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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.”

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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”.

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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.

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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.

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Wolf Capital co-founder pleads guilty to $9.4M Ponzi, promised 547% returns

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Wolf Capital co-founder pleads guilty to .4M Ponzi, promised 547% returns

According to the US Department of Justice, Wolf Capital’s co-founder has pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy for luring 2,800 crypto investors into a Ponzi scheme.

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Rachel Reeves lands in China amid pressure to cancel trip over market turmoil

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Rachel Reeves lands in China amid pressure to cancel trip over market turmoil

Making Britain better off will be “at the forefront of the chancellor’s mind” during her visit to China, the Treasury has said amid controversy over the trip.

Rachel Reeves flew out on Friday after ignoring calls from opposition parties to cancel the long-planned venture because of market turmoil at home.

The past week has seen a drop in the pound and an increase in government borrowing costs, which has fuelled speculation of more spending cuts or tax rises.

The Tories have accused the chancellor of having “fled to China” rather than explain how she will fix the UK’s flatlining economy, while the Liberal Democrats say she should stay in Britain and announce a “plan B” to address market volatility.

However, Ms Reeves has rejected calls to cancel the visit, writing in The Times on Friday night that choosing not to engage with China is “no choice at all”.

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The chancellor will be accompanied by Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey and other senior executives.

She will meet with her counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng, in Beijing on Saturday to discuss financial services, trade and investment.

She will also “raise difficult issues”, including Chinese firms supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and concerns over constraints on rights and freedoms in Hong Kong, the Treasury said.

But it did not mention whether Ms Reeves would raise the treatment of the Uyghur community, which Downing Street said Foreign Secretary David Lammy would do during his visit last year.

Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi shake hands before their meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. Pic: AP
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Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing. Pic: AP

On Friday, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy defended the trip, telling Sky News that the climbing cost of government borrowing was a “global trend” that had affected many countries, “most notably the United States”.

“We are still on track to be the fastest growing economy, according to the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] in Europe,” she told Anna Jones on Sky News Breakfast.

“China is the second-largest economy, and what China does has the biggest impact on people from Stockton to Sunderland, right across the UK, and it’s absolutely essential that we have a relationship with them.”

Read more – Ed Conway analysis: The chancellor’s gamble with China

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Nandy defends Reeves’ trip to China

However, former prime minister Boris Johnson said Ms Reeves had “been rumbled” and said she should “make her way to HR and collect her P45 – or stay in China”.

While in the country’s capital, Ms Reeves will also visit British bike brand Brompton’s flagship store, which relies heavily on exports to China, before heading to Shanghai for talks with representatives across British and Chinese businesses.

It is the first UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) since 2019, building on the Labour government’s plan for a “pragmatic” policy with the world’s second-largest economy.

Sir Keir Starmer was the first British prime minister to meet with China’s President Xi Jinping in six years at the G20 summit in Brazil last autumn.

Relations between the UK and China have become strained over the last decade as the Conservative government spoke out against human rights abuses and concerns grew over national security risks.

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How much do we trade with China?

Navigating this has proved tricky given China is the UK’s fourth largest single trading partner, with a trade relationship worth almost £113bn and exports to China supporting over 455,000 jobs in the UK in 2020, according to the government.

During the Tories’ 14 years in office, the approach varied dramatically from the “golden era” under David Cameron to hawkish aggression under Liz Truss, while Rishi Sunak vowed to be “robust” but resisted pressure from his own party to brand China a threat.

The Treasury said a stable relationship with China would support economic growth and that “making working people across Britain secure and better off is at the forefront of the chancellor’s mind”.

Ahead of her visit, Ms Reeves said: “By finding common ground on trade and investment, while being candid about our differences and upholding national security as the first duty of this government, we can build a long-term economic relationship with China that works in the national interest.”

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US Bitcoin reserve would have ‘profound’ impact on adoption: CoinShares

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US Bitcoin reserve would have ‘profound’ impact on adoption: CoinShares

The Bitcoin Act’s passage could eventually send BTC’s price past $1 million per coin, industry executives say.

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