Humza Yousaf to hold cabinet meeting as deal with Greens comes under increasing pressure

First Minister Humza Yousaf will hold an emergency cabinet meeting this morning amid rumours the Bute House Agreement with the Greens is set to end.

The power sharing agreement has come under increasing pressure in recent days both from members of the SNP and from Greens.

It follows the Scottish Government’s decision to scrap a key climate pledge and the pause on the prescription of so-called puberty blockers which was announced last week.

There is also understood to be disquiet within the SNP over the Greens’ reaction to the Cass Review, published last week, with leader Patrick Harvie refusing to accept its conclusions.

Earlier this week, Scottish Labour said the Scottish Government's response to the Cass Review was a "sop" to the Scottish Greens to "keep the Bute House Agreement alive".

Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, Yousaf said SNP members neither “wanted” nor “needed” a vote on whether to continue the Bute House Agreement.

There appears to have been a re-think in the days since, however, amid concern the Greens could walk away from the power sharing deal first.

The Greens currently have seven MSPs, including co-leaders Harvie and Lorna Slater who hold ministerial roles in the government. A tearing up of the BHA would see the SNP rule as a minority administration, something the party has done in the past. 

Yousaf has previously said the agreement is “worth its weight in gold”.

But his former leadership rivals – former finance secretary Kate Forbes and former community safety minister Ash Regan (who later defected to Alba) – both expressed their concerns about the deal during the SNP leadership race.