Alba MSP Ash Regan launches motion of no confidence in Green minister Patrick Harvie over Cass review

Ash Regan MSP says Mr Harvie’s future needs to be voted on after he “sided with ideology over evidence’

The Alba Party has launched a motion of no confidence in Green government minister Patrick Harvie.

The party’s only MSP Ash Regan, who defected to the party from the SNP last year, said a vote needed to be held into Mr Harvie’s future “for siding with ideology over evidence after NHS clinicians paused puberty blockers at Sandyford, in line with the Cass Review”.

Last week prescriptions for puberty blockers for trans children under the age of 18 was paused on the back of the Cass report. This report, which looked at NHS services in England, criticised the lack of evidence around the use of puberty blockers and other medical interventions.

Scottish Green Party co-leader Andrew Milligan/Press Association.

Alba said Mr Harvie, co-leader of the Scottish Greens, had refused on “several occasions” to accept the recommendations of the Cass Review.

Ms Regan said: “The motion of no confidence speaks for itself. The Scottish Greens wish to side with ideology over clinical evidence. I am hopeful that MSPs will put good governance first, ahead of party lines, and support the motion.”

If the motion is backed by 25 other MSPs, a vote of no confidence will be held on Mr Harvie, who is minister for zero carbon buildings, active travel and tenants’ rights.

However, it has been reported that Tory MSPs are unlikely to back the motion, which would mean it would be unlikely to reach the minimum threshold.

Alba MSP Ash Regan. Image: Lisa Ferguson/National World.

Scottish Green party members are due to hold a vote on whether or not to continue with the Bute House Agreement, which officially brought the Greens into government for the first time since 2021.

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Jen Bell, co-leader of the Rainbow Greens, the party’s LGBT+ wing, said members were angry about the rolling back of trans healthcare, and at the Scottish Government for ditching its 2030 climate targets.

Earlier this week, she said: “Unless something drastically changes, I don’t see how it can continue as it is. I don’t see how the membership can go into it with enthusiasm and confidence.

“This is the most important debate we will have in the history of the entire party, but it is clear the way things are. The status quo is not an option.”