THERE has been much focus on what Humza Yousaf will mean for Scottish businesses and the nation’s economy since he became First Minister last week.

During the leadership contest, there was also a great deal of discussion about the candidates’ credentials and attitudes on this front.

Kate Forbes’ pro-business attitude seemed more immediately evident, which was perhaps not surprising given her (now previous) finance and economy brief in the Cabinet.

There has also been the broader narrative that the Scottish National Party has been bad for business.

Examination of the overall picture would suggest this is far from the case. However, the narrative has nevertheless gained traction, even seemingly within SNP ranks.

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One crucial question is surely around how much of this narrative has been caused by the Scottish Greens, junior partners of the SNP at Holyrood.

Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater, minister for green skills, circular economy and biodiversity, has been responsible for introducing the deposit return scheme for plastic and glass bottles and metal cans. Even before it goes live, this planned scheme is causing great frustration and uncertainty for many businesses affected by it. Even though Ms Slater is leading the plans, it seems to be the SNP at which fingers are pointed most often by some in business and by opportunistic opposition politicians amid the furore over the scheme’s implementation.

Ms Slater’s comments about economic growth are also surely worthy of at least a raised eyebrow, but more of that later, Of course, there will be much political manoeuvring right now with the change at the top at Holyrood.

The Herald on Sunday revealed last weekend that Mr Yousaf is potentially facing a rebel group of 15 SNP MSPs at Holyrood. This group’s members are understood to be mostly parliamentarians who backed Ms Forbes' leadership bid but insiders say they also include some who publicly endorsed Mr Yousaf, political correspondent Kathleen Nutt reported.

Mr Yousaf, asked about the report the following day, preferred to characterise it as suggesting “there were some MSPs that wanted to – in their own words – work constructively with the government to put forward some policy suggestions”.

He added: “I’ve got a very open door as First Minister. Any good policy suggestions that come from my own group, be it from the front benches or the back benches, I’ll be very keen to look at it.”

While Mr Yousaf appears unperturbed, he can be sure there will be a relentless focus on what he does on the business and economic front from both firms and politicians (and quite possibly not just those in opposition).

He will also have to deal with the narrative, albeit an unfair one, that the SNP has somehow been bad for business.

Mr Yousaf has been relatively enigmatic so far on business and the economy.

However, it is early days and that does not really mean anything one way or the other.

He was front and centre of a sizeable business-related story on Tuesday when the Scottish Government announced that the “energy transition across the North East” would be “further boosted” by £25 million from the Scottish Government’s Just Transition Fund.

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The Scottish National Investment Bank will use this latest funding to leverage further private investment in the energy transition across the North East, the Scottish Government said.

It was an announcement that straddled business and efforts to tackle climate change. And it was perhaps notable Mr Yousaf highlighted climate obligations first.

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He declared: “Delivering on our climate obligations is an absolute priority for this government – but so too is our unwavering commitment to ensuring the journey to net zero is fair and just for everyone.”

Mr Yousaf added: “Scotland is an energy-rich nation, and the oil and gas industry has made a vast contribution to our economy, while its workers are some of the most highly skilled in the world.

“But Scotland’s oil and gas basin is now a mature resource and, as a responsible government, we must take action to ensure the sector, and the communities it supports, are supported in a transition to [a] cleaner, greener energy system.”

There was probably something for everyone in these remarks.

The “mature resource” would perhaps not be what some would like to hear about the North Sea. It is undoubtedly a mature basin but the slew of recent investment, amid the UK Government’s windfall tax, would indicate there is still plenty to go for in this territory, particularly with oil prices elevated and a focus on security of energy supply. That said, it was good to hear Mr Yousaf flag the highly skilled nature of Scotland’s oil and gas workforce.

Mr Yousaf talked about “a fair and just transition for the energy sector, and for the people of Scotland”.

You get the impression sometimes that references to “fair” and “just” rankle a bit with those who prefer unfettered free markets. However, this is a puzzling attitude.

When it comes to the Scottish Government’s focus on “fair work”, surely it is a good thing for the economy that people are paid a decent amount, which they can then spend on goods and services and boost the economy, creating a virtuous circle.

And we should make no mistake: wealth creation and economic growth are crucial to living standards. The greater the prosperity, the more opportunity there is to improve living standards generally and lift people out of poverty with the right policies.

This brings us to the SNP’s potential problem when it comes to the Scottish Greens.

Ms Slater said in an interview with The Herald on Sunday last year that economic growth was an area where her party had “a fundamentally different position to the Scottish Government”.

This does look to be a potentially difficult position for Mr Yousaf and the SNP.

It is important to recognise a drive for economic growth does not need to be some sort of unfettered, unfair and deregulated thing that is also, for example, hazardous from a climate-change perspective.

The way in which the Conservatives have, unsuccessfully, pursued economic growth in recent decades has been far from fair, and the poorest have suffered. However, it does not have to be that way. And to suggest in any way that economic growth might be a bad thing in itself is to spurn all the opportunities that increased prosperity brings to make life better for so many people.