THE fact that Patrick Harvie had already threatened to resign if Scottish Green Party members voted to end the Bute House Agreement told any objective observer that this outcome was a distinct possibility in the near future.

That being the case, how can Patrick Harvie MSP and Lorna Slater MSP logically claim to be acting in the best interests of party members when condemning First Minister Humza Yousaf and the SNP for taking the action that they, on behalf of the Scottish Green Party, may well have been compelled to take anyway?

READ MORE: Lorna Slater claims Humza Yousaf won't win back Greens' support

Furthermore, what sense does it make to compound any grief by throwing tantrums and refusing to work with the party that for the first time in the UK brought Greens into government, on behalf of which both served as ministers to deliver many Scottish Green Party ambitions, only to aid the aims of those who are intent on frustrating further green ambitions?

Am I missing something here?

Stan Grodynski
Longniddry, East Lothian

TO crudely paraphrase from another Scottish tale of dark deeds, “nothing in the Bute House Agreement became them [the Greens] like the leaving of it”. Juvenile, petulant, hubristic. Recall, this is a party which was about to have an extraordinary general meeting to decide if THEY should abandon the agreement! But the very notion that anyone else might also consider its worth? For goodness sake!

Also recall that this is a party with a vanishingly small base of support in Scotland. A party which polled a risible 1.3% of the constituency vote at the last election. Which won not a single seat. Whose manifesto was comprehensively rejected by every Scottish constituency. Yet a huge swathe of the Scottish political class and media seem to spend inordinate amounts of time, resources and energy poring over every nuance of thought and opinion from these self-appointed guardians of the nation’s conscience, for which we the electorate are expected to be duly thankful.

If this is the legacy of D’Hondt, I suggest it needs a thorough review and rethink.

Tom McFadyen
Kirkintilloch

WELL, Humza is even smarter than I thought! In one wee meeting he’s provoked the Greens to support a Tory motion. Really? Bye-bye Greens for the foreseeable future, their votes being hoovered up back to the SNP from whence they came. Then there’s the Alba party. Ash Regan says she will “have to consider their position” and maybe bring doon the FM, surely knowing that will provoke a Scottish election in which Alba will “lose” aw their seats which they never “won” in the first place. RIP Alba.

READ MORE: Alba Party 'put on election footing' after emergency meeting

Tories? They are a burst ba’ anyway – more toxic than a Chernobyl cabbage. How about the Labour Party (Scottish region) plc? Will they be suckered into supporting another Tory suicide note? Or will they bravely abstain in the hope nobody notices they support the Tories in everything else, thus changing nothing in the Scottish Parliament? Interesting times indeed.

Alan Laird
Stirling

I AM a member of the SNP but I like the Green party and what they stand for. Unfortunately their latest policies were dropped: the protected Marine areas and the deposit/return opportunity. Because of what?

The SNP dropped their climate target and the Greens threatened to drop the Bute House Agreement by a vote of their members. Who called that vote? Presumably their leaders would have a hand in that.

What was Humza to do? Be at the mercy of everything the Greens do not like and their voting to end the agreement?

M Forrest
West Kilbride

IN periods of rapid political change, it is wise for political parties to demonstrate kindness and generosity to their opponents.

Ash Regan MSP, the representative of the Alba Party in the Scottish Parliament, has the opportunity to do that for Scotland’s future. Humza Yousaf would be wise to solicit Ash’s support in the upcoming vote of no confidence although he didn’t show her much respect in the post-SNP leadership election period. Ash Regan has shown she is no-one’s puppet as she has demonstrated her ability to stand up for the rights of women and children, giving up her ministerial post.

READ MORE: Alex Salmond claims BBC interview sparked Scottish politics 'crisis'

Her stated position of action for independence, good government, protection of women and children’s rights, and support for the campaign to retain our industrial base are demands that many people in Scotland would find reasonable.

It is regrettable that the politics of Holyrood have become so combative, unlike the relationships of pre-2014 when there was more consensus and the SNP ruled as a minority government, compelled to make friends across parties.

It was encouraging to read Kevin McKenna’s article in Saturday’s Herald detailing Humza Yousaf’s worth as a constituency MSP. The First Minister has also shown courage in speaking up for a ceasefire and negotiation in Gaza unlike the Westminster leadership.

It is my hope that the First Minister gets the support he needs to stay in power and that he begins a new, more consensual chapter in the road to independence. We know there are people in all parties who support independence. There should be more respectful behaviour and less hubris from the SNP leadership.

I hope he gets the opportunity to make a new start with his leadership and leave behind the toxic legacy of his predecessor.

Maggie Chetty
Glasgow