Connect with us

Published

on

As first minister of Scotland, Humza Yousaf sets many of the rules by which millions of Scots live their lives.

But when I interviewed him in Glasgow on Friday ahead of the Scottish National Party’s annual conference, what I saw before me was a husband and father who felt “powerless” to protect his family.

There were of course questions about the SNP’s dire polling; their by-election defeat to a resurgent Labour Party; the defection of an SNP Westminster MP to the Conservatives this week; Mr Yousaf’s divisive – and shifting – independence plan; and the drag anchor former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s arrest and wider police investigation into the SNP was having on the party.

But the primary concern for the first minister when we met in Glasgow was for the safety of his wife Nadia’s parents, her brother and his children, trapped in Gaza and fearful for their lives.

Follow live: Gazans told ‘go south if you want to live’

That morning, Mr Yousaf shared a tearful video of his mother-in-law Elizabeth El-Nakla, in which she spoke of the Gazans’ plight as Israel warned one million people to vacate the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

“Everybody from Gaza is moving towards where we are. One million people, no food, no water. Where are you going to put them?” she asked.

“Where is humanity? Where’s people’s hearts in this world, to let his happen in this day and age? May God help us. Goodbye.”

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Humza Yousaf’s mother-in-law ‘trapped’ in Gaza

Mr Yousaf’s interview round with news outlets ahead of the conference is interrupted by phone calls with his family.

The first minister hasn’t slept and is tearful in our interview when he talks of how his wife and daughters are dealing with the situation.

He tells me he has promised his four-year daughter that her grandmother will be home for Halloween to paint her face as she does every year, even though he knows it’s a promise he might not be able to keep.

He says he’s shared the video because he feels “powerless and helpless”. “The only thing I can do is share their story,” he says/

To that end, the media round before the SNP conference has become far less about Scottish politics and far more about global matters.

The first minister tells me that he is publicising the plight of his own family to try to help all those trapped in Gaza as he demands Israel open up humanitarian corridors “immediately”.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Thousands flee northern Gaza

“[It’s an] appeal to the international community, to set up international corridors, to end collective punishment, to allow supplies to come in, to allow the innocent people of Gaza to come out. That’s all I can do,” he said.

“What cannot happen, regardless of [Israel’s] military tactic, is for innocent men, women and children to pay the price. What has to happen now, immediately, today is the opening up of a humanitarian corridor.

“The humanitarian corridor has to allow Gazans, innocent men, women and children to leave and has to allow supplies, medical supplies, food, fuel, clear drinking water to come in.”

“Collective punishment cannot be justified. Neither legally or morally can it be justified.”

The first minister hasn’t heard from the prime minister, while the Foreign Secretary James Cleverly hasn’t responded to a letter from Mr Yousaf about the situation of his family and other Scots.

Mr Yousaf says it makes him “angry” and “disappointed” that he hasn’t been afforded that from a foreign secretary who visited Israel just this week.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Cleverly runs for cover in Israel

Undoubtedly and understandably, Mr Yousaf goes into the SNP party conference almost completely preoccupied by his family’s predicament.

But when delegates gather in Aberdeen this weekend, there will be plenty of discussion too about Mr Yousaf’s first six months and the dire polling the party is enduring.

The last time there was a UK general election, Ms Sturgeon’s SNP was polling 45% and Labour was back in third at 18%.

Now the SNP is on 32% to 34%, with its lead down to 2 to 3% over Labour.

Meanwhile, the party is divided over what its independence strategy should be.

First Minister of Scotland Humza Yousaf, at Bute House in Edinburgh, ahead of the SNP National Conference

Ms Sturgeon’s position was that if the SNP achieved more than 50% of the votes in the Westminster elections, the SNP would have a mandate for another independence referendum (how she’d get the UK government on board is another matter).

Mr Yousaf’s attempt to lower the bar and claim a mandate if the SNP win the most seats in Scotland at the next general election is now looking dubious, with suggestions this week at conference that the leader might switch to saying the SNP must win a “majority” – 29 plus seats – to claim a mandate.

Read more:
Gaza ‘on brink of collapse’
‘Highly likely’ British hostages held by Hamas
Britain, France and the deep roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Whichever way, the idea that the first minister can claim his party is in a position to open formal independence negotiations should they lose 20 seats in a general election (the party currently has 48 MPs), seems ludicrous (he strongly disagreed with me when I put that to him).

Poor polling, a defection, an independence plan undecided and going nowhere, after six months in the job, Mr Yousaf must make progress to move beyond probation with his party.

But for now, the personal has to come first and Mr Yousaf will be hoping next week his political family will rally behind him.

Continue Reading

Politics

SEC to focus on ‘clear’ crypto regulations after Ripple case: Atkins

Published

on

By

SEC to focus on ‘clear’ crypto regulations after Ripple case: Atkins

SEC to focus on ‘clear’ crypto regulations after Ripple case: Atkins

The end of the almost five-year legal dispute will enable the agency to dedicate more time to developing clear regulatory frameworks, according to SEC Chair Paul Atkins.

Continue Reading

Politics

Bithumb halves crypto lending leverage, slashes loan limits by 80%: Report

Published

on

By

Bithumb halves crypto lending leverage, slashes loan limits by 80%: Report

Bithumb halves crypto lending leverage, slashes loan limits by 80%: Report

Bithumb’s new rules slash maximum loan limits by 80% and halve leverage, following regulator scrutiny over high-risk crypto lending products.

