Skip to player
Skip to main content
Skip to footer
Search
Connect
Watch fullscreen
Like
Comments
Bookmark
Share
Add to Playlist
Report
The Scotsman Bulletin Monday April 29 2024 #HumzaYousaf
The Scotsman
Follow
29/04/2024
Scotsman deputy editor Alan Young speaks to political editor Alistair Grant about the latest in the First Minister Humza Yousaf saga
Category
🗞
News
Transcript
Display full video transcript
00:00
Hello and welcome to the Scotsman's Daily Bulletin for Monday on a huge day in Scottish
00:15
politics. We expect First Minister Humza Yousaf to step down. I'm Alan Young, I'm Deputy Editor
00:23
of the Scotsman and I'm joined from our Edinburgh office by our Political Editor Alistair Grant.
00:28
Alistair, things are moving very quickly now. Bring us up to date with what we know at the moment.
00:34
Yeah, so very much expecting Humza Yousaf to resign as First Minister or announce his intention to
00:40
resign as First Minister later on today. Expecting a potential press conference at Bute House,
00:46
his official residence in Edinburgh just down the road from where I am now. Obviously,
00:51
events have been moving extremely quickly but this is in the aftermath of his decision to end the
00:56
Bute House agreement, the co-operation agreement between the SNP and the Greens on Thursday last
01:02
week. I think that will ultimately go down in Holyrood history as a catastrophic miscalculation.
01:08
He obviously thought that at the time he was doing it, a kind of act of leadership,
01:12
showing strength, ending that agreement before the Green members had a chance to vote in it,
01:17
as they were planning to do in a few weeks' time. I don't know how he managed to miscalculate this
01:23
so badly but I think he was taken aback by two things. I think he was taken aback by the scale
01:27
of the Green anger, by the sheer fury, the sense of betrayal that the Greens had. I think he was
01:34
also taken aback by the speed at which events moved. I think they probably had war-gamed or
01:40
game-planned a scenario where as a minority government they would face a vote of no
01:43
confidence. I think they obviously would have had that in mind. I don't think they expected
01:47
it to happen on the same day as he'd announced that Bute House agreement was coming to an end.
01:52
I think it took them by surprise and I think it also took them by surprise that the Greens,
01:56
on that same day, immediately announced that they would back that no confidence motion in
02:00
Humza Yousaf as First Minister. And his route through this was just looking increasingly narrow
02:05
over the weekend. On Friday, sources close to the First Minister were briefing that the Greens could
02:11
yet change their mind, that there's, you know, a lot of movement can happen in the space of a week.
02:15
We then had the Greens coming out, co-leaders Patrick Harvie, Lorna Slater, making it quite
02:20
clear that they weren't going to change their mind. As far as they were concerned, they'd lost
02:24
confidence in Humza Yousaf. We then had, obviously, a situation where he could have gone to
02:30
Alex Salmond's Alaba party for support. They have a single MSP in Holyrood, Ash Regan. That would
02:35
have been enough to bring him over the line in terms of the no confidence votes, but doing a
02:40
deal with Alaba would have been very unpalatable to huge sections of the SNP, sections of the SNP
02:46
parliamentarians as well. Alex Salmond remains an unpopular figure in sections of the SNP. We had
02:52
figures like Pete Wishart, the long-serving SNP MP, Stuart Macdonald, the SNP MP, coming out over
02:58
the weekend in social media, making it clear that they did not want a deal with Alex Salmond's Alaba
03:03
party. Also worth saying, even if he had gone down that route, because the parliamentary arithmetic
03:09
in Holyrood is so tight, it wouldn't have given him enough of a majority to actually pass legislation
03:14
going forward. So he still would have had to try to seek support from MSPs and other political
03:20
parties to get things done, to pass things like the Scottish budget. And that is, of course,
03:25
how minority government works. We've had that in Scotland in the past. We're quite used to it.
03:29
But I think Humza Yousaf was potentially facing a uniquely hostile parliament, and that would have
03:34
been a problem for him going forward, particularly with the Greens as furious as they are.
03:39
Indeed. So if and when, or when he does step down, what's likely to happen then? I would
03:48
like to look inside the SNP for a caretaker leader. Yeah, so if he resigns as First Minister,
03:56
it starts this 28-day period in which a new First Minister needs to be found. And if they aren't
04:01
found at the end of that period, we're getting into a kind of early Holyrood election territory.
04:06
I think that's still probably unlikely at this stage, although I wouldn't rule it out because
04:11
politics is so unpredictable at the moment. But I think it's probably quite likely that there'll
04:15
be a figure that comes forward in the SNP that, for example, could get the support of the Greens.
