’s history.

He pleaded with Scottish Green members that they would “achieve far more by staying in government” and warned: “My worry is that if we walked away at this point we would decelerate climate action.”

Mr Harvie insisted he shared the fury of his rank-and-file about the Scottish Government’s decision last week to rip up its flagship target to cut the country’s greenhouse gases by 2030.

However, he claimed all political parties were responsible for Scotland’s lack of progress on climate change, despite the SNP being in power since 2007 and the Greens agreeing to join Nicola Sturgeon’s government in 2021.

Mr Yousaf expressed confidence on Saturday that the Greens would vote to continue their coalition with their SNP when they hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on the issue, expected at the end of May.

He insisted the SNP would continue as a minority government if they withdrew from the deal, which is titled the Bute House Agreement (BHA), after the First Minister’s official residence in Edinburgh.

But Craig Hoy, the Scottish Tory chairman, said Mr Yousaf is “at the mercy of the Green vote and the coalition of chaos he inherited from Nicola Sturgeon is now hanging by a thread.”

Humza Yousaf’s coalition government could collapse – Jeff J Mitchell/Getty

Furious Scottish Green members staged an unprecedented rebellion last week after the announcement the 2030 target was being binned. Friends of the Earth described it as “the worst environmental decision in the history of the Scottish Parliament”.

Senior councillors demanded the EGM after warning that the Greens were being “used as a figleaf for the SNP’s woeful and inexcusable climate inaction”.

The Rainbow Greens, who represent the LGBT members in the party, called for the party to withdraw from the Scottish Government over the decision to suspend the use of puberty blockers for new child patients.

Members have also raised questions about whether Mr Harvie and Lorna Slater, the other Green minister in the Scottish Government, should remain the party’s two co-leaders.

Mr Harvie, who earns £106,185 as a junior minister, admitted last week he was “embarrassed” by the scrapping of the 2030 target, but told BBC Scotland’s Sunday Show his party should remain in government.

He said: “This is a moment that is critical for the future of climate policy in Scotland, which is, you know, the reason Greens are in politics in the first place.

“It’s critical to the future of our party as well, and over the next few weeks we have probably the most important decision to make that we’ve ever had to make about the future of our party.”

Mr Harvie added: “My worry is that, if we walked away at this point, we would decelerate the climate action, we would see the hand strengthened of the likes of Fergus Ewing, backbencher in the SNP now, who’s constantly popping up and having a go at environmental policy and urging the Government to slow down.”

Mr Ewing, a Nationalist grandee and former Cabinet minister, has been the SNP’s most persistent and vocal critic of the Greens. He has said they are “hard left extremists who should never be anywhere near government.”

Asked how he believes the vote will go, Mr Harvie said: “Honestly, I don’t know. My instinct is that we will achieve far more by staying in government.”

He admitted he needed to do more to persuade members that “Scotland is on the right track” in tackling climate change.

Pressed on whether his leadership was on the line, he said: “That’s a very obvious question, but it’s probably the least important question.”

Ms Sturgeon boasted that her SNP administration was a global leader on climate change when the targets were introduced in 2019, saying they were the “most stretching” in the world.

Mr Harvie said “some people have been happy to describe Scotland as a world leader, or have self congratulatory speeches about setting targets”.

However, he said the reality was “we’re years behind where we should be on climate, on actually taking the actions necessary to reduce emissions.”

But Joanna Cherry, a senior SNP MP and critic of the coalition deal, tweeted: “With govt comes responsibility. I voted against the BHA and I don’t think the Scottish Greens have brought anything useful to the table on tackling climate change.

“It’s hardly surprising given their science denying identity politics and no-debate stance. We need action now on climate change and the just transition not inept posturing and mere rhetoric. The SNP could and should reset here without Scottish Green input.”

She later corrected herself, saying she had been “eventually persuaded” to vote for the BHA “against my better judgement.” The Edinburgh South West MP added: “We all make mistakes. My initial instincts were correct.”

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