Many are concluding that late and cancelled trains, dirty and overcrowded carriages, and broken toilets make journeys too unpredictable or unpleasant, and are driving, flying or staying put instead.

Network Rail returned to the public sector in 2014, and almost one in four passenger journeys, including in Wales and Scotland, are on trains run by the Department for Transport’s own operator of last resort.

Beyond ownership, the proposals for structural reform essentially adopt the plans drawn up for Boris Johnson by a rail review chaired by Keith Williams, the former chief executive of British Airways.

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As recently as Tuesday, Mr Yousaf was publicly buffing his treasure, insisting that he hoped the deal would continue.

Less than 48 hours later, however, he decided it was time to sell, scrapping the pact and pledging instead to lead a minority SNP government for the remaining two years of this Scottish parliament.

Last week, the Scottish government scrapped its pledge of a 75% cut in carbon emissions by 2030, and its legally binding annual reduction targets.

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In a surprise move on Thursday morning, the first minister called in the Scottish Greens’ two co-leaders, Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater, to tell them they were being sacked as he axed a power-sharing deal first hailed as a new era in consensus politics.

That rebellion in turn forced Harvie and Slater to agree to an emergency vote by their party on staying in government – a concession that rattled Yousaf and immediately raised questions about the coalition’s viability.

Earlier this week, they had put their leadership on the line by urging rebellious Green party members to maintain their support for the Bute House agreement, despite the crisis over the climate policy.

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Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty ImagesHere are two posts from the Scottish Green party ’s X account this afternoon, including a clip of Patrick Harvie, the co-leader, asking Humza Yousaf at FMQs who he can rely on in parliament now.

And I’m sure Ash Regan, who I spoke to just five minutes ago, will use that power very wisely indeed to progress the cause of independence and to protect the rights of women and to try and find a way to restore confidence within the Scottish government, which has been so badly lacking recently.

Photograph: Lesley Martin/PAAccording to David Torrance, a constitutional specialist working for the House of Commons library (which is a high-powered research organisation, not just a book collection), Humza Yousaf is only legally obliged to resign if his government as a whole loses a confidence motion.

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In February 2023, after suffering legal defeats over her independence plans and wearied by the rolling crises over NHS waiting lists, gender recognition reform and public sector pay, Sturgeon announced she was standing down as first minister and SNP leader.

Critics of the agreement feared its radicalism would play badly outside urban Scotland and alienate the centrist voters crucial to the election-winning coalition built up by Sturgeon’s predecessor, Alex Salmond.

This will all be academic if he loses the vote of no confidence in his leadership tabled by the Scottish Conservatives immediately after he announced the end of the “coalition of chaos”, as Tory leader Douglas Ross describes it.

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It is the party’s first major intervention on nature issues as the UK prepares for a general election this year in which environmental concerns – sewage in rivers, air pollution and the net zero target – will play a leading role.

He said a Labour government would seek to reduce flood damage by increasing natural defences, such as trees and wetlands, as well as building up carbon sinks in peatlands.

Stopping illegal sewage dumping and attracting new investment into water companies would help clean up the landscape, and better public transport would improve air quality, he said.

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