The leader of Alba Party in the House of Commons has said the co-leader of the Scottish Greens is the ‘de facto First Minister of Scotland’ and that SNP members should be worried at the party’s interference in its internal elections.
Neale Hanvey claimed SNP MSP Kate Forbes is being ‘excluded’ from the leadership election due to her political beliefs which differ from the Scottish Greens.
Speaking on GB News, Neale Hanvey said: “The SNP is an incredibly important party to many of us in Alba and many of our members devoted decades of time campaigning for that party. So it gives us absolutely no real pleasure to see the party in such turmoil.
“I don't think anyone, least of all Hamza Yousaf, could have believed last Thursday morning, when he decided to stamp his mark on the party, that it would unravel so quickly and so decisively against him.
“And we're now in the preposterous situation where Humza the Brief, I think it was Alex Salmond who coined that phrase, has now been replaced by Patrick Harvie as the de facto First Minister of Scotland, because he's the one who will have a say over which SNP MSP is palatable to the Greens, and that is the reality of where we are.
“Kate Forbes, who came tantalisingly close to winning the leadership election the last time, is being excluded from the race by Patrick Harvey and his Green Party colleagues.
“And that's a real matter of deep concern and should concern every single SNP member because that's not how internal party democracy is supposed to function. You can't have another party interfering with your internal processes.
“And sadly, that's where this whole shambles has led the SNP to.
“It's not helped [the cause of independence] but you know, the independence movement is sitting north of 50% and has been for quite some time. During that time, the numbers for the SNP have continued to fall and I anticipate that there will be a lot of anger against both the SNP and particularly the Green Party.
“Because one of the things that we've discovered in all of this is that the Green Party's commitment to dependence is a complete mirage. Their commitment to the environment is a complete mirage. The only issue that they're prepared to draw a red line over is gender identity and resisting the evidence that's contained in the Cass report.
“That's where they draw the line. And that's a very serious issue for everybody in Scotland because those policies, as we've seen from the Cass Review, are not consistent with good medical practice and equalities and human rights legislation.
“I've only met Humza a few times and he's a pleasant enough man. He inherited a whole host of problems that were left behind by his predecessor. It's really unfortunate for him that he's had to deal with this tool of catastrophe raining down on him while he has been completely unable to stamp his authority on his administration. And the moment he tried to do it, he got it spectacularly wrong.
“Whilst John [Swinney] does have a good track record, certainly in his years as finance secretary under Alex Salmond, he was riding shotgun with Nicola Sturgeon through all of those disaster years. And it's only since he stood down and since Nicola stood down that the disaster has come to light.
“Kate Forbes is an incredibly capable, bright and articulate woman who would be more than capable of leading an exceptional SNP administration, I have absolutely no doubt about that. But it's the Green Party who hold the keys to the SNP leadership.”
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