National columnists react to Humza Yousaf's resignation

In this article, you'll find analysis from the likes of Lesley Riddoch, Ruth Wishart and Kelly Given. 

In tomorrow's paper you'll find lots of coverage from today's big news and even more commentary from some of your favourite writers. 

For now, here's the immediate takes from some of our top authors.

READ MORE: LIVE: SNP leadership race begins after Humza Yousaf resigns

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Lesley Riddoch

Well, I had a wee greet watching Humza Yousaf sign off as First Minister. He was decent enough to take personal responsibility for severing ties with the Greens in a way they found bruising and provocative, progressive enough to highlight income redistribution and the rising tide of diversity in his final speech, modest enough to say he’ll campaign for Gaza from the back benches and generous enough to say he feels no ill will to anyone. What he said about independence – that the last miles of a marathon are always hardest – was also well put. His pride in leading his country – his only home – was evident. And there was no shame in stumbling finally, at mention of his own family.

"Pollyanna politics" many will respond. Grow up.

Ok - but it does really matter how someone conducts themselves – especially leaving high office. Insiders may have seen code within his speech, but the public saw no acrimony or bitterness as Yousaf handed over as positively as possible. Maybe as Alex Salmond suggests Yousaf was stopped from cutting an Alba deal by an SNP old guard, reluctant to confer ANY credibility on their indy rivals.

And to that degree the old fault-lines within the Yes movement and the SNP itself have become entrenched during the brief tenure of this FM.

But Yousaf’s measured tones set the template against which other responses will be judged. Fergus Ewing for example, expressed his hope that Kate Forbes will throw her cap into the ring. But on a Radio Scotland interview he described the Scottish Greens as extremist fanatics, prickly people and not real politicians. Ms Forbes is clearly no fan of the Greens either but I’m sure she won’t want her lieutenants conducting headlong, score-settling antagonistic rammies in public right now.

Holyrood is a proportional Parliament designed to produce coalition, consensus and joint working. There has been ONE majority government since devolution began 25 years ago, but that 2011 victory by Alex Salmond is unlikely to be repeated by any pro-indy leader since tactically-voting Unionists are now forewarned.

This means the hard work that goes into collaboration is the only game in town and politicians who behave with courtesy and optimism are at a premium, whilst those drawing red lines – no matter how annoying the adversary – are working from a tired, old Westminster mindset.

I imagine the Scottish Greens have realised – too late – that their own emotional reactions after the Bute House Agreement showdown put the tin lid on Humza Yousaf and their own direct influence in government.

Perhaps this was inevitable. But Humza Yousaf’s demise argues for more persuasive, optimistic, upbeat, collaborative leadership – not less.

Ruth Wishart

Time to update the old cliché: A week may be a long time in politics; some weekends last a positive lifetime. From the departure of the Greens to the First Minister’s prospective resignation at high noon yesterday we’re talking a mere 80 odd hours.

The Yousaf speech was honest and dignified. He accepted he got the sacking wrong last Thursday morning, in style if not in substance. He talked of not sacrificing his values and principles in the pursuit of power, though in truth power had already ebbed away given that the only liferaft left was being helmed by Alba’s Ash Regan.

You might argue too that power has inevitably ebbed from a party which has spent 17 of the 25 Holyrood years in government. Yousaf’s brief term of office was also holed beneath the water line by some events over which he had no control, and some policies which he had not initiated.

Operation Branchform loomed large over his period in office, not least the sight of a big blue tent planked on his predecessor’s lawn.

Then there were the policy missteps – going to court to try and over turn a Scotland Office veto on the Gender Reform Recognition bill was arguably an expensive error of judgement. Then there were some debacles like the end of bottle deposit return scheme which might have been more adroitly handled by someone more experienced than a tyro Green junior minister.

In fact there have been a number of policies which might have sounded progressive, but which hardly echoed the views of families worried sick about too much month remaining at the end of their money.

Putting both Slater and Harvie into office was hardly guaranteed to bring joy to those in his own party who might have hoped for preferment. In addition to which the only Green red lines (sic) appeared to concern gender issues rather than independence.

The next first minister will be asked to grasp a well poisoned chalice. I can’t imagine Kate Forbes would view a contest in current climes as an attractive option though she undoubtedly has a robust intellectual hinterland.

John Swinney, decent chap though he is, is very much the back to the future option. And not at the front of the queue when charisma pills were handed out.

Assa Samake-Roman

In the aftermath of Humza Yousaf stepping down as leader of the SNP and First Minister of Scotland, I have a feeling that everybody needs to step back, breathe deeply and think a lot.

I must say the thing I am most frustrated about it that Humza Yousaf didn’t quit sooner, as it was quite obvious that there was no way he would be able to stay on as First Minister. Why prolong the drama? During the weekend, I found myself wondering if maybe I'd missed something along the way, maybe the First Minister was seeing something that none of us were seeing?

