EUAN McCOLM: As he teeters on the brink, how hapless Humza Yousaf's string of ... trends now
You have to admire the man’s brass neck. Announcing his decision to end the power-sharing agreement between the SNP and the Scottish Greens yesterday, First Minister Humza Yousaf was as close to the model of reason as he could manage.
With almost convincing sincerity, he spoke of his desire to move forward, cooperating with any and all political parties in the interests of Scotland.
This, he said, was a new beginning for the SNP. ‘A parliament of minorities,’ said Mr Yousaf, ‘need not be a parliament of enemies.’
This new 2.0 update of the Humza Yousaf model is radically different to the one it replaces.
The First Minister now asks us to accept him as a politician of pragmatism and good faith, as an honest broker who’ll put country before party. Henceforth, he will seek to work with colleagues across the chamber. He insists he’s well used to working constructively with opposition parties.
Humza Yousaf is clinging onto power after a string of failures and doubts about his sincerity
This, let us not forget, is the same man who, just two days before was feigning outrage because the UK Government hadn’t legislated on Scotland’s behalf on the matter of exonerating sub-postmasters wrongly convicted during the Horizon scandal.
Mr Yousaf – knowing full well that Scottish sub-postmasters were convicted under a devolved Scottish justice system – cynically tried to create division out of thin air.
The truth, as he knew when he spoke, is that the Scottish Government had already recognised the need for its action on this matter.
Had the UK Government announced that it did plan to legislate on Scotland’s behalf, Mr Yousaf would have been performatively outraged about a ‘Westminster power grab’.
So, opposition politicians may be forgiven for taking with a fistful of salt Mr Yousaf’s pledge that he stands ready to work constructively with them. His track record in this area is poor, indeed.
Scottish Greens Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater give a press conference after the First Minister's bombshell that they were no longer sharing the reins of power
When, for example, Conservative MSPs – along with a handful of members of other parties willing to defy the threats and attacks of gender ideologues – raised legitimate concerns about how plans to reform the Gender Recognition Act might impact on women’s rights to same sex spaces, Mr Yousaf was happy to dismiss their fears. He and his colleagues gaslit feminists who worried about rapists being placed in women’s prisons, sneering at their concerns, right up until the point that such an outrage took place.
When Scottish Secretary Alister Jack stepped in to block the Scottish Government’s legislation on the entirely reasonable grounds that it was incompatible with the UK-wide Equality Act, Mr Yousaf remained defiant. Indeed, one of his first decisions on becoming First Minister was to press ahead with a doomed – and costly – legal challenge.
MSPs smeared during that time as bigots and transphobes by allies of the First Minister might wonder whether the new improved Humza Yousaf is someone to be trusted. And if the First Minister can expect a frosty reception from the Conservatives, he’s unlikely to enjoy
