- Written by Mary McCall
- BBC Scotland News
The power-sharing agreement between the SNP and the Scottish Greens has been cancelled.
It follows the government's decision to scrap key climate targets and temporarily stop prescribing puberty blockers to under-18s.
The Scottish National Party is now set to form a minority government. The Conservatives said they would hold a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Humza Yousaf.
Youssef also faces calls from opposition parties to hold elections.
Forming a minority government means the SNP will need to win the support of some members of the opposition LGBT movement if it wants to get approval from the Scottish Parliament for its plans.
The SNP holds 63 of Holyrood's 129 seats – meaning they are two short of an overall majority – while the Greens have seven. The Scottish Conservatives have 31 seats and the Labor Party has 22 seats.
First Minister Humzah Yousaf said he had formally notified Ms Slater and Mr Harvey that the Boathouse Agreement – which the two parties signed after the Holyrood election in 2021 – had been terminated.
Ms Slater and Mr Harvey were earlier seen exiting Boat House – the First Minister's official residence in Edinburgh – ahead of an emergency Cabinet meeting.
The Greens said the SNP had “sold out future generations”.
The deal saw Mr Harvey and Ms Slater given junior ministerial roles within the Scottish Government in exchange for the Green Party's support for the Government's policies. Both will now leave their positions.
Youssef said he thanked them for their contribution to the Scottish Government and made clear that the SNP intended to work with the Green Party “where we can” and “in the national interest”.
He said, “The Boat House Agreement aims to provide stability to the Scottish government and has enabled a number of achievements to be achieved.”
“But it has served its purpose, it no longer guarantees a stable arrangement in Parliament.
“The events of recent days have made that clear and therefore, after careful consideration, I believe it is in the interests of the people of Scotland to follow a different arrangement.”
Harvey previously said he would resign as co-leader if the party voted to end the agreement, but said Thursday his position would be up for debate for another day.
Speaking to reporters in Parliament's garden lobby, Harvey said the First Minister's decision was a “complete turnaround from recent days”.
Asked whether the Scottish Greens would co-operate with the government on matters such as the budget, he replied: “Do you think the current government will remain in place for the next budget?”
Meanwhile, Slater described the termination of the Boathouse Agreement as an “act of political cowardice by the SNP” and accused the party of “selling out future generations”.
She also said she was confident Green Party members would have supported the party remaining in government if the vote had occurred.
She said: “Neither they nor members of the SNP will have that opportunity. Instead, the most reactionary and reactionary forces within the First Minister's party have forced him to do the opposite of what he himself said was in Scotland's interests.”
“By contrast, as co-leaders of the Scottish Greens we were prepared to put our political career on the line with our members, to defend our achievements in government, despite enduring everything that SNP members and others threw at us.”
It comes a week after SNP Energy Secretary Mairi McAllan announced that Scotland's target of cutting carbon emissions by 75% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels was out of reach and would be scrapped – angering many members of the green grassroots.
Mr Harvey said there was “discontent” in the party over the move and that young trans people may “now not get the treatment they need”.
The First Minister said on Saturday that he appreciated the power-sharing agreement with the Green Party, adding: “I think we have achieved a lot together in government. I want to continue to achieve a lot.”
When asked if he could soon lead a minority government, Youssef replied: “I don’t think that will be the case.”
Image source, Twitter/Reuters
Speaking during First Minister's Questions on Thursday, MSPS Greens sat quietly with their heads bowed as Mr Youssef defended the government's bipartisan record.
Scottish Conservative Party leader Douglas Ross accused the First Minister of “panicing before the extremist Green Party could get rid of him” and said he would submit a vote of no confidence in the First Minister.
It is not yet known whether the Green Party will support Ross in the vote of no confidence, which will not take place until next week at the earliest.
Ross said that Yousuf “abandoned the platform on which he stood,” adding: “He claims that it is now a new beginning, but in reality it is the beginning of the end. Isn't Hamza Yousuf a lame prime minister?”
Scottish Labor leader Anas Sarwar said it was time to “end this circus” and called for an election.
He said: “The challenges facing our country have never been so great, but Scotland’s government has never been so poor and its leadership has never been so weak.”
“The people of Scotland can see that the SNP has lost its way: weak, divided and incompetent. It has put the party at the expense of the country.”
The Scottish Liberal Democrats have also said they want an election.
Mr Harvey told Parliament that the SNP could no longer rely on Green votes in Parliament, and asked Youssef who he thought was happier – Mr Ross, SNP rebel Fergus Ewing or Alex Salmond, the former SNP leader and first minister who leads… Now the Alba part.
He said: “Which of them do they think they can count on to get a majority in Parliament now?”
Former SNP leadership candidate Kate Forbes – an outspoken critic of the SNP-Greens partnership – said on To be elected as a broad group. The tent of the nation's representative.
She added: “Amid all the differing opinions in the Scottish National Party about this decision [the Bute House agreement] From the Secretary of State, who some were delighted by and others were frustrated with, we would do well to remember our core aims: to serve the people of Scotland, end inequality, eradicate poverty, govern well and strive for prosperity, like other Indian nations.
SNP MP Joanna Cherry, another critic of the Boathouse agreement, said ending the deal was a “huge opportunity” to reset the SNP's agenda in government.
She posted on
