HUMZA Yousaf has spoken out after the Scottish Greens agreed to a vote on the Bute House Agreement.
It comes after we told how Green members are to vote on whether to remain in government with the SNP after the party scrapped key climate targets.
Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie (below) had said things had “come to a head”, with calls from members for a debate about the way forward.
Asked about the news, Yousaf told the BBC: “I really value the Bute House Agreement. I think we’ve achieved a lot together in Government.
“I want to keep achieving a lot with the Green Party but look, it’s a Green Party process that they’re going through, but I really, really value the Bute House Agreement.”
Yousaf was speaking before addressing the crowd at Saturday’s Believe in Scotland rally in George Square.
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Asked if he could be leading a minority government, the First Minister replied: “Now, look, I don’t think that’ll be the case but it’s clearly a discussion that the Greens will have to have.
“I’m delighted to be marching at this independence rally [alongside] Green colleagues like Ross Greer MSP and many other Green colleagues right across the country and that’s what, of course, one of the many issues that unites us is; we want to see independence for our country.”
Asked if he felt pressured to give SNP members a vote on the power-sharing deal, Yousaf said: “Our members have had a vote before. There’s been discussions about the Bute House Agreement.
“We are supportive of it because we’ve achieved a lot in Government, delivered for the priorities of the people.
“Whether it’s, of course, this year's estimated 100,000 children to be lifted out of poverty, whether that’s the most generous concessionary bus travel, whether it’s, of course, many of the other policies that we’ve achieved together.
“I’m confident we can build upon that with the Bute House Agreement.”
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