Humza Yousaf has announced he is resigning as First Minister of Scotland.
Mr Yousaf’s decision to abruptly end the SNP’s power-sharing deal with the Scottish Greens last week following a bitter row over government climate targets caused his leadership to unravel, precipitating what Tom Harris, writing for the Telegraph, describes as “the country’s greatest political crisis since devolution began in 1999”.
Following this surprise decision to scrap the SNP’s coalition deal, it was clear that the career of the anointed heir to Nicola Sturgeon was hanging by a thread.
A motion of no confidence in Mr Yousaf tabled by the Scottish Conservatives quickly gained the backing of Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish Greens.
A separate motion of no confidence in the Scottish Government tabled by Labour also had the backing of the Tories and the Liberal Democrats, with the Greens undecided.
The First Minister’s subsequent plea for opposition parties to find “common ground” with the SNP was rejected by the Scottish Conservatives as “humiliating and embarrassing”, while Scottish Labour described it as an act of “desperation”.
Delivering his resignation statement at Bute House in Edinburgh on Monday, Mr Yousaf said: “While a route through this week’s motion of no confidence was absolutely possible, I am not willing to trade my values and principles or do deals with whomever simply for retaining power.
“Therefore, after spending the weekend reflecting on what is best for my party, for the government and for the country I lead I have concluded that repairing our relationship across the political divide can only be done with someone else at the helm.
“I have therefore informed the SNP’s national secretary of my intention to stand down as party leader and ask that she commences a leadership contest for my replacement as soon as possible.”
Writing in the Telegraph, Gordon Rayner says that Mr Yousaf’s hate crime and trans laws will be his “divisive legacy”.
He continues: “Having talked up his plans to reform the Scottish NHS, ease the cost of living crisis and improve rural housing when he was elected, Mr Yousaf will instead be remembered, briefly, as the man who turned the Orwellian nightmare of thoughtcrimes to reality through the Hate Crime and Public Order Act, which tied up police resources investigating whether JK Rowling was a criminal and whether or not to record non-crime hate incidents when anyone opined that men could not be women.
“By empowering trans ideologists to report anyone who disagreed with them to the police – with a promise that every complaint would be investigated – Mr Yousaf ensured his complete alienation from voters who wanted their police to solve burglaries and their politicians to focus on Scotland’s appalling record on health, education and drug addiction.”
Following Mr Yousaf’s resignation, is there a possibility that the Act could be amended?
And what might happen if an election is called in the wake of last week’s political turmoil – will the fact that high-profile public figures such as JK Rowling, Joe Rogan and Elon Musk have mercilessly exposed the legislation’s deeply illiberal underlying philosophy sway people’s decisions at the ballot box?
We’ll be discussing these, and many other issues on Wednesday 1st May, when we bring together an expert panel to discuss what we have learnt from the first 30 days under the country’s new hate crime regime.
Our expert panel includes MSP Murdo Fraser, FSU general secretary Toby Young, and lawyer David McKie, who has been involved in some of the most significant cases in Scotland in the last 25 years.
Although tickets for the in-person event have already sold out (which gives an indication of the level of concern in Scotland about the country’s new hate crime regime), FSU members can of course still attend online by using the link sent out in the weekly newsletter and in emails from FSU Events.
To cater for additional demand, we’ve also opened up a £5 pay to view option for the public – and FSU supporters who aren’t (yet) members – to attend online. If you’re reading this, and you know of family members or friends who would be interested in watching the event, please do pass on this link.