Continue Reading

Politics

House of Lords under fire for dropping rule that once caught out cricket legend and historian

Published

on

By

House of Lords under fire for dropping rule that once caught out cricket legend and historian

Campaigners have criticised a change to the rules around declarations of interest in the House of Lords as a “retrograde step” which will lead to a “significant loss of transparency”. 

Since 2000, peers have had to register a list of “non-financial interests” – which includes declaring unpaid but often important roles like being a director, trustee, or chair of a company, think tank or charity.

But that requirement was dropped in April despite staff concerns.

Tom Brake, director of Unlock Democracy, and a former Liberal Democrat MP, wants to see the decision reversed.

“It’s a retrograde step,” he said. “I think we’ve got a significant loss of transparency and accountability and that is bad news for the public.

“More than 25 years ago, the Committee on Standards in Public Life identified that there was a need for peers to register non-financial interests because that could influence their decisions. I’m confused as to what’s happened in the last 25 years that now means this requirement can be scrapped.

“This process seems to be all about making matters simpler for peers, rather than what the code of conduct is supposed to do, which is to boost the public’s confidence.”

Westminster Accounts: Search for your MP

MPs and peers alike have long faced scrutiny over their interests outside Westminster. File pic
Image:
MPs and peers alike have long faced scrutiny over their interests outside Westminster. File pic

Rules were too ‘burdensome’, say peers

The change was part of an overhaul of the code of conduct which aimed to “shorten and clarify” the rules for peers.

The House of Lords Conduct Committee argued that updating non-financial interests was “disproportionately burdensome” with “minor and inadvertent errors” causing “large numbers of complaints”.

As a result, the register of Lords interests shrunk in size from 432 pages to 275.

MPs have a different code of conduct, which requires them to declare any formal unpaid positions or other non-financial interests which may be an influence.

A source told Sky News there is real concern among some Lords’ staff about the implications of the change.

Non-financial interest declarations have previously highlighted cases where a peer’s involvement in a think tank or lobbying group overlapped with a paid role.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Protesters disrupt House of Lords

Cricket legend among peers to breach code

There are also examples where a peer’s non-financial interest declaration has prompted an investigation – revealing a financial interest which should have been declared instead.

In 2023, Lord Skidelsky was found to have breached the code after registering his role as chair of a charity’s trustees as a non-financial interest.

Lord Skidelsky. Pic: UK Parliament
Image:
Lord Skidelsky. Pic: UK Parliament

The Commissioner for Standards investigated after questions were raised about the charity, the Centre for Global Studies.

He concluded that the charity – which was funded by two Russian businessmen – only existed to support Lord Skidelsky’s work, and had paid his staff’s salaries for over 12 years.

In 2021, Lord Botham – the England cricket legend – was found to have breached the code after registering a non-financial interest as an unpaid company director.

The company’s accounts subsequently revealed he and his wife had benefitted from a director’s loan of nearly £200,000. It was considered a minor breach and he apologised.

Former cricketer Lord Botham. File pic: PA
Image:
Former cricketer Lord Botham. File pic: PA

‘Follow the money’

Lord Eric Pickles, the former chair of the anti-corruption watchdog, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, believes focusing on financial interests makes the register more transparent.

“My view is always to follow the money. Everything else on a register is camouflage,” he said.

“Restricting the register to financial reward will give peers little wriggle room. I know this is counterintuitive, but the less there is on the register, the more scrutiny there will be on the crucial things.”

Lord Eric Pickles
Image:
Lord Eric Pickles

‘I was shocked’

The SNP want the House of Lords to be scrapped, and has no peers of its own. Deputy Westminster leader Pete Wishart MP is deeply concerned by the changes.

“I was actually quite horrified and quite shocked,” he said.

“This is an institution that’s got no democratic accountability, it’s a job for life. If anything, members of the House of Lords should be regulated and judged by a higher standard than us in the House of Commons – and what’s happened is exactly the opposite.”

Public confidence in the Lords is already at a low ebb after the PPE controversy surrounding Baroness Michelle Mone, who took a leave of absence in 2022.

Michelle Mone attends the state opening of parliament in 2019. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Michelle Mone attends the state opening of parliament in 2019. Pic: Reuters

The government has pledged to reform the House of Lords and is currently trying to push through a bill abolishing the 92 remaining hereditary peers, which will return to the House of Commons in September.

But just before recess the bill was amended in the Lords so that they can remain as members until retirement or death. It’s a change which is unlikely to be supported by MPs.

Read more from Sky News:
Warning over water shortfall

Trump gaffe speaks volumes

MPs and peers alike have long faced scrutiny over their interests outside Westminster. File pic
Image:
MPs and peers alike have long faced scrutiny over their interests outside Westminster. File pic

A spokesperson for the House of Lords said: “Maintaining public confidence in the House of Lords is a key objective of the code of conduct. To ensure that, the code includes rigorous rules requiring the registration and declaration of all relevant financial interests held by members of the House of Lords.

“Public confidence relies, above all, on transparency over the financial interests that may influence members’ conduct. This change helps ensure the rules regarding registration of interests are understandable, enforceable and focused on the key areas of public concern.

“Members may still declare non-financial interests in debate, where they consider them directly relevant, to inform the House and wider public.

“The Conduct Committee is appointed to review the code of conduct, and it will continue to keep all issues under review. During its review of the code of conduct, the committee considered written evidence from both Unlock Democracy and Transparency International UK, among others.”

Continue Reading

Trending