This SNP government has sat too long: in the name of God go
Scots deserve an immediate election after Hapless Humza's final fall
In 2007 the Scottish National Party were ushered into power for the first time in Holyrood. The general feeling was that Scottish Labour, supported by the Liberal Democrats were in a torpor, politically lethargic and lacking policy vigour. That was then, this is now. And after 17 years the wheel of political fortunes has turned and the whispers now speak of an SNP, once heralded as the beacon for progressivism and innovation now lays prone, languishing in a quagmire of their own making.
What was once seen by many in 2007 as something of a dynamic force for change has now decisively devolved into a shadow of its former self. Today Scots are faced with the spectacle of a third SNP First Minister in a year. Another one bites the dust.
And just as with Nicola Sturgeon, Humza Yousaf too is resigning as FM - but only after his party elects a new SNP leader. That way they can hope to avoid the 28 day countdown clock before Holyrood either elects a new FM or we hold a general election. As with last time, the SNP prioritise clinging desperately to power and in all likelihood outdated ideologies and policies long past their expiration date.
Humza’s misjudgements
How did it come to this? Humza Yousaf’s first mistake was permitting his opponents during the leadership race to replace Sturgeon to define him. It was his internal opponents to brandished him Mr Continuity, and Humza gleefully embraced the title, allowing opponents to define him. That was the first sign his political judgement wasn’t up to scratch. This was something Susan Dalgety, Andrew Liddle and myself discussed a while back on the Substack podcast back in April last year, here’s a short clip from our discussion from back then:
On a side note, Susan Dalgety (Scotsman), Andrew Liddle (Courier) and myself (Think Scotland) will be recording another Discussions podcast. All our previous episodes can be found by clicking here
The second sign of Humza’s hapless political judgement came quickly after he narrowly became SNP leader. Rather than bring his oppents in the leadership race into his government, he pushed them both away. Ash Regan was driven into the arms of Alex Salmond’s Alba as Humza - ever the gentleman - branded her “no great loss”. Meanwhile Kate Forbes, who won nearly half of the SNP membership vote - was given a derisory non-job offer and effectively forced into internal exile on the backbenches.
Huge misjudgements which I said repeatedly ever since left Humza Yousaf reliant on the Scottish Greens to retain his job as First Minister. And sure enough I’ve been proven correct, within a days of the Bute House Agreement ending the FM is gone. Why? Because a year back he alienated his internal opponents inside the SNP and utterly failed to unify his party beneath his leadership.
Third mistake closely ties with the first error, Humza insisted on injecting himself into the sordid affairs of the previous leadership. Refusing critical distance, Humza hugged Sturgeon and Murrell close. Their record he insisted was his record. Mind you, upsetting his critics inside the SNP and becoming personally dependent on the Greens to keep his job also had the implication the Sturgeon-Harvie axis of gender policy had to continue forward. Humza the brief was compelled to ignore the fears of women about their sex based rights being eroded, dismissing those warning of how utterly unpopular the gender identity politics was with the wider electorate. And as with Sturgeon it has ultimately contributed to bringing him down.
Humza Yousaf really ought to have sought political distance from his predecessor but never did, instead even injecting himself with media comments into the fraud squad investigation.
Finally Humza decided to end the BHA in the worst possible way, rather than gently saying to Green colleagues he decided to leave the blood on the carpets. No doubt the First Minister reckoned the Green membership vote on the BHA’s future was an embarrassment leaving him not in control of political events, so decided to primitively ‘show strength’ by humiliating Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie at 8am. Not smart, there had to be better ways to end the BHA without forcing the Greens to do the walk of shame in front of the morning press core. Even ideologically possessed Green politicians have feelings.
Within an hour the Greens had gone full Glenn Close Fatal Attraction and Humza was reduced to the pathetic sight of being that ex-boyfriend who dumps you, asks you to still be friends and why not come meet-up for a coffee.
Sour notes
Even his resignation speech at noon today underscored his lack of political judgement - a feature of his short term in high office.
In a the space of a few sentences the outgoing First Minister succeeded in reminding the women of Scotland why he couldn’t be trusted to speak up for their sex based rights. Humza Yousaf, who insisted on eroding women’s protections and dismissing their fears took a petty swipe at Ash Regan on the way out the door.
