EVEN his staunchest opponents must pity poor Humza Yousaf. There's nothing the First Minister can do about the ongoing police investigation into the SNP which saw his predecessor - and patron - Nicola Sturgeon arrested on Sunday. His only option is to roll, as best he can, with the punches.

But while Mr Yousaf is powerless to control that particular crisis, there is another source of chaos for his Government that he could.

I write, of course, of the Bute House Agreement, the concord which brought the SNP’s fellow nationalists, the Scottish Greens, into government.

There was, when Ms Sturgeon cut her deal with Greens, a certain logic to her decision. The SNP had failed to win an overall majority at the last election and this partnership offered her a degree of political protection.

This was required because there had, during the previous parliamentary term, been threats of confidence votes in both Sturgeon and her deputy, John Swinney. By bringing the Greens onboard, she created a majority which would see off any such future threats before they made it to the floor of the Holyrood debating chamber.

But there was more than that. There was also Sturgeon’s not unreasonable belief that the presence of a majority nationalist government would make it more difficult for the Prime Minister to refuse her the right to hold a second referendum. The 2014 vote had taken place after the election of a majority SNP Government three years earlier.

The deal between the SNP and the Greens has certainly been a fascinating experiment. But we’ve seen enough, now.

The Bute House Agreement serves neither the SNP nor the country. First Minister Humza Yousaf’s commitment to it seems positive masochistic.

On succeeding Sturgeon as First Minister, Yousaf inherited a number of policy crises - the ongoing scandal of unfinished ferries, soaring waiting times in the NHS, and subpar results in schools, among them.

But Yousaf also received two shiny new problems, both of which bear the fingerprints of his Green partners.

The Scottish Government’s catastrophically bad legislation on reform of the Gender Recognition Act was driven, largely, by Green politicians. Their position - that they would walk away from the Bute House Agreement if the legislation was not passed - both hastened and weakened the process.

And then there’s that other source of trouble between governments in Edinburgh and London - the deposit return scheme that was supposed to encourage us all to recycle drinks cans and bottles.

Under the incompetent stewardship of Green minister Lorna Slater, the establishment of the DRS has been a catastrophe. She failed to bring businesses with her and didn’t request the necessary exemption from the Internal Market Act from the UK Government until the 11th hour.

Now, the scheme - previously postponed from its planned launch in August until next year - has been put on hold again. It may launch in 2025.

If Humza Yousaf is serious about bringing some stability back to his Government, a very good start would be the tearing up of the Bute House Agreement. The Scottish Greens are a liability, not an asset.

Yousaf could start controlling the chaos by getting rid of the Greens - Euan McColm