SNP won’t make pact with Alex Salmond’s party, Yousaf declares
SCOTLAND’S First Minister has ruled out an electoral pact with Alex Salmond’s Alba Party ahead of a noconfidence vote in his leadership expected this week.
Humza Yousaf dismissed the suggestion by Mr Salmond that the SNP should allow only one pro-independence candidate to stand in each constituency.
His spokesman said: ‘This is fantasy. There is no possibility of the First Minister agreeing any deal like this with Alex Salmond.’
But Mr Salmond, a former SNP first minister, yesterday insisted that claims he wanted a pact were ‘an overwrite’ and said he was ‘not particularly bothered’ by Mr Yousaf ’ s rejection. Instead, he said the Alba Party’s only MSP, Ash Regan, would present the First Minister with ‘reasonable proposals’ which could help him out of a ‘pretty tight corner’.
Mr Yousaf has invited opposition parties to meetings in an attempt to build bridges and establish how they can work with his minority Government. He faces two noconfidence votes – one in him as First Minister, and another in the entire Scottish Government – after terminating a power- sharing deal between the SNP and Scottish Greens amid a row over environmental and trans policies.
The SNP has 63 of 128 voting MSPs, meaning Ms Regan’s support may be needed to get Mr Yousaf over the line. Mr Salmond told Sky News that she would make proposals to ‘put Scotland back on a sensible governmental road’, such as stressing the priority of independence and ‘the protection of women and girls in Scottish society’.
The Greens have confirmed they still plan to vote against Mr Yousaf, with co- leader Lorna Slater telling the BBC: ‘I cannot imagine anything at this point that could change that position. This was a spectacular breach of trust.’