Why Scottish Greens' presence in government was a good thing – Alastair GJ Stewart

The loss of Scottish Green co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater from the Holyrood government will be catastrophic as we return to an era of SNP monopoly on politics.

Who is Humza Yousaf serving by terminating the 2021 Bute House Agreement? Not the Scottish Government in the long run. The plethora of differences between the Scottish Greens and the SNP reads more like a list of problems the Scottish National Party has never been able to solve since 2007.

The Greens in government held the SNP to account in a way no Opposition party was able to. Gender recognition, the prescription of puberty blockers to under-18s, the deposit return scheme, climate strategy, council tax and marine policy are not problems the Green magicked up.

Scottish politics was made better by Harvie and Slater in government. The failure of the SNP to find a policy-centred narrative not caveated on 'when we're independent' collapsed this deal, not the Greens. Seventeen years of too much grandstanding and insufficient decision-making has become a cross to bear for Yousaf and the SNP. We are now back to an era of problems with few solutions and practical vision.

The tragic spectacle of Harvie, the now former zero-carbon buildings minister, being sent out to defend the Scottish Government's ditching of key climate targets was indicative of the problem.

Get our weekly opinion newsletter for expert analysis from The Scotsman’s team of columnists

Scottish Green Party co-leaders Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie are no longer government ministers after Humza Yousaf ended the Bute House Agreement (Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Images)

The Greens' backbench intransigence ensured policy issues were never swept under the carpet. It was always telling that neither Harvie nor Slater had their ministerial portfolios on their X/Twitter profiles. They retained a fringe enthusiasm and self-respect, something the Lib Dems lost by comparison after the 2010 coalition with the Conservatives at Westminster.

Sacking the Greens makes Yousaf and the SNP look chronically incapable of handling difficult policy questions now, nevermind independence. Slater was quite correct in her damning accusation that the government was guilty of "political cowardice" and "selling out future generations to appease the most reactionary forces in the country".

Progressive budgets, trying to tackle short-term lets, free bus travel for under 22s, and taking ScotRail into public ownership are victories which cannot be taken away from the Scottish Greens. The SNP look woefully weaker than they did at 7am this morning.