Lame duck must go

HUMZA Yousaf is fast running out of friends as he battles to remain in office – in denial of the odds heavily stacked against him.

In a show of defiance yesterday, he vowed to fight for his job next week when he and his government will face votes of no confidence.

His erstwhile Green partners are furious after the First Minister pulled the plug on his party’s toxic pact with them.

Mr Yousaf can no longer depend on their support and instead may have to rely on the backing of former SNP minister Ash Regan, now an MSP for Alex Salmond’s Alba Party. This weak leader has been guilty of a series of unforced strategic errors – leading him into crisis.

He was Nicola Sturgeon’s puppet – a ‘continuity candidate’ determined to honour her legacy.

But he merely carried on her dismal record of failure and incompetence, enabled by Marxist Green ideologues who compounded his party’s ineptitude. Now Mr Yousaf is at the mercy of a ‘parliament of enemies’ – as he described it on Thursday – leading a minority government.

More turmoil appears to be unavoidable in the coming weeks, including the prospect of a possible snap election.

Indeed, Mr Yousaf said he hadn’t ruled out calling a poll, which would require the backing of two-thirds of MSPs. It seems that everyone knows he is doomed – apart from him. Yet he clings to the delusion his premiership is salvageable.

Scots want fairer taxes, a decent education for their children and a functioning NHS to look after their families’ health.

But they’re saddled with a dysfunctional zombie regime and a First Minister whose sole priority is political self-preservation.