Will Humza have to dance to Salmond's tune?
- First Minister faces list of demands in return for support
Humza Yousaf will have to meet a list of demands for the support of Alex Salmond’s party if he wants to save his job.
Former SNP leadership candidate Ash Regan, who now leads the Alba Party at Holyrood, has written to the First Minister to offer talks ahead of the no confidence vote.
The Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats and Greens have all said they will vote for the motion of no confidence in Mr Yousaf, expected to happen at Holyrood next week.
It is on track to succeed if Ms Regan votes with the other opposition parties.
An Alba source said ‘the ball is in Humza’s court’ to set out proposals to win her vote.
Ash Regan with Alba leader Alex Salmond
Humza Yousaf visiting a housing development in Dundee yesterday
Ms Regan’s key demands include progressing independence, protecting women’s rights and providing a competent government.
But any concessions on women’s rights and gender issues could risk angering other Nationalist MSPs who demand actions to support transgender Scots.
In a letter to the First Minister yesterday, Ms Regan said that ‘Scotland deserves and demands a reset’.
She said: ‘I am open to talking to anyone across this chamber who will prioritise progress on what we were elected to deliver for our constituents and Scotland.
‘Independence for Scotland, protecting the dignity, safety and rights of women and children, and providing a competent government for our people and businesses across Scotland remain my priorities.’
Ms Regan was elected as Nationalist MSP for Edinburgh Eastern in 2016 and was appointed community safety minister two years later.
She quit government in 2022 because she refused to support Nicola Sturgeon’s gender reforms.
Ms Regan then stood against Mr Yousaf in the SNP leadership contest last year.
In October, she announced she was defecting to Alba because the SNP had ‘lost its focus on independence’.
Mr Yousaf responded by saying she was ‘no great loss to the SNP group’ and claimed that she would resign her Edinburgh Eastern seat if she ‘had principles’.
In a letter to Alba members yesterday, Ms Regan said she is ‘carefully considering our position’ ahead of the no confidence vote and the party’s ‘overriding priority is the urgent pursuit of Scottish independence’.
She said she is ‘passionate about protecting the dignity, safety, and rights of women and girls’, and added: ‘Recent legislation has fallen short on many fronts but, most seriously, it needs to embed safeguarding.
‘The rights of women, children and vulnerable adults must not be sacrificed or jeopardised. Scotland must commit to evidence-based science and rationality replacing ideology in underpinning legislative proposals.
‘Clinicians across Scotland are supporting the Cass Review recommendations.
‘As parliamentarians in Scotland, we need to debate how our clinicians, educators and legislators will implement the holistic set of Dr Cass’s recommendations.’
She also urged the Government to focus on people’s priorities such as health, education, housing and the economy, and to ‘steer clear of divisive identity-based politics’.
Ms Regan said that a ‘sign of good faith’ would be a ‘significant’ government investment to reinforce the campaign to save the Grangemouth oil refinery from closure.
A spokesman for the First Minister said Mr Yousaf will be writing to Ms Regan and all other Holyrood leaders, adding that he ‘looked forward to meeting with her to discuss a range of issues, including Grangemouth’.
