Scottish devolution descends into a parody of leadership

For most of the weekend, the future of the Scottish National Party – and the cause of Scottish independence –  was in the hands of a woman who defected to a rival party after losing a bitter leadership contest to the man now in charge. Ash Regan, who joined Alex Salmond’s pro-independence Alba Party last year after coming third in the race to become First Minister of Scotland, was expected to have the deciding vote in not one but two confidence motions threatened after First Minister Humza Yousaf collapsed the SNP’s power-sharing agreement with the Greens last week. Then Yousaf was said to be planning to resign rather than face the motions. He had junked the coalition government’s climate goals, prompting the Conservatives to bring the first no confidence vote against him. Theoretically he could ignore it, or stand down and enable the SNP to replace him. But Labour subsequently went further, bringing its own measure against the SNP government. Both parties will back each other’s motion.