When Humza Yousaf said he wasn't "prepared to trade his values & principles simply to retain power" it was obvious what he was referring to. Whatever you think of Ash Regan and her indy thermometers, her demand that Humza focus on the protection “dignity, safety & rights of women & children” was hardly an unreasonable demand. Except, perhaps to the more gender-crazed ideologues inside parts of the SNP. Ms Regan demanded Humza put women and children’s protections first in return for support. Humza on the way out the door branded this ‘trading his values and principles’ in the pursuit of retaining power. Humza Yousaf ends as he began, emphasising to Scottish women that his ‘values and principles’ don’t extent to women demanding protections and sex based rights. The gentleman who called Ms Regan ‘no great loss’ apparently learnt nothing amid his downfall.
But perhaps Mr Yousaf was thinking about Alba’s demand for “providing a competent government”? Was that the bridge too far that meant Humza was trading his values for power? Or maybe I’m wrong again, so third guess is always the charm maybe he felt the Alba demand for a refocusing on independence was selling out SNP values? Now isn’t that an interestingly telling possibility?
But even his swan song has created another political headache for the SNP. Although at midday today Humza Yousaf was insisting he “prepared to trade his values & principles”, according to Alba leader Alex Salmond as recently as seven thirty this morning he was frantically lobbying them for support to cling onto high office.
Politically inept, Humza Yousaf has succeeded in providing Alex ‘sleepy cuddles’ Salmond a platform for political relevance again. I’m sure Eck’s ego is feeling suitably well stroked again as he waddles gleefully from interview to interview.
But inside the governing SNP some insist everything I’ve mentioned above is irrelevant. Not remotely true, none of anything I’ve written is why Humza Yousaf belly flopped as First Minister.
Didn’t you know Humza wasn’t brought low through his own political misjudgements. Far from it, it’s actually that Scots are all just closeted racists. That is the line Nats are whispering to the Westminster correspondent for The Scotsman Alexander Brown
There are many reasons Humza Yousaf failed as First Minister, none of them involve his skin colour. It’s an incredible thing for SNP sources to be claiming at this juncture that Scots are just an inherently racist country. It’s reflective of an arrogance and conceit intermingling with a severe inability to look objectively in the mirror.
After 17 years it no longer matters who becomes the next SNP leader. Scotland has had enough of this bin-fire of a government. Ipsos recent polling has revealed that only 32% of Scots believe this Scottish Government “deserves” to be re-elected. In the same Ipsos poll, it’s equally clear Scottish Labour still have much work ahead to convince the electorate that they are ready for a return to power in Bute House.
Meanwhile let’s all spare a thought for the political issues which we ought to be writing about this week, but due to Humza Yousaf’s ineptitude and the Scottish Green’s going full Glenn Close Fatal Attraction, we no longer are. As the SNP fight and squabble over whose turn it is to lead the government, here's the day job none of them seem remotely interested in: 'Six ferries down over one weekend as CalMac 'calamity' deepens' Spare a thought for our remote island communities, they’ll soon long longer have any ferries at all never mind an unreliable service. As Scotland’s island communities careen toward being fully cut-off, this governing party stands as a cautionary tale of the perils of complacency, arrogance, ideological possession and conceit.
In April 1653 one Oliver Cromwell once told an obnoxious, immovable governing group of self-servers
“It is not fit that you should sit here any longer. You have sat here too long for any good you have been doing lately … In the name of God go.”
While I am hardly a fan of Cromwell, perhaps someone ought to tell this 17 year long SNP government ‘in the name of God go’?
Time for a Scottish election, Scotland deserves better than this clumsy, clueless, craven, clattering collective cadence of incompetence. They’ve been casting shadows of chaos and confusion across the corridors of power for too long.
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Typically classless analysis. Many figures across the political divide have found it in themselves to acknowledge Yousalfs dignity in resignation and some of his success. Most progressive income tax system in the UK. Higher salaries of public sector workers in the UK ensuring the avoidance of the crippling strikes seen in England. The child payment scheme seen as the ONLY positive step taken anywhere in the UK to address child poverty. Your mention of CALMAC is typical Thomson, playing to the daily mail readership who just cant see the far bigger issues like the pending collapse of public services UK wide due to austerity that labour do not plan to redress. Or the continued disaster that is brexit, which again labour think is a great idea.