04:19
People look to figures like Neil Gray, the current Health Secretary, Jenny Gilruth, the current
04:24
Education Secretary, even John Swinney, the former Deputy First Minister, as a kind of caretaker
04:30
figure who could maybe take over in the interim period. I think it'd be worth looking today to
04:34
see if Humza Yousaf actually resigns on the spot as First Minister, triggering that 28-day period,
04:40
or whether he just announces, you know, perhaps steps down as SNP leader and announces his
04:44
intention to resign as First Minister when and if a new figure comes forward who can take control.
04:49
So I think that's something to look for today, the language that he uses. But essentially,
04:54
they're going to have to find someone realistically within the SNP who can come forward and get the
04:59
support of MSPs. There's obviously a lot of talk about Kate Forbes, the former SNP leadership
05:06
contender as a potential candidate here. I think there's huge support for her within sections of
05:12
the SNP. No one doubts her capability as a minister, as a former minister. I think there'd
05:18
be problems there. She would not get the support of the Greens, for example. And even as similar
05:23
issue to Humza Yousaf, even if she tried to just, you know, govern with the support of Alibaba,
05:27
she wouldn't have enough of a majority to pass legislation. So she'd be then having to go to
05:31
unionist parties to try and get some support from them. So I think she has a difficult option. She
05:36
would also be unpopular with another section of the SNP, who see her, who kind of don't like her
05:42
socially conservative views. So there could be potentially splits within the SNP over that.
05:47
So I think, I don't think there are any easy options for them going forward.
05:51
But the most likely thing is that they will pick a figure who could get the support of the Greens,
05:56
I think. Indeed. Thanks very much for that, Alistair. I'll let you go. We've got a very busy
06:01
day ahead. Certainly, please keep an eye on Scotsman.com throughout the day, where we'll have
06:06
all the very latest news and reaction. We have a live blog on politics events running now. If you
06:14
can, please do subscribe and then you'll be able to read absolutely everything on the site. And if
06:19
you're out and about today, as ever, pick up a copy of the paper from me and from Alistair. It's bye
06:24
for now.
Recommended
5:26
|
Up next
The Scotsman Bulletin Tuesday April 30 2024 #FirstMinister
The Scotsman
30/04/2024
9:13
The Scotsman Bulletin Tuesday December 17 2024 #HumzaYousaf
The Scotsman
17/12/2024
7:13
The Scotsman Bulletin Friday April 26 2024 #HumzaYousaf
The Scotsman
26/04/2024
29:11
Scotsman Politics Special - Humza Yousaf becomes new First Minister of Scotland
The Scotsman
28/03/2023
5:46
First Ministers Questions unpicked Thursday April 25 2024 #SNP #GreenParty
The Scotsman
25/04/2024
3:27
The Scotsman Bulletin Thursday September 05 2024 #FMQs
The Scotsman
05/09/2024
4:40
The Scotsman Bulletin Thursday April 18 2024 #Politics #FMQs
The Scotsman
18/04/2024
6:02
The Scotsman Bulletin Wednesday May 01 2024 #SNP #Politics
The Scotsman
01/05/2024
54:41
The Scotsman Politics FMQs Review Thursday November 23 2023
The Scotsman
23/11/2023
52:54
Scottish Parliament: FMQs with First Minister Humza Yousaf - The Scotsman Roundup
The Scotsman
26/10/2023
19:38
First Ministers Questions - Thursday April 26 2024
The Scotsman
26/04/2024
1:02
Humza Yousaf formally resigns as Scotland's first minister
ODN
07/05/2024
3:44
The Scotsman Bulletin Tuesday April 23 2024 #Politics #SNP
The Scotsman
23/04/2024
4:19
Edinburgh reacts to Humza Yousaf's resignation
Edinburgh Evening News
29/04/2024
10:43
The Scotsman Bulletin Wednesday September 04 2024
The Scotsman
04/09/2024
7:53
The Scotsman Bulletin Wednesday August 07 2024 #ScottishTories
The Scotsman
07/08/2024
7:59
Scotsman Politics: FMQs Review - Thursday January 18 2024
The Scotsman
18/01/2024
6:28
First Ministers Questions unpicked October 03 2024
The Scotsman
03/10/2024
8:03
Political editor Alistair Grant outside Bute House after Humza Yousaf resigns
The Scotsman
29/04/2024
1:52
John Swinney sworn in as Scotland's new First Minister
ODN
08/05/2024
10:26
The Scotsman Bulletin Thursday August 15 2024 #GovernmentSpending
The Scotsman
15/08/2024
7:12
Scotsman Politics: FMQs Review - Thursday January 11 2024
The Scotsman
11/01/2024
5:46
The Scotsman Bulletin Friday May 03 2024 #Politics #TWTWTW
The Scotsman
03/05/2024
7:28
The Scotsman Bulletin Monday May 20 2024
The Scotsman
20/05/2024
9:26
The Scotsman Bulletin from the Scottish Labour Party Conference #ScottishLabour
The Scotsman
21/02/2025