Humza Yousaf mocked over claim world leaders ‘lining up’ for advice from Scottish government
Scotland’s first minister has been mocked over a “bold claim” world leaders have been “lining up” to seek advice from the Scottish government.
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross ridiculed a statement made by transport, net zero and just transition secretary Mairi McAllan in the chamber last week.
She said world leaders have been approaching the SNP administration for “advice on how we have managed to lead the way so successfully on a number of fronts”.
With their names remaining a mystery, Mr Ross teased Humza Yousaf during First Minister’s Questions on Thursday.
Highlighting a number of scandals surrounding the SNP, he said: “Has Justin Trudeau been on the phone looking for a camper van?
“Maybe it’s Emmanuel Macron calling the health secretary to hear how to stream the Celtic match from Morocco?
“Maybe, maybe it’s Joe Biden asking for advice how to deal with a disastrous predecessor at the heart of a criminal investigation?
“I don’t know, it could have been any of those things.”
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross during FMQs earlier this year
Mr Ross said the world leaders would not have been asking the SNP “how to build ferries or how to run an education system“.
He added: “And they definitely won’t have been asking Humza Yousaf for economic advice because he’s making hard-working Scots pick up the bill for his mistakes.”
Mr Ross had been questioning the first minister over the Scottish budget announced earlier this week.
Read more:
Scottish budget: All the major announcements
A new tax threshold has been created for high earners, with those earning more than £75,000 to pay a rate of 45%.
Scotland already had the highest tax band in the UK at 47% for people earning more than £125,000.
This will also rise by 1% next year to 48%.
Those earning £100,000 or more in Scotland will pay £3,346 more than others in the UK, and anyone who makes in excess of £28,850 will also pay higher taxes than workers elsewhere.
Mr Ross highlighted concerns raised by Dr Iain Kennedy, chairman of the British Medical Association Scotland, that the tax hikes could inadvertently lead to key workers leaving the NHS.
Mr Yousaf refuted the claim there will be a “mass exodus” from Scotland as the statistics “simply don’t bear that out”.
Defending the budget, Mr Yousaf said the majority of those in Scotland will pay less tax compared to those in the rest of the UK.
Scotland’s tax system will also create more money for NHS staff, child care, education, police officers, and the fire service, he added.
Mr Yousaf said under the Tories, Scots got a Brexit they “didn’t vote for” and a “Westminster cost of living crisis that’s harming millions of households across Scotland”.
A top Downing Street aide has resigned after sending sexually explicit messages about independent MP Diane Abbott, Sky News understands.
Paul Ovenden, who was the director of strategy at Number 10, is understood to have left the role on Monday after a number of instant messages from 2017 became public.
Sky News understands he did so to avoid becoming a “distraction” for Sir Keir Starmer, just days after he was forced to sack the UK’s ambassador to the US – Peter Mandelson – over his ties to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The messages, exchanged between Mr Ovenden and a female colleague, contained the graphic retelling of a conversation he reportedly overheard about Ms Abbott while at a party.
The former aide has alleged these were not his original words, but said he “deeply regrets” sharing them.
He said: “I really, deeply regret my sharing this story, and the hurt and embarrassment its publication will cause.
“Accordingly, I have brought forward my resignation to today as I do not want to be a distraction from the government’s work.”
Diane Abbott
It is understood Mr Ovenden announced to colleagues before the summer recess he was leaving his role, and had planned to leave “quietly and quickly” sometime this month.
However, in the wake of the publication of these messages, Mr Ovenden “brought forward” his resignation to today.
The messages, exchanged with a female colleague and seen by Sky News, described a game of “shag, marry, kill” the aide overheard while at a party in May 2017.
This involved explicit descriptions about suspended Labour MP Ms Abbott.
A Number 10 spokesperson said: “These messages are appalling and unacceptable.
“As the first black woman to be elected to parliament, Diane Abbott is a trailblazer who has faced horrendous abuse throughout her political career.
“These kinds of comments have no place in our politics.”
Sky News has contacted Ms Abbott for comment.
The latest Number 10 resignation comes as Sir Keir admitted he never would have appointed Lord Mandelson to the post of UK ambassador to the US if he had known what he knows now about the extent of his association with Epstein.
Speaking publicly for the first time since he sacked Mandelson last Thursday, the prime minister explained that a “due diligence process” was conducted before he was appointed to the post in February.
“I knew of his association with Epstein,” Sir Keir said.
“But had I known then what I know now, I’d have never appointed him.”
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‘Had I known then, what I know now, I’d have never appointed him’ Starmer said.
Just days before Lord Mandelson was sacked, Angela Rayner resigned as deputy prime minister and housing secretary after admitting she did not pay enough tax on her second home.
She also quit as deputy leader of the Labour Party, an elected post.
Sir Keir’s second-in-command admitted to Sky News political editor Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast that she should have paid the higher rate of stamp duty on a home she bought in Hove, East Sussex, as it was her second property.
UK crypto and payments groups urged the Bank of England to drop plans to cap individual stablecoin holdings, claiming the move would be costly and hard to enforce.
Atkins signaled a departure from the enforcement-first approach of the SEC during Gensler’s leadership, including preliminary notices prior to enforcement actions.
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