ANAS Sarwar has accused Humza Yousaf of pursuing “Green-style extremism” in the absence of any coherent vision for the Scottish Government.

In a scathing attack that echoed those by the Tories, the Scottish Labour leader said the First Minister was pandering to his Bute House coalition partners.

Mr Yousaf has “no central purpose, no clear idea, no ultimate vision for the country”, he said.

The comments came ahead of Mr Yousaf delivering his first Programme for Government at Holyrood, in which he will try to put his own stamp on his administration.

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The annual legislative timetable is expected to include measures on improving childcare and tackling poverty through breakfast and after-school clubs.

Speaking to PA while campaigning in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election, Mr Sarwar said Mr Yousaf was recycling the policies of his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon.

He said the Bute House Agreement, the joint government deal signed by Ms Sturgeon in 2021 which is unpopular with some SNP MSPs, was driving the FM’s decisions.

Mr Sarwar said: “I think he is trying to do Greens-style extremism, whilst also trying to do Nicola Sturgeon-style social policy, whilst also trying to do Alex Salmond-style economic policy. All three of which are inconsistent. 

“I think it shows a leader that has no central purpose, no clear idea, no ultimate vision for the country, and he’s looking around for individual ideas to try and pass time to try and solidify his own leadership.

“I think it’s clear the SNP has lost its way, they can’t run away from the fact that they have a record of failure.”

Referring to the SNP leadership contest in the spring, Mr Sarwar went on: “Humza Yousaf, who is the continuity candidate, can’t run away from it, and I think all of this goes to prove that this country needs change. This isn’t as good as it gets.

“I think it’s abundantly clear that he lacks a central vision, that he lacks a central mission, and his government doesn’t have any clear direction.

“And instead, you have individual bits of policy – some of which I think are well meaning and we would support – but it lacks a coherent plan of how we’re going to take Scotland forward.

“I think it’s clear for everyone to see that this is a downgrade and (he’s) a perfectly nice guy, but he’s not up to the job.”

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Speaking to the media in Dundee on Monday, Mr Yousaf said the Programme would be delivered against the most difficult time for the public finances in over a decade.

The independent Scottish Fiscal Commission, which scrutinises Holyrood’s budget, recently warned there could be a £1billion shortfall in day-to-day spending next year.

It also said the gap between income and spending could rise to £1.9bn in four years.

Mr Yousaf said: “There’ll definitely be some initiatives that I hope will demonstrate the direction I want to take the Government, but there’s no getting away from the scale of the public finances and the challenge that we face in relation to those public finances.

“It’s the most difficult time, certainly I’ve ever seen for the public finances, and I’ve been in Government for 11 years.

“We know because of the disaster of the mini budget last year from the UK Government that public finances are not just going to be constrained for the year ahead, but I’m afraid for probably many years to come.”