Bute House Agreement: Rebel SNP backbencher Fergus Ewing says deal with the Greens must be dropped before general election

The Inverness and Nairn MSP says the Greens could cost some SNP MPs their seats at the general election

Rebel SNP backbencher Fergus Ewing says the SNP should scrap its deal with the Greens before the general election, as they could “cost several SNP MPs their seats”.

The Inverness and Nairn MSP said the deal, which officially brought the Scottish Greens into government in Holyrood, needed to be ended before general election campaigning gets fully underway.

He said the Greens were standing candidates against the SNP in many Scottish seats and were telling voters not to support the SNP.

Scottish Greens co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater with former first minister Nicola Sturgeon after signing the Bute House Agreement. Image: Lisa Ferguson.

Mr Ewing, who has consistently argued against the Bute House Agreement, said the “cornerstone” of the deal “has crumbled”.

Speaking to The Herald, he said: “The co-operation agreement with the Greens stipulates that its ‘cornerstone’ is ‘mutual trust and good faith’. It’s clear from recent blistering attacks by Green MSPs, including Ross Greer, Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie, upon the SNP Government that this trust has broken down and good faith, if it ever existed, is no longer.

“The cornerstone of the Bute House deal has crumbled. It’s now time the Bute House Agreement is given the boot – and that boot must be applied before the UK general election.”

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has yet to set a date for the general election, but has confirmed it will take place before the end of the year.

Fergus Ewing. Picture: Jane Barlow/PA Wire

Mr Ewing said: “At that imminent election, our Green ‘partners’ are now even urging voters not to vote SNP. They are contesting seats against us, which will cost several of our MPs their seats.

“Independence has been quietly dropped from their agenda. The Greens are cosying up to Labour. How can we continue to be partners with a party whose leaders routinely abuse us?

“As Humza heaps praise on them, they express contempt for us. Before the UK general election campaign begins in earnest, Humza surely must extricate the party from this Faustian pact with a small group of self-confessed extremists.”

This is not the first time Mr Ewing has called for the Bute House Agreement to be thrown in the bin, having previously been critical of government policies which have emerged on the back of the partnership, such as the deposit return scheme, highly-protected marine areas, and gender reform.

He was recently suspended from the SNP for a week for supporting a no-confidence vote in Ms Slater, a Green government minister, over her handling of the deposit return scheme.

In response, Green MSP Ross Greer said: “Mr Ewing’s odd fixation with the Scottish Greens clearly isn’t fading.

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“He really must find a hobby less harmful to his blood pressure. Any high school modern studies pupil could tell you that the Scottish Government and UK Parliament are different institutions.

“Perhaps Mr Ewing should spend some time reading the Scotland Act rather than continue this constant whining about the Bute House Agreement.”

A SNP spokesperson said party members voted “overwhelmingly” to support the Bute House Agreement in 2021, and then backed Humza Yousaf as party leader, with the First Minister standing on a manifesto endorsing the partnership.