Humza Yousaf should bring back Kate Forbes if he hopes to survive as First Minister – Scotsman comment

Instead, while he was praising the coalition’s supposed achievements, Green co-leader Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie were launching a full-throated attack, accusing him of “political cowardice” and betraying the electorate, and claiming he could no longer be trusted. Astonishingly, Slater and Harvie grasped the politics of the situation better than he did.

This, combined with Yousaf’s recent defence of the Bute House Agreement and reports that SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn had “bounced” him into the decision, left the First Minister looking naive, weak and lacking in nous. It is hard to have confidence in a leader if they are politically inept.

Not as bad as Truss

For those concerned about the interests of this country and its people, the idea of waiting another two years for a Holyrood election, if this shambles of a government continues as it has begun, seems almost unthinkable.

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The Scottish Government should be focused on vitally important issues like economic development and inward investment, fixing the NHS, and restoring Scottish education to its former glory. Instead our government is in turmoil with political survival – as a vote of confidence looms – top of ministers’ agenda. At First Minister’s Questions, Yousaf’s defence against criticism of current chaos was that at least it wasn’t as bad as Liz Truss’s government, the lowest of all bars.

Meanwhile, businesses are crying out for greater clarity about the Scottish Government’s policies on that great challenge of our times – the transition of the economy to net zero. Simon McWhirter, deputy chief executive at UK Green Building Council – a membership body that includes the likes of Lloyds Bank, the Crown Estate, Tata Steel, Legal & General, Barratt Developments and McDonalds – said: “We're disappointed that politics is once again getting in the way of vital progress on climate change. Scotland needs strong leadership and a clear pathway to net zero that enables industry to invest in green growth with confidence.”

No way to run a country

The departure of the hard-left Greens from government may help improve relations with business. But Yousaf now has only a brief window to finally break free from the ‘culture war’ legacy of Nicola Sturgeon and take the party in a different, more pragmatic direction.

Bringing the woman he narrowly defeated to become party leader, Kate Forbes, back into government as his Finance Secretary would be a good start. The SNP doesn’t have enough in the way of ‘talent’ to allow any of it to sit on the sidelines. If he can't even work with people in his own party, what chance does he have of cooperating with members of the Opposition, particularly in a general election year, now that his government is a minority one?

Yousaf has only a short time to demonstrate he can be a competent leader of this country and, with his mishandling of the split from the Greens, he has already got off to a bad start. If he loses the looming vote of no confidence – with the Greens vowing to vote against him – does he expect to limp on until the next Scottish Budget? And if he cannot pass a Budget, what then?

This is simply no way to run a country in its best interests. Scotland has a growing list of acute problems. If they are to be solved, we need a leader with the political capital to make things happen. Yousaf's path to restoring his is narrow, at best.