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Humza Yousaf joked about a “breakup” with the Greens after he ended the so-called Bute House Agreement underpinning the Scottish government coalition on Thursday, 25 April.The first minister denied ending the pact because he did not want the Greens to end it first.As a reporter asked him if his decision was “because it is better to do the breaking up yourself than be dumped,” Mr Yousaf jokingly responded: “I wouldn’t know.”Mr Yousaf removed Greens co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater from the government, and the SNP is set to act as a minority government going forward. More

Humza Yousaf has denied that his decision to end the so-called Bute House Agreement underpinning the Scottish government coalition was about saving seats for the Scottish National Party at the next general election.At a press conference on Thursday, 25 April, the first minister said: “I believe that stability is really important for governing… Recent weeks have shown that stability is not there.”Mr Yousaf removed Greens co-leaders Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater from the government, and the SNP is set to act as a minority government going forward.It comes after the Greens were angered when the Scottish government announced it was to ditch a key climate change target. More

Labour “can’t guarantee” their pledge to renationalise the railways if elected would bring in lower train fares, the shadow transport secretary has said.The party would expect to transfer rail networks to public ownership within its first term by folding existing private passenger rail contracts into a new body as they expire, shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh will say at a launch event on Thursday.Speaking to BBC Breakfast ahead of the event, Ms Haigh said: “Today I can’t guarantee we’ll lower fares… we’ll simplify them.“We will have an ambition for a best fare guarantee.” More

Scottish Greens co-leaders arrived at and left Bute House before SNP leader Humza Yousaf held an emergency cabinet meeting and the so-called Bute House Agreement underpinning the government’s coalition ended on Thursday, 25 April.Lorna Slater and Patrick Harvie did not respond to any questions as they left the first minister’s official residence in Edinburgh.It comes after the Greens were angered when the Scottish Net Zero Secretary Mairi McAllan announced last week the Scottish government was to ditch a key climate change target. More

There is “no way back” for the UK and Vladimir Putin’s relationship, David Cameron has said.When pressed on a time when he took the Russian president to watch judo competitions at the Olympics in London during his time as prime minister, Lord Cameron said he thought it was right to “try and see if we could build more of a relationship”, but ties ultimately broke down because of Russia’s actions in Syria and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.It comes as the UK was accused of helping Moscow “pay for its war” in Ukraine by importing record amounts of refined oil from countries processing Russian fossil fuels. More

Rishi Sunak met with soldiers of the German armed forces and was given a tour of a military vehicle during his visit to Berlin on Wednesday 24 April. The prime minister is in Germany to discuss joint efforts on security, trade, and illegal migration with chancellor Olaf Scholz.He can be heard saying “very impressive vehicle” in response to a Bundeswehr captain showing him around the machinery of the vehicle.The visit comes after Mr Sunak revealed he plans to increase spending in the defence sector by £75 billion over the next 6 years. More

Reform UK’s deputy leader Ben Habib appeared to suggest migrants should be left to drown in the English Channel in comments that horrified an interviewer on Tuesday, 23 April.It came after a seven-year-old girl was among five migrants who died as they tried to cross the water hours after parliament passed Rishi Sunak’s flagship Rwanda bill.Mr Habib told Julia Hartley-Brewer: “We only have an obligation to save people if it’s reasonable to do so.”When challenged on his beliefs, Mr Habib replied: “We could… provide them with another dinghy… [to] go back to France.”And if they choose to scupper that dinghy, then yes, they have to suffer the consequences of that.”When asked if he would leave them to drown, Mr Habib said “Absolutely.” More