Yousaf faces no-confidence vote as he fights for survival
Scotland’s first minister Humza Yousaf is battling for his political survival after a chaotic 24 hours which saw him end the SNP’s governing partnership with the Greens on Thursday. This was followed a couple of hours later by the Scottish Conservatives putting forward a motion of no confidence in the first minister. The motion was backed by Scottish Labour, the Scottish Lib Dems and, crucially, the Greens, who just 24 hours earlier were close cabinet colleagues. It leaves Mr Yousaf potentially having to rely on Alex Salmond’s Alba Party, and their one MSP Ash Regan, to survive a no-confidence vote. Report by Jonesia. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00 Will you be resigning, First Minister?
00:03 Humzey Yousaf was in Dundee today
00:05 to talk about affordable housing.
00:07 A scheduled Q&A at Strathclyde University in Glasgow
00:10 was abandoned.
00:11 It's been a chaotic 24 hours for the First Minister
00:15 of his own making.
00:18 Having dumped key climate targets last week,
00:20 he then dumped the SNP's governing partnership
00:23 with the Greens yesterday, a coalition formed
00:26 by his predecessor, Nicola Sturgeon.
00:29 We need to speak to the country with one voice, our voice.
00:34 And as such, I am clear that today marks a new beginning
00:39 for the SNP government.
00:41 The Scottish Greens leaders, Patrick Harvey and Lorna Slater,
00:44 expressed their anger.
00:46 Well, it's obviously very mixed feelings.
00:48 I'm very disappointed that the First Minister has decided
00:51 to throw his lot in with the right wing
00:53 and social conservative factions within his party.
00:55 I don't think it will do Scotland any good,
00:57 or the government, or him.
00:59 Just a couple of hours after jettisoning the Bute House
01:02 agreement, Humzey Yousaf arrived at Holyrood
01:05 for a bruising First Minister's questions.
01:07 On behalf of the Scottish Conservatives,
01:09 I am lodging a vote of no confidence in Humzey Yousaf.
01:14 This motion has been backed by Scottish Labour,
01:16 the Scottish Lib Dems, and crucially, the Greens,
01:20 who just 24 hours earlier were close cabinet colleagues.
01:23 This is a situation that is not of our making.
01:26 We deeply regret that Humzey Yousaf has brought
01:28 the situation about by tearing up an agreement that
01:32 was working well to achieve political cooperation.
01:35 We will back the motion of no confidence in Humzey Yousaf,
01:39 but we've gone further and tabled
01:41 a motion of no confidence in the whole Scottish government.
01:45 And if Anas Sarwar and Scottish Labour
01:47 are successful with that amendment,
01:49 the government will fall and there'll be fresh elections.
01:51 And it is time for a fresh start in Scotland.
01:54 The Scottish government under the SNP
01:57 has been a disaster, frankly.
01:58 They're so focused on their ideological positions
02:01 on independence, they're not looking
02:02 after the health service in Scotland, the schools,
02:05 the police, the things that the people in Scotland
02:07 really care about.
02:08 A no confidence motion is expected
02:10 to take place next week, which could now
02:13 come down to one single vote.
02:15 For the most of the SNP 70 years in government,
02:17 we've been a minority government.
02:19 Yes, is it tough?
02:20 Is it difficult?
02:21 Does it mean you have to work issue by issue,
02:24 case by case, priority by priority,
02:26 trying to convince other parties to act in good faith?
02:28 Yes, and that's what we'll do with the vote of no confidence.
02:31 Confident we can win it, I can win it.
02:32 Get on with delivering for the priorities of the people,
02:34 like affordable housing.
02:35 In March last year, Ash Regan vied with Humzey Yousaf
02:38 for leadership of the SNP and first minister.
02:41 Seven months later, she defected to Alex Salmond's Alba party,
02:45 disgruntled with the SNP's leadership,
02:48 saying the party had lost its focus on independence.
02:51 She had resigned from Nicola Sturgeon's cabinet
02:54 over the gender reform bill, which she said her conscience
02:57 would not let her support.
02:59 This and her stance on environmental policies
03:02 are in stark contrast to the now former Green ministers.
03:05 She has sent Mr Yousaf her demands
03:07 to secure her support, including progress on independence
03:11 and defending the rights of women and children.
03:14 13 months on from losing a leadership contest to him,
03:17 Ash Regan could hold the first minister's fate
03:20 in her hands.
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