Labour confidence motion in Government to be debated

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Scottish Labour’s confidence motion in the Scottish Government will be debated on Wednesday.

Tabled by leader Anas Sarwar last week following the end of the Bute House Agreement – and at the height of instability for the Government – the motion will be pressed despite First Minister Humza Yousaf’s decision to announce he will step down.

If passed by MSPs, the motion would compel the First Minister to resign immediately under the terms of the Scotland Act, with Holyrood given 28 days to elect a new First Minister before an election is called.

While unlikely to pass – due to the likelihood the Scottish Greens will abstain – it will gain the support of the Tories and Lib Dems.

Speaking to the PA news agency on Tuesday, Mr Sarwar said he wanted to use the motion to highlight the need for a Holyrood election following the turmoil in the SNP.

He added that the “genie was out of the bottle” for the SNP, adding: “I think this is a dysfunctional, chaotic, divided political party.”

The decision to press ahead with the vote, he said, was a “point of principle”, adding: “We also want to highlight the democratic deficit as they themselves described it when they were talking about Westminster and the Conservatives.

Mr Sarwar said he was “desperate” for a Scottish election alongside a Westminster one, which will be held later this year, adding his party was “ready for elections”.

Meanwhile, Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross withdrew a motion of no confidence in the First Minister following his decision to stand down.

Declaring “job done”, Mr Ross added: “I’m delighted that the Scottish Conservative motion of no confidence in Humza Yousaf achieved its purpose by forcing him to resign.

“While, on a personal level, I wish him well for the future, he was a disaster as First Minister and it’s in Scotland’s interests that he goes.”

The motion comes at the end of a tumultuous week in Scottish politics, with the collapse of the Bute House Agreement between the SNP and the Greens sparking a chain of events which led to the First Minister’s resignation.

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