DEAL OR NO DEAL?

SNP alliance with Greens being ripped apart as infighting grows

- PAUL HUTCHEON

THE Bute House Agreement is dying and the only question is when it will be taken to the morgue.

Even if the Scottish Greens stick with the SNP next month, it is hard to imagine the deal surviving until the next election.

Three very different forces are pulling it apart.

The first is left wing members of the Greens who believe their party has been tainted by the compromises of government.

They believe they could put more pressure on the government from outside the tent, free of reputational damage.

Humza survival may hinge on cutting ties and going it alone

The second force is centreright SNP figures who detest the Greens and dismiss them as a bunch of crazies and oddballs.

Backbencher Fergus Ewing and failed leadership contender Kate Forbes are in this group.

More worryingly for Humza Yousaf, Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater is that some SNP government figures also think the deal should be scrapped.

The clock is ticking and a growing number of people in both parties believe the "historic" agreement should be consigned to the past.

A basic audit of the deal raises questions about the so-called benefits of the partnership.

The Greens have swallowed cuts to the housing and further education budgets, and a council tax freeze hated by members.

A party leadership that talks big on the environment also agreed to get rid of legal targets for tackling climate change.

Yousaf also needs to question what his party is getting out of this deal. He saddled Scots with higher income tax - a key Green demand and became embroiled in petty rows about a bottle-return scheme and banning wood-burning stoves.

Yousaf gets all of the blame for the activities of the Greens and none of the credit when the occasional thing goes right.