HUMZA Yousaf reiterated his commitment to “progressive values” in a meeting with the Scottish Greens co-leaders following his SNP leadership election victory.
Lorna Slater told Sky News that she and Patrick Harvie had held a meeting with Yousaf in the hours after he was announced as the SNP’s leader.
Yousaf later tweeted a picture of himself with Harvie and Slater that appears to have been taken on the roof of the Scottish Parliament, with Arthur’s seat visible in the background.
In the social media post, Yousaf said the trio “reaffirmed our support for the Bute House agreement” and maintaining a pro-independence majority at Holyrood.
There had been speculation during the leadership race that if Ash Regan or Kate Forbes had won then the Bute House Agreement signed by the SNP and Greens in August 2021 under Nicola Sturgeon’s leadership would fall, as would many of the shared policy areas.
However, with Yousaf cinching the leadership in a close-knit race, Slater told Sky News that she was “excited” to continue the pro-independence majority at Holyrood.
Delighted to meet @scottishgreens co-leaders @patrickharvie & @lornaslater at St Andrew's House this afternoon where we reaffirmed our support for the Bute House Agreement, which will maintain our pro-independence majority at 🏴 @ScotParl & deliver for the people of Scotland. pic.twitter.com/ZtV5IrZMIg
— Humza Yousaf (@HumzaYousaf) March 27, 2023
Speaking of the meeting with the three party leaders, Slater added: “Mr Yousaf reiterated the commitment that he made during his campaign, to the progressive values, to continuing the work to deliver.
“I feel like with the Bute House Agreement, we've got started on some really good things, the Nature Restoration Fund, free bus travel for everyone under 22, our unique Scottish Child Payment.
“And now as we continue to work in government together, we can cooperate on seeing those progressive values move forward as well as tackling the climate crisis and the nature emergency.”
Slater was asked if she was concerned that around half of SNP members voted for policies that were against a lot of what the Scottish Greens stood for.
She said: “We certainly saw quite a bit of turmoil during the campaign for the new leader, but the Scottish Greens have been strong and consistent throughout on what our values are, and on what we stand for.
“And what's in the Bute House Agreement, its commitments to equalities, its commitments on climate nature, on the kind of Scotland we want to build.
“I think we are really excited that now we get to continue to work together on this agenda with Humza Yousaf.”
The Scottish Greens co-leader was also asked if she believed there would be a Scottish independence referendum “very soon”.
Slater replied: “Whether we have an independence referendum in the near future or slightly more distant future, the important thing is that in order to do that we need to continue to build that grassroots support for independence.
“And the Scottish Greens will always do that by painting a picture of what we can do when we have those economic levers to make Scotland fair when we have that proper vision to take Scotland to net zero in a way that is just very, really takes advantage of all the enormous resources that Scotland has really toward that goal.”
