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Scotland's Leader Resigns on Weak Gov't04/29 06:13
LONDON (AP) -- Scotland's first minister, Humza Yousaf, has resigned rather
than face a no-confidence vote just days after he torpedoed a coalition with
the Green Party by ditching a target for fighting climate change.
Yousaf, whose Scottish National Party has been weakened by a campaign
finance scandal and divisions over transgender rights, stepped down after
failing to strike a deal with a breakaway nationalist party whose single seat
could have given him a majority in Scotland's devolved regional parliament.
With no prospect of victory, Yousaf on Monday quit rather than face defeat
later this week when Scottish lawmakers were scheduled to vote on motions of no
confidence in Yousaf and his government.
The debacle in Scotland adds to the fevered political climate in the broader
United Kingdom, where concerns about immigration, health care and government
spending have undermined support for the ruling Conservative Party.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below.
LONDON (AP) -- Scotland's leader is under pressure to resign as he struggles
to engineer a deal to rescue his government after he torpedoed a coalition with
the Green Party by ditching a key target for fighting climate change.
First Minister Humza Yousaf, whose Scottish National Party has been weakened
by a campaign finance scandal and divisions over transgender rights, is
scrambling to win the support of a breakaway nationalist party whose one seat
in the Scottish parliament would allow him to survive a no-confidence vote
later this week.
The crisis began earlier this month when Yousaf jettisoned Scotland's goal
of cutting carbon emissions by 75% by 2030, then ended a coalition agreement
with the Greens and unceremoniously kicked the party's two representatives out
of his Cabinet. Yousaf has scheduled a news conference for noon local time
(1100 GMT) in the Scottish capital, Edinburgh, where he is expected to resign,
the BBC reported.
"Hurt egos have destroyed countries before now, so it's not exactly
surprising that they are currently leading to the mess we're in,'' Murray
Pittock, an expert on Scottish nationalism at the University of Glasgow, told
The Associated Press. "And you can't hurt people's egos any more than by
chucking them straight out of ministerial office with no warning and their
entire party with them."
The debacle in Scotland adds to the fevered political climate in the broader
United Kingdom, where concerns about immigration, health care and government
spending have undermined support for the ruling Conservative Party.
The Tories and the main opposition Labour Party have each proposed a
no-confidence motion in Yousaf and his government as they seek to weaken the
SNP before a U.K.-wide parliamentary election expected to take place later this
year. On Thursday, England and Wales will hold local elections that are seen as
a barometer of support for the government.
In an effort to save his government, Yousaf had written to all of the party
leaders asking for separate meetings to discuss their concerns "in a hopefully
constructive spirit."
But the tight electoral math in Scotland means that Yousaf's fate hinges on
the upstart Alba Party, which holds just one seat in the Scottish Parliament.
The SNP has 63 of the 128 voting lawmakers, leaving Yousaf one vote short of
what he needs to eke out a victory.
Founded in 2021 by former SNP leader and First Minister Alex Salmond, Alba
sees itself as the true voice of Scottish independence. Alba's only member of
the Scottish Parliament is Ash Regan, who opposed Yousaf in the last SNP
leadership election before defecting to Alba.
As the price of its support for the government, Alba is demanding that
Yousaf put independence at the top of his agenda, move away from divisive
"identity politics" and focus on issues such as jobs, education and investment
in Scottish industry.
Salmond said on Sunday that he was hoping for a "positive outcome" from the
talks, but Alba's leaders would be meeting to get ready for an election in case
things don't work out.
"We have, obviously, to prepare that things don't work out, in which case
there could be an election in Scotland," he told the BBC.
Alba's central role in the crisis is symbolic of the disarray confronting
Scotland's independence movement a decade after voters rejected the SNP's plan
to sever ties with the U.K.
Yousaf became the leader of the SNP and first minister of Scotland in March
2023 after former leader Nicola Sturgeon stepped down, citing the toll more
than eight years in office had taken on her.
Sturgeon's resignation came amid a police investigation into allegations
that the party had misused money donated to fund a second independence
referendum.
Sturgeon was questioned and released without being charged last June. Her
husband, former SNP treasurer Peter Murrell, was charged with embezzlement
earlier this month. Both deny any wrongdoing in the case.
Support for the SNP also declined after the party backed legislation to make
it easier for people to change their gender, and implemented a hate crime law
that made transgender identity a protected characteristic, even though the same
protections weren't given to all women.
Then came Yousaf's decision to scrap the 2030 target for greenhouse gas
reductions.
Although he said Scotland would still achieve its goal of net-zero carbon
emissions by 2045, the decision sparked tensions with his coalition partners.
The Green Party initially backed the change, but party leaders said they would
poll the broader membership and reverse course if necessary.
Last Thursday, Yousaf decided to end the coalition abruptly.
Labour is the biggest beneficiary of the ructions within the SNP, because
both parties support left-leaning policies on issues such as worker rights and
government spending. That has huge implications for this year's general
election as Labour tries to wrest control of the U.K. Parliament from the
Conservatives.
The Labour vote in Scotland dropped to 18.6% in the 2019 general election
from 45.6% in 1997. During the same period, support for the SNP jumped to 45%
from 22.1%. Labour currently has just one member of Parliament from Scotland,
compared with 43 for the SNP.
An early election in Scotland could help Labour build momentum for its
U.K.-wide general election campaign, Pittock said.
"The other side to the big picture is that pragmatism is really important in
politics,'' Pittock said. "Populism, virtue signaling, ideology, ideologically
driven legislation -- all of these things have a real price, and Scotland is
currently paying it."
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