Nobody's excited about another leadership election, especially after how messy things got last time around. The political scene in Scotland in general is feeling quite disillusioning right now, and the recent SNP/Green rollercoaster ride is just adding to that impression.

Amidst all the chaos though, there's a chance for some productive soul-searching within the pro-independence movement. Yousaf's resignation after just over one year in power should be a wake-up call. Anyone involved in the pro-independence movement needs to figure out what brings them together, what tears them apart, and most importantly, what on Earth they actually want an independent Scotland to look like.

At the heart of it all is this big question: What does independence even mean for Scotland? It's not enough to just toss around the word like some kind of incantation. People need to see a picture of what an independent Scotland could actually look like in real life—how it can make things better for all of us. And that means talking about the nitty-gritty stuff, like healthcare, housing, all the other everyday things that matter to people, as well as human rights and how we further people’s rights. Any politics that is worth our attention needs to walk on both legs.

What we need now is a genuine post-mortem—a candid reckoning with the failures and shortcomings that have led us to this juncture. This requires a willingness to engage in uncomfortable conversations, to confront our own biases and blind spots, and to accept personal responsibility for our collective missteps.

I really hope this moment is used to hit the reset button, go on an introspective journey and find a sense of purpose.

Kelly Given

A week is a long time in politics, as the saying goes – but this week Scottish politics is truly giving that a run for its money.  We’ve gone from almost certain security and stability to utter crisis and chaos in the space of a few days. A week wasn’t even necessary. 

The rash ending of the Bute House Agreement was an admittedly baffling decision from where I’m sitting. I can’t, no matter how hard I try, understand why Humza Yousaf would voluntarily implode his ability to govern effectively, and serious questions need to be raised about who was advising him to do so. That being said, the instability being presented by the Greens as they threatened to pull out of it themselves undoubtedly put the First Minister in a difficult position from a leadership perspective. There’s no faster way to lose confidence as a leader than to appear weak or shaky - like someone other than yourself is calling the shots. In many ways, he needed to take decisive action. 

READ MORE: Next SNP leader betting odds: Who will replace Humza Yousaf?

I think his problems have arisen primarily from assuming a continuation of good faith from the Greens, which obviously was a mistake. Regardless of the hurt feelings that might be involved, a socially progressive entity like the Greens supporting a Tory motion of no confidence and a Labour attempt to destabilise a progressive, independence-supporting Government absolutely stinks. It seems power is a hell of a drug after all, and one that even the Greens aren’t immune to. 

In my opinion, there has been poor decision making on all fronts this week – inclusive of the Scottish Tories and Labour who are shamelessly seeking to play politics. Though I can’t say I am at all surprised, I have come to expect the poorest of calls from both. They have little else to offer Scotland than their ill attempts at politicking. 

Regardless, the loss of Humza Yousaf will be felt deeply. Bad decision or not, he won’t be defined or remembered by it. He will be remembered for his unwavering compassion, his dedication to the country he loves and his world-class leadership on Palestine even when it was politically difficult. As his speech proved today, Yousaf is a thoroughly kind and decent man – the kind that feels more like a political rarity every day. Scotland will be worse off for his departure. 

Steph Paton

If there is anything good to come from the collapse of the SNP-Green power sharing deal, I hope it will be a period of self-reflection on the part of both parties involved.

What began ostensibly as the establishment of a progressive, pro-independence majority in the Scottish Parliament has, in the interim, become a point of contention for both party’s respective memberships who have felt democratically side-lined: For left-wing activists within the Scottish Greens who believe that their leadership has been steamrolled into backing regressive taxation policies and climate target U-turns; and for the SNP’s reactionary wing who, contrary to all evidence before them, opine that the Greens were pressing the party to focus on minority issues to the detriment of all others.

Humza Yousaf’s catastrophic misstep in unilaterally ending the Bute House Agreement has brought those tensions to foreground – and while his resignation speech was both gracious and, I believe, heartfelt, I do have a deep concern that rather than pause to consider the circumstances that led to this moment, the SNP is instead preparing to employ its tried and tested practice of pointing the finger everywhere but at themselves.

The Greens, it seems, are to be held accountable for the possibility of the SNP’s regressive factions taking power in the wake of Yousaf’s resignation; yet is it really their responsibility to protect the SNP from itself?

READ MORE: John Curtice delivers verdict on Humza Yousaf resignation

That ire would be better directed at successive leaders who, under the guise of big tent politics, have allowed social and fiscal conservatives to dig their claws into the party without consequence.

And while Labour and the Conservatives have readied themselves to exploit this weakness in the Government to their own ends, I do not see how the actions of the Scottish Greens could be viewed as anything other than wholly justified. How could they have confidence in a First Minister who, at the first whiff of a democratic debate on the future of the Bute House Agreement, decided to end it without any say from the party’s membership?

Unless the party has a serious discussion on what it actually stands for, it seems doomed to wallow in undelivered promises until, having positioned itself – to the anger of many – as the sole vehicle for leaving the United Kingdom, the party will find itself sitting outside of Bute House with the promise of independence left undelivered.