What was behind Yousaf's sudden Bute House Agreement U-turn?

I am proud of what the Scottish Greens achieved in government. We delivered free bus travel for young people, removed peak time fares from ScotRail, brought in the emergency rent freeze and eviction ban which saved so many tenants from homelessness, secured a record £4.7billion for climate and nature projects this year alone, cancelled the school meal debt held by so many struggling families and much, much more.

To take just one personal example, for years I had campaigned for an overhaul of Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) in schools as a way to tackle violence against women and girls. This is something the Scottish Greens care deeply about and through the Bute House Agreement I was able to have significant input on the new draft guidance for delivering this area of the curriculum. That guidance now starts with a substantial section on consent and healthy relationships.

Humza Yousaf (Image: free)

I think it’s critical that boys and young men learn this in particular, it was pretty much the first thing I proposed after I was elected in 2016. Getting it over the line during our time in government will always be a source of pride.

People and planet are better off in all sorts of ways as a result of the Bute House Agreement. In fact, 90,000 children were lifted out of poverty by our policies last year alone. That’s a record we are excited to take to voters at the next election.

In fact, for all the criticism and vitriol thrown at us our party was also strengthened by the experience of governing. We now poll higher than our last Holyrood election result and in the local elections held a year into the agreement we almost doubled the number of Scottish Greens councillors.

We’ve also been pleased to welcome all the new members who have joined our party since Thursday morning, a number of whom I expect have switched directly from the SNP. These aren’t the circumstances we wanted, but strengthening the Green movement is clearly more important now than ever.

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There are a great many decent, progressive people in the SNP. I’ve had the pleasure to work with some of them since 2021.

But, with Humza Yousaf now effectively held hostage by far more conservative and reactionary forces, the Scottish Greens are making an open invitation to the many hundreds of thousands of people who previously voted SNP because they wanted a fairer, greener Scotland: We still share your vision and your hope for this country. The Scottish Greens will continue the fight to build a better Scotland and we want you to join us in that fight.

When I joined our party at the age of 15 I certainly didn’t imagine that I’d have the huge privilege of becoming one of its elected representatives. I chose the Scottish Greens because I wanted a politics of hope. I believe that another world is possible, one which is far fairer and greener than the status quo. I didn’t join the party just to be around other people who agreed with me though, sitting in our own comfortable echo chamber. I, like so many others, got involved to play my part in bringing about that fairer, greener society.

So to me the most entertaining accusation thrown at us is that we were too influential in government. Isn’t that exactly what the people who vote for every party expect us all to do, maximise the influence we have for the benefit of those we represent? It’s certainly what I expected the Scottish Greens to do when I joined all those years ago.

With the SNP now left as a minority government and with a group of rebellious backbenchers refusing to vote for their own manifesto commitments, I’m sure Green MSPs will continue to play an influential role from opposition.

I’ve been here before and for all there’s no pretending that it’s the same as actually being the government, that accusation of being ‘overly influential’ was often levelled at us back then too. In those calmer days though it was usually described as punching above our weight!

Humza Yousaf would be making a huge mistake if he thought the Green MSPs would take the same approach as in that previous session of minority government though. For all there was regular disagreement and voting against each other, there was enough trust and shared purpose to pass key votes such as the national budget. Humza has shattered that essential mutual trust. He is in office but with no power and we certainly lack common ground with the more conservative voices really calling the shots.

The responsibility our party now has is considerable. These last ten days have taken their toll. I am certainly not the only one to feel a real sense of grief for the lost opportunities for progress. We were due to do so much to tackle the climate crisis, lift children out of poverty and build a stronger, greener economy. That’s exactly what Scotland needed and it's what the Scottish Greens must keep fighting for. It’s quite clear that the forces seeking to prevent all of that progress are powerful but they must be overcome.

Progress towards a fairer, greener independent Scotland took a big hit on Thursday. With so much at stake for people and planet however, the Scottish Green Party will not let that stop us from giving hope to those who share our belief that another Scotland is possible.

Ross Greer has been a Member of the Scottish Parliament for the West Scotland region since 2016.