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Kate Forbes tells Sky News she is considering running to replace Humza Yousaf as SNP leader, as John Swinney – another potential candidate – says the SNP must “come together”.
Tuesday 30 April 2024 15:45, UK
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Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf has resigned – days after he cut the SNP’s powersharing deal with the Scottish Greens.
It followed a bitter row over the SNP’s climbdown on climate targets as he said the agreement between the parties had “served its purpose”.
As a result, his former Green allies teamed up with the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats to get behind two no-confidence motions, one in himself as leader of Scotland and another regarding the entire Scottish government.
Now attention turns to another SNP leadership contest and what the divisions in Scottish politics could mean for the future of the independence campaign.
On the Sky News Daily, Matt Barbet speaks to Paul Hutcheon, political editor of the Daily Record, and Shona Craven, from The National, about how the SNP can move on after Mr Yousaf’s resignation.
Plus, Connor Gillies, our Scotland correspondent, explains how the leadership election will unfold.
Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie has told Sky News his party will not be backing a motion of no-confidence in the Scottish government which is due to be voted on tomorrow.
“We’ve made it clear all along that our issue was with Humza Yousaf and the decisions he made last week that broke trust with not only our party, but everybody who wants Scotland to have a progressive pro-independence majority government,” he said.
“That’s what we had, and we no longer have that as a result of Humza Yousaf’s decisions.”
The conversation with Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron now turns to Iran, and the idea that there is a “reluctance in government” to move against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
He says: “All of the things we need to do to put pressure on Iran and to make sure that where they act illegally we can act against them are in place through our sanctions regime we have enhanced.
“We’ve sanctioned the IRGC in its entirety.”
Lord Cameron adds that when he asks law enforcement and police whether the extra step of proscription is necessary: “The answer is no.”
“There is a disadvantage, to be frank about it, from proscription, which is it would effectively end diplomatic relations.
“And while our diplomatic relations are pretty terse… we are actually able to have that conversation.”
The minister says he wants to be able to have these conversations himself, rather than asking allies to send a message.
“You need at some level those diplomatic relations,” he adds.
Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron is appearing before the Lords International Relations and Defence Committee, where the conversation has focused on the conflict in Israel and Gaza.
He was asked about reports of “mass graves” at Nasser hospital, with Palestinians claiming that 283 bodies were found in one location.
Israel has said claims that it buried bodies there are “baseless”.
Responding to this, Lord Cameron said the UK agrees “this needs to be investigated”.
“It is extremely disturbing.”
However, he added: “I’m very nervous about going beyond that because I think with some previous events in this conflict people jump to conclusions too quickly.
“It’s had an enormous impact on social media and elsewhere, I think we need the Israelis urgently to get to the bottom of what happened.”
Gardai will not be assigned to physically police the border with Northern Ireland, the Irish Department of Justice has said, amid a row over migrants crossing from the UK to the republic.
The department yesterday announced its own expanding role in immigration registration duties would “free up” 100 gardai for frontline enforcement work, including deportations.
But in a statement today it has clarified the work required to make the 100 gardai available for frontline duties would take up to 12 months.
It emphasised the protection of an open border on the island of Ireland was a “key priority to the communities on both sides”, but said: “It is not the case that these Gardai will be assigned to physically police the border with Northern Ireland.”
It comes after the Irish prime minister insisted the UK must respect an existing arrangement to take back asylum seekers (see 9.19am post).
Simon Harris told Sky News the UK must honour the agreement as a new Irish law is being drafted to ensure the UK is seen as a safe country for migrants despite Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda plan.
The prime minister has claimed the increase showed his scheme was working.
This afternoon Mr Sunak’s spokesperson said there are “operational agreements” between the UK and the Republic of Ireland but “not a legal obligation” to accept the return of asylum seekers (see 12.33pm post).
Speculation is rife about who could enter the race to be the next leader of the Scottish National Party after Humza Yousaf resigned yesterday.
One name mentioned repeatedly by key SNP figures is John Swinney, the former deputy first minister, but it appears he is still considering his move.
He said today: “I’m giving it all a great deal of thought to make sure that I come to the right decision for my family, my party and my country.”
The longtime MSP declined to stand in the leadership race last year, saying it was time for a new generation of SNP members to come to the fore.
Asked what had changed, he said: “Events change, don’t they? Nothing ever remains the same.
“What’s changed is that my party finds itself in a very different and more difficult situation than it found itself in 12 months ago.
“I would not be doing a service to the many, many, many people who have contacted me, asking me to stand, and if I don’t think about this properly, it wouldn’t be my style to ignore the representations made to me – I’m someone who listens and addresses the points that are put to me and that’s exactly what I’m doing just now.”
Nominations have now opened in the SNP leadership contest to find a replacement for First Minister Humza Yousaf after he announced he was stepping down yesterday.
Senior figures have backed former deputy first minister John Swinney for the top job, while a smaller number of the party’s parliamentarians have backed former finance secretary Kate Forbes.
Mr Yousaf has said he will stay on to allow a successor to be chosen.
How does the contest work?
The SNP’s national secretary announced nominations had opened yesterday at 11.59pm.
They will close next Monday.
Prospective candidates will need to gain the support of 100 members from 20 different SNP branches in order to qualify for the contest.
What happens next?
Whoever wins the contest will then need to be able to win enough votes in Holyrood to be elected first minister.
The SNP needs just two votes to secure an overall majority.
The most likely backers for the SNP would be the Greens, given both parties are pro-independence.
However, the Greens announced last week they would not support the first minister in a confidence vote after Mr Yousaf scrapped the powersharing agreement between the party and the SNP, which eventually led to his political downfall.
The Sky News live poll tracker – collated and updated by our Data and Forensics team – aggregates various surveys to indicate how voters feel about the different political parties.
With the local election campaign well under way, Labour is still sitting comfortably ahead, with the Tories trailing behind.
See the latest update below – and you can read more about the methodology behind the tracker here.
Kate Forbes narrowly lost out to Humza Yousaf in last year’s SNP leadership contest.
Ms Forbes has told Sky News she is considering entering the race again in the wake of Mr Yousaf’s resignation.
The former finance secretary faced backlash during her campaign last year after admitting she would have voted against gay marriage in Scotland when it was made legal a decade ago.
The Free Church of Scotland member also told Sky News that having children out of marriage is “wrong” and something she would “seek to avoid”.
However, the MSP for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch stressed that “in a free society you can do what you want”.
Ms Forbes had argued that “continuity won’t cut it”.
After losing to Mr Yousaf by 48% to 52%, she said: “If we are to continue to win elections, we need to continue to listen and maintain trust.”
Ms Forbes turned down the role of rural affairs minister, which at the time was seen as a demotion.
Although her views on social issues remain unpopular with some of her MSP colleagues, she was one of the few SNP ministers who did not delete her WhatsApp messages during the COVID pandemic.
Ms Forbes would face resistance from the Scottish Greens, who have previously ruled out working with her.
SNP colleague Fergus Ewing is backing Ms Forbes, saying she is “head and shoulders” above any other potential candidate.
By Connor Gillies, Scotland correspondent
Kate Forbes has exclusively told Sky News there is “a lot of support” for her across the SNP as she confirms she is considering standing to replace Humza Yousaf.
In her first and only interview since the first minister quit she was asked if the contest could become a John Swinney coronation and said “the membership need to be behind the next leader and process needs to reflect that”.
Sky News understands Ms Forbes will make her final decision within the next 24 hours.
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