Has Humza Yousaf been taking PR advice from Elon Musk or vice versa? – Scotsman comment

When Japan’s Emperor Hirohito surrendered to the Allies at the end of the Second World War – without actually saying the word “surrender” – he admitted “the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan's advantage”.

As understatements go, it takes some beating. However, Elon Musk’s SpaceX team certainly did their best when describing the launch of the most powerful space rocket ever built, known simply as “Starship”, in words that, for some, brought to mind the phrase “conscious uncoupling”, a euphemism for divorce once utilised by actor Gwyneth Paltrow.

“As if the flight test was not exciting enough, Starship experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly before stage separation,” the SpaceX-ers explained. Or rather, in plain English, it blew up, which is, we can all agree, exciting, but not in a good way.

Musk, known for a degree of volatility, seemed remarkably upbeat about the whole thing. In fact, he even appeared to be pleased, tweeting: "Congrats SpaceX team on an exciting [that word again] test launch of Starship! Learned a lot for next test launch in a few months.”

For the sake of his sanity, Humza Yousaf should perhaps embrace a similarly Pollyanna-ish attitude to his own multiple woes, lest they overwhelm him. And there are actually signs he may already be doing so. Asked about the arrest of the SNP’s then treasurer, Colin Beattie, just hours before the new First Minister laid out his new vision for Scotland earlier this week, he admitted the timing was “not ideal”. Quite.

Wars lost, spaceships exploding, police investigations overshadowing your big day? Just find a way to live in denial and everything will be all right...