Patrick Harvie questions whether current government will be in place by the next budget

Patrick Harvie has questioned whether the current Scottish Government will be in place by the next budget.  

The co-leader of the Scottish Greens was speaking to journalists in the Scottish Parliament Garden Lobby when he was asked if his party will still be as cooperative with the government as they were before the Bute House Agreement when it comes to areas such as the budget. 

Harvie responded by asking: “Do you think the government will still be in place by the next budget?” 

Following the remark, co-leader Lorna Slater said they “are now the party of opposition”. 

She said: “We will continue to work for progressive politics and policies. It remains to be seen whether this government will.” 

Asked if he and Slater would stay on as co-leaders of the party, Harvie said “that is a decision for another time”. 

On First Minister Humza Yousaf’s decision to end the Bute House Agreement, Harvie said that he would have to explain his decision and underlined that “this is his decision to end a cooperation agreement that until days ago he was giving his full backing to”.  

On the reasons why the agreement was terminated, Harvie said: “I think you are going to have to ask him to explain that to yourselves and to Scotland, but also to those SNP members who endorsed the Bute House Agreement, and who wanted the progressive policy platform that Lorna and I have just outlined.”