The highs and lows of Humza Yousaf’s first year in Bute House
It has been a rollercoaster 12 months for Humza Yousaf as he marks one year as Scotland’s first minister.
Mr Yousaf has celebrated the highs of his promised council tax freeze and weathered the lows of his predecessor Nicola Sturgeon being arrested.
Mr Yousaf was sworn into office on 29 March 2023 after a bruising contest to succeed Ms Sturgeon, who surprised the country with her shock resignation as first minister and SNP leader.
He became Scotland’s youngest ever first minister, and the first from an ethnic minority background to hold the post.
Pic: PA
Now a year on, Mr Yousaf says the role continues to be the “greatest honour” of his life but accepts that “there’s still a lot more to do to deliver for the people of Scotland”.
Mr Yousaf said: “I am honoured every day to lead a government driven by clear values, and I am absolutely committed to continuing to make Scotland a better place to live, work and study for everyone who makes it their home.”
Speaking to Sky News, Mr Yousaf said going forward he will continue to campaign for Scottish independence and will seek a Section 30 Order to hold a second referendum if Sir Keir Starmer is elected prime minister at the next general election.
He said, “notwithstanding” the challenges his party has faced over the past year, support for independence is “rock solid”.
Mr Yousaf added: “What we’ve got to continue to do as a government is demonstrate progress in how we’re delivering for the priorities of the people.”
The first minister said he would continue to showcase how much progress Holyrood can make under devolution, adding: “Then, of course, we can make the argument and should be making the argument that imagine what we could do with the full powers of a normal independent country.”
The first minister taking part in a dance performance during a visit to Edinburgh Community Performing Arts re-connect project earlier this month. Pic: PA
The first minister’s highs:
• Highlighting some of his government’s accomplishments, Mr Yousaf said Holyrood would continue to focus on reducing child poverty. He claimed the Scottish government’s policies will keep 100,000 children out of relative poverty and 70,000 out of absolute poverty in 2024-25, according to recently published analysis
• He said the national council tax freeze would protect households amid the cost of living crisis.
• The first minister said a record £19.5bn has been invested into Scotland’s NHS – without losing a single day to pay-related strike action.
• He added that a record number of junior doctors are joining the country’s NHS.
• Mr Yousaf stated that Scotland led every other nation and region last month for private sector employment growth.
• The first minister noted that record numbers of school leavers are going on to a “positive destination”. This includes a record high number of young Scots from deprived areas applying to study at university.
• He stated that Scotland’s GDP per head has grown at a faster rate than the UK average.
• Mr Yousaf also said his government has pledged up to £500m to support the offshore wind industry to help create thousands of green jobs.
• And also worth celebrating, the first minister is expecting a child this July with wife Nadia El-Nakla. The couple already have two children – their daughter Amal is four and Mr Yousaf is stepfather to 14-year-old Maya – and are now set to become the first family to welcome a baby while in Bute House.
Mr Yousaf with his family after winning the SNP leadership contest last year. Pic: PA
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The first minister’s lows:
• It was a hard year for the SNP as former leader Nicola Sturgeon, ex-chief executive Peter Murrell and former treasurer Colin Beattie were each arrested and released without charge amid a police probe into the party’s funding and finances. Police erected a blue forensics tent outside Ms Sturgeon and husband Mr Murrell’s home during a search.
Ms Sturgeon and Mr Murrell’s home was searched as part of the police probe. Pic: PA
• Mr Yousaf’s in-laws became trapped in Gaza following the breakout of the Israel-Hamas war in October. Elizabeth and Maged El-Nakla eventually made it back home to Dundee one month later, with Ms El-Nakla telling Sky News her life had “changed forever”.
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Mr Yousaf’s mother-in-law spoke to Sky News about her time trapped in Gaza
• Scottish Labour trounced the SNP in the battle for former MP Margaret Ferrier’s Rutherglen and Hamilton West seat. Ms Ferrier, who had the SNP whip removed for breaching COVID rules during lockdown, was ousted from Westminster following a successful recall petition. Michael Shanks defeated Katy Loudon by 17,845 votes to 8,399 – a majority of 9,446 and a 20.36% swing from SNP to Scottish Labour.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar (right) with Michael Shanks. Pic: PA
• The Scottish government’s bottle deposit return scheme was delayed until at least October 2025 after Westminster rejected an application for an exemption to the Internal Market Act – effectively blocking glass from the scheme. Circularity Scotland, the company tasked with overseeing the scheme, later folded with £86m in debts. Veteran SNP MSP Fergus Ewing was suspended from the party’s Holyrood group for voting against government minister and Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater in a confidence vote. Ms Slater, who was criticised over her handling of the scheme, survived the vote.
• It was a year of jumping ship with ex-SNP leadership rival Ash Regan MSP leaving for the Alba Party and Dr Lisa Cameron MP defecting to the Tories. Angus MacNeil MP was expelled from the SNP following a row with the party’s chief whip at Westminster. Mr MacNeil refused to rejoin the group at the end of a suspension and was subsequently given the boot. The MP has vowed to stand as an independent candidate at the next general election.
• In December, the Scottish government announced it would take no further legal action against Westminster’s veto of its controversial gender reform bill. It came after Scotland’s highest civil court ruled that the UK government acted lawfully in blocking the bill from receiving royal assent. Westminster is now seeking reimbursement for the legal costs it incurred defending its decision.
• Michael Matheson was forced to quit as health secretary last month amid a probe into an £11,000 iPad data roaming bill. Mr Matheson initially billed the taxpayer after claiming he ran up the eye-watering invoice undertaking constituency work during a family holiday in Morocco. After the story hit the headlines, it then emerged his teenage sons had used the iPad as a hotspot to watch football while abroad. The Falkirk West MSP was found to have breached Holyrood’s code of conduct but has ignored calls to resign. Mr Yousaf has continually defended Mr Matheson, saying that “decent people can make mistakes”.
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Michael Matheson admitting his sons racked up the iPad bill
Read more from Sky News:
Humza Yousaf: His life, political path and controversies
Does the hunger for independence remain in Scotland’s ‘Yes’ towns and cities?
Reflecting on Mr Yousaf’s first year in charge, Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said it’s been “nothing short of a disaster”.
Mr Ross said: “It’s a tale of independence obsession, abject failures and broken promises; of a first minister out of his depth and unable to control his feuding, scandal-ridden party.
“Humza Yousaf has ignored the real priorities of Scots – fixing our ailing public services and growing the economy – and instead doubled down on the SNP’s fixation with breaking up the UK, while cosying up to the anti-growth Greens.
“Later this year voters will get the chance to cast their verdict on his and the SNP’s dire reign.”
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar described Mr Yousaf as a “weak leader who is out of his depth”.
Mr Sarwar added: “Not only is it clear to the people of Scotland that Humza Yousaf has no vision for the future – even his own former cabinet colleagues are saying so in public.
“This is a record of shame and failure.
“With Humza Yousaf scrambling for a new election strategy on a weekly basis, it is no surprise that the people of Scotland are now looking for change.”
The economy will have to be “strong enough” for the government to U-turn on winter fuel payment cuts, the business secretary has said.
Jonathan Reynolds, talking to Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast, also said the public would have to “wait for the actual budget” to make an announcement on it.
Sir Keir Starmer said on Wednesday he would ease the cut to the winter fuel payment, which has been removed from more than 10 million pensioners this winter after it became means-tested.
He and his ministers had insisted they would stick to their guns on the policy, even just hours before Sir Keir revealed his change of heart at Prime Minister’s Questions.
But Mr Reynolds revealed there is more at play to be able to change the policy.
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Winter fuel payment cuts to be reversed
“The economy has got to be strong enough to give you the capacity to make the kind of decisions people want us to see,” he said.
“We want people to know we’re listening.
“All the prime minister has said is ‘look, he’s listening, he’s aware of it.
“He wants a strong economy to be able to deliver for people.
“You’d have to wait for the actual budget to do that.”
Read more:
Gordon Brown suggests people on top income tax rate should be excluded from winter fuel
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has committed to just one major fiscal event a year, meaning just one annual budget in the autumn.
Autumn budgets normally take place in October, with the last one at the end of the month.
If this year’s budget is around the same date it will leave little time for the extra winter fuel payments to be made as they are paid between November and December.
You can listen to the full interview on tomorrow’s Electoral Dysfunction podcast
Opinion by: Ahmad Shadid of O.xyz
Semiconductors scored a rare exemption from US President Donald Trump’s aggressive reciprocal tariffs, but the relief is symbolic at best. Most semiconductors enter the US embedded in servers, GPUs, laptops, and smartphones.
The finished goods remain heavily tariffed, some with duties reaching up to 49%. The exemption looks good politically but delivers little practical benefit. Nvidia’s DGX systems, crucial for training advanced AI models, do not fall under the exempted HTS codes. Nvidia could pay effective tariffs nearing 40% on these vital components. Such costs threaten to stall critical AI infrastructure projects across the country.
