Humza Yousaf’s position as first minister is in danger, but the problems predate his leadership

A year ago, Scotland’s newly elected first minister, Humza Yousaf , said that the Scottish National party’s 2021 pact with the Scottish Greens – giving him a majority in the Holyrood parliament – was “worth its weight in gold”. As recently as Tuesday, Mr Yousaf was publicly buffing his treasure, insisting that he hoped the deal would continue . Less than 48 hours later, however, he decided it was time to sell, scrapping the pact and pledging instead to lead a minority SNP government for the remaining two years of this Scottish parliament. Shortly afterwards, the furious Greens vowed to back next week’s Conservative motion of no confidence against the man who had “betrayed” them.

The split is no surprise. Last week, the Scottish government scrapped its pledge of a 75% cut in carbon emissions by 2030, and its legally binding annual reduction targets. It did so after the UK Climate Change Committee declared the target “no longer credible” because not enough groundwork had been done. The Scottish Greens reacted with anger; an emergency meeting was planned for May to decide whether to continue in government. Meanwhile, some SNP backbenchers made clear that they had had enough too. On Thursday, anxious to show decisive leadership, Mr Yousaf got in first, dumping the deal.

Former coalition partners’ decision brings Scottish first minister to brink of losing vote, which could make his position untenable

Humza Yousaf could be forced to quit as first minister next week after the Scottish Greens announced they would back a Conservative motion of no confidence against the man who “betrayed” the Greens by unilaterally ending a coalition deal.

Patrick Harvie, the Scottish Greens’ co-leader, said the party was furious Yousaf had suddenly torn up the Bute House agreement, which had seen the Greens share power with the Scottish National party (SNP) for nearly three years.

Scottish first minister says scrapping power-sharing deal ‘marks a new beginning for the SNP government’

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Humza Yousaf has put the Scottish National party on an election footing after unilaterally scrapping his party’s landmark coalition with the Greens and signalling he will drop vote-losing policies.

In a surprise move early on Thursday morning, the first minister called in the Scottish Greens’ two co-leaders, Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater, to tell them they were being sacked, as he axed a power-sharing deal first hailed as a new era in consensus politics.

Holyrood standards committee to examine findings of inquiry that upheld three complaints against ex-minister

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The former Scottish health secretary Michael Matheson faces being suspended from Holyrood after wrongly claiming nearly £11,000 in expenses for an iPad roaming bill run up on holiday.

An official inquiry by the Scottish parliament found Matheson breached two parts of its code of conduct by failing to abide by parliamentary policies and by making “improper use” of its expenses.

Up to 27 Gaelic development officers based on Hebridean islands and in rural counties and cities to be laid off

Gaelic-language campaigners and MSPs have protested furiously about plans to axe a network of Gaelic community workers, raising fresh fears about the survival of the language.

Up to 27 Gaelic development workers based in Hebridean islands, rural counties and Scotland’s major cities are being laid off after the Scottish government cut funding to Bòrd na Gàidhlig (BnG), the body charged with protecting and reviving Gaelic.

By allowing himself to be swayed by Labour arguments over Gaza, the House of Commons speaker has shown himself unworthy of the position

So, the SNP has “more cynicism in its veins than it has the milk of human kindness”, according to Andrew Rawnsley (“ If this tawdry affair ends with a red card for the Commons ref Sir Lindsay Hoyle, it will not reflect well on our MPs ”, Comment). Has it occurred to him that not everything the SNP does is designed solely to embarrass the Labour party? There are huge numbers of people who want their representatives to express an unequivocal call for an immediate end to the mass slaughter of civilians in Gaza. The fact that they include many MPs in the Labour party (as well as, I venture to suggest, most of the “cynical” SNP) was the cause of the turmoil in parliament on 21 February, as Labour leaders manipulated a weak speaker to ensure those MPs would be denied that opportunity.

The clerk of the House of Commons warned Lindsay Hoyle that accepting Labour’s amendment and allowing it to be voted on first was likely to prevent the SNP motion from being considered, despite the fact that [it] was one of only three days in the year when the SNP is supposedly permitted to move a motion. The speaker allowed the Labour party to highjack the SNP opposition day and in the ensuing turmoil, and under the inept management of the deputy speaker, the Labour amendment was passed without a division.

Devastating focus on separatism means public services have been run down, Gove tells Tory activists in Aberdeen

Michael Gove has accused the Scottish National party government of running down Scotland because of its “devastating” obsession with independence, as he tried to rally Tory activists in Aberdeen.

Gove, an Aberdonian who is now the most prominent Scot in the UK government, said Scotland’s institutions had been neglected by the SNP because it had focused so heavily on the constitution at the expense of public services.

Refusal by Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish leaders to approve candidates means whole recruitment process may have to be rerun

Ministers in Westminster have been accused of trying to blunt the teeth of the UK’s net zero watchdog by appointing a Tory loyalist to the post of chair of the Climate Change Committee (CCC).

The leaders of the devolved governments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have refused to approve any of the six shortlisted candidates, saying they are all too close to the Conservatives and lack diversity.

Apologists for the mass slaughter of Palestinians are held up as mainstream, respectable moderates. Meanwhile, the destruction of Gaza goes on

A new consensus has emerged in British politics: peaceful protesters are dangerous, hateful extremists, but apologists for the mass slaughter of tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians are mainstream, respectable moderates. From his prime ministerial bully pulpit, Rishi Sunak declares there is a “ growing consensus ” that “mob rule is replacing democratic rule”. The world has been turned upside down, and you are entitled to ask why.

How this all unfolded is instructive. Last week, the Scottish National party used one of its three annual opposition days to table a motion demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Labour was in a bind: under pressure from voters who are opposed to Israel’s brutal war, a huge parliamentary rebellion beckoned, with shadow ministers prepared to resign.

Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist