HUMZA Yousaf has urged the Greens not to support a Conservative bid to bring him down as First Minister as he insisted the parties still have many shared priorities.
The First Minister appeared at a social housing development in Dundee on Friday after cancelling a speech on Scottish independence at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow at the 11th hour.
It followed a chaotic day at Holyrood in which he threw the Greens out of Government and ended the Bute House Agreement.
Just days after he was seen marching with the Greens at the Believe in Scotland independence march in Glasgow at the weekend, they are now preparing to vote against him in a no confidence vote.
With the SNP also repeatedly refusing to work with the Alba Party, The National asked the First Minister what this week’s chain of events says to the independence movement.
READ MORE: Scottish Government faces no confidence vote as Anas Sarwar steps in
He said: “I think it’s a good point to make. I would say to our colleagues in the Greens that I’ve heard their anger and upset and I understand it.
“I didn’t intend to make them as angry as they are. What I would say to the Greens is we so have shared priorities and independence is on of them, commitment to social justice is another, the fact we want to race to net zero by 2045.
“These are priorities we share and that’s why I’d ask them to reconsider supporting a Conservative motion against an independence party, an independence government.
“I will be writing to them - as I will be writing to all party leaders represented in the Scottish Parliament - to say let’s meet, let speak about those priorities, let’s see how we can move on to each and every one of us can make minority government work for the people of Scotland.”
Yousaf arrived in Dundee to announce an £80 million uplift for affordable housing.
His Government received huge criticism at the end of last year for cutting the affordable housing budget by £200 million.
Yousaf said he came to Dundee to show the SNP cared about the people’s priorities but rejected the notion that that meant independence was not a priority, despite cancelling a speech on just that.
Asked if the change in schedule meant independence was not a priority anymore, he said: “No, it is [a priority], and I’ll be talking plenty about independence as well but when I made the decision to end the Bute House Agreement – the right decision I believe for the party and the country – I did say at the time it would give us the ability as a minority government to refocus some of our priorities to ensure they continue to align with the Scottish people’s.
“One of the major priorities for the people of Scotland is housing, hence why I’m here today to announce £80m for affordable housing.”
READ MORE: How the world's media reported the collapse of the Bute House deal
Yousaf told the media repeatedly he had not considered his position and would not be resigning.
It comes as the SNP chief faces needing to to secure the support of Alba MSP Ash Regan in order to survive the no confidence vote brought about by the Tories.
Regan has written to the First Minister with a number of demands, including a commitment to her Referendum Bill, in exchange for her support.
The vote is likely to be held next week with the Tories, Labour, the Greens and LibDems all confirming they will vote against the First Minister.
If Yousaf does lose the vote, it is likely he would stand down though he doesn’t have to, according to Parliament rules.
However, Scottish Labour have also lodged a motion of no confidence in the Government as a whole. If the Scottish Government were to lose this vote, then Yousaf would be compelled to stand down and this could more easily lead to an early Holyrood election.
The Greens have not yet confirmed whether they will back the Labour motion.
Yousaf accused the opposition parties of “political game playing”, and added: “We’ll be getting on with the job, and when the vote comes I fully intend to win.”
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