Semiconductor tariffs may compromise the goal of the CHIPS Act. The act promised tens of billions of dollars in subsidies to support domestic chip manufacturing. Yet advanced lithography machines — key equipment from countries like the Netherlands and Japan — face 20%–24% tariffs. Ironically, tariffs designed to boost American production increase the cost of essential manufacturing equipment.
The effect of new tariffs is already slowing progress in critical supply chains — just as generative AI and large language models are gaining momentum across sectors like finance and defense. Any delays or cost increases now could blunt America’s technological advantage.
Indirect costs undermine exemptions for AI
Modern semiconductor supply chains are global and highly integrated. An exemption on raw silicon means nothing when servers, GPUs and other finished products face steep tariffs. Tariffs indirectly inflate costs, eliminating any competitive advantage from domestic manufacturing.
Indirect tariff costs hit high-end systems disproportionately hard. The effect ripples through AI model training, data center expansions and major infrastructure projects, significantly slowing the industry’s momentum.
Tariff impasse halts investment
So far, it’s clear that the US president’s tariff plan didn’t follow any conventional economic trends or calculated strategy. The uncertain tariff situation stalls investment decisions across the technology sector. Companies need predictable costs to justify large capital expenditures. Ongoing tariff volatility prevents them from committing resources to new data centers and manufacturing lines.
This mirrors the supply chain chaos of 2020. At that time, uncertainty caused massive order cancellations and slowed industry recovery for years. If tariff ambiguity continues, we could see similar waves of cancellations in 2025. This would further compound existing inventory and revenue issues in the semiconductor sector.
Domestic production is not optimal
The border argument for these tariffs is that they’re meant to boost domestic production. They do little, however, to encourage genuine domestic semiconductor production. Despite subsidies under the CHIPS Act, most US semiconductor companies still rely on international foundries for manufacturing. Instead, they face increased equipment and operational costs.
Recent: How trade wars impact stocks and crypto
The idea that tariffs promote domestic production ignores the reality of global semiconductor manufacturing. Costs rise across the board, putting American companies at a disadvantage rather than offering protection.
AI projects face heightened risk
The blockchain and crypto sectors, particularly AI-driven projects, also feel the pinch. Projects depend heavily on GPUs and high-performance servers for mining, validating transactions and running decentralized AI computations. Increased hardware costs directly affect profitability and growth, potentially stalling innovation in blockchain applications.
AI developments have just started to pick up the pace in the blockchain and Web3 space. The industry saw increased interest from investors and VCs just a year ago. So, they are still on tighter budgets. Elevated costs can, however, lead to stagnation. We might see innovators and developers exiting the market. The ripple effect extends beyond the general technology sector and could threaten future digital economies.
Moreover, these cost pressures disproportionately affect startups and smaller tech firms. Industry giants can absorb additional expenses, but innovative, smaller players face existential threats. This dynamic risks stifling innovation at the grassroots level, harming the entire tech ecosystem.
What to expect
Semiconductors have momentarily escaped direct tariffs, but the exemption provides little benefit. Tariffs continue to hit finished products, driving up indirect costs across the industry. Instead of boosting domestic manufacturing, these tariffs create economic paralysis, stall critical infrastructure projects, and threaten America’s lead in AI innovation. Policymakers must acknowledge these realities and adjust their approach before irreversible damage is done to the nation’s technological future.
Opinion by: Ahmad Shadid of O.xyz.
This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
California Representative Maxine Waters, ranking member of the US House Financial Services Committee, has announced plans to introduce legislation “to block [Donald] Trump’s memecoin and stop his crypto corruption.”
In a May 22 notice, Rep. Waters said the Stop Trading, Retention, and Unfair Market Payoffs (TRUMP) in Crypto Act of 2025 bill would be aimed at blocking the US President, Vice President, members of Congress, and their families from engaging in “crypto crime.” The US lawmaker referred to Trump and his wife, Melania, issuing personal memecoins in January, his family launching a stablecoin, USD1, through the crypto platform World Liberty Financial, and the president attempting to establish a national Bitcoin (BTC) reserve as his sons back a BTC mining venture.
“Donald Trump is preparing to dine with the top donors of his memecoin who’ve made him, and his family, richer,” said Waters, adding:
“Trump’s crypto con is not just a scam to target investors. It’s also a dangerous backdoor for selling influence over American policies to the highest foreign bidder.”
Waters’ bill was one of many actions announced to oppose the president’s dinner to reward memecoin holders. Senators Chris Murphy and Elizabeth Warren are expected to attend a press event with representatives for the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, and two Democratic organizations will protest at the Trump National Golf Club outside Washington, DC, where the memecoin dinner will be held.
This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.
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