The Greens are about to inflict yet more pain on Humza Yousaf - Euan McColm

First Minister Humza Yousaf is spending far too much time and energy defending the Scottish Greens, these days.

At a time when he should be stamping some kind of identity on his SNP, Yousaf finds himself constantly forced to justify the agreement that brought the Greens into government at Holyrood. Loudening dissent from within SNP ranks on the Bute House Agreement means Yousaf struggles to move on from the subject.

The conflicting arguments are these: those members who want to end the agreement think the Greens and their obsessions with unpopular policies - reform of the Gender Recognition Act, the Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers, or the ban on fishing in Highly Protected Marine Areas - are a drag on the SNP; those - such as Yousaf - who defend the power-sharing agreement say the Greens bolster the Scottish Government’s environmental credentials and bring new ideas while creating a pro-independence majority administration.

Yousaf’s defence of the Greens while the SNP takes hit after hit over its junior partners’ policy priorities borders on the masochistic.

The Greens are about to inflict yet more pain on the First Minister.

With Labour now favourites to win the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election, sparked by the recall of former SNP MP Margaret Ferrier after she was convicted of breaking coronavirus lockdown laws, Yousaf could well do without anyone splitting the nationalist vote.

Yesterday, the Greens announced their intention to do that with the introduction of Cameron Eadie as their candidate.

Despite some grumbling from within SNP ranks about the Greens decision, the alternative would have been worse. Had the Greens not stood in the constituency then they’d have been accused of being nothing more than the SNP’s little helpers, while Yousaf would have been accused of depending on the smaller party’s absence to have any hope of saving face.

The Greens’ nationalist-vote-splitting presence in the Rutherglen and Hamilton by-election is an unavoidable pain in the the First Ministerial backside. Yousaf will just have to bear it.

I think, though, that after the votes are counted in the by-election - which is expected to be held in October - the Greens’ impact on the result will continue to be problematic for the First Minister.

Right now, there is a sizeable section of the SNP membership that would like to see an end to the Greens’ time in power. In the recent leadership contest, more than half of first preference votes went to candidates who wished ether to revise or end the Bute House Agreement. It’s inevitable, surely, that many of those members will find the Greens’ presence in this race problematic.

Add into the mix the fact that, in September, the Scottish Government will launch its legal battle to overturn a block on controversial - and wildly unpopular with voters - reform of the Gender Recognition Act, a policy championed by the Greens, and it seems the future is paved with reasons for those who oppose the power-sharing agreement to feel they’re in the right.

The Rutherglen snd Hamilton West by-election will add to growing pressure on the Bute House Agreement. Don’t be surprised if the aftermath echoes with calls from SNP members to tear it up.