Scotsman Letters: First Minister is inspiration to ethnic youth

History was made when the SNP followed the example of the UK Conservatives in choosing their new party leader. Humza Yousaf is an inspiration for ethnic youth

Newly elected First Minister Humza Yousaf with wife Nadia El-Nakla, daughter Amal and stepdaughter Maya (Picture: Jane Barlow/Pool/AFP via Getty)

This is an amazingly interesting moment when we look back at the history. Some 76 years ago the British Raj ended in the sub-continent, dividing India in two, the bigger part being ruled by native Hindus and the smaller portion given to Muslims to govern.

While Rishi Sunak is the leader of the entire Union, Humza Yousaf will lead Scotland as First Minister. Who would have thought that one day in the Scottish Parliament both the leaders of the main party (Humza Yousaf) and the opposition (Anas Sarwar) would have the same Pakistani Muslim ethnic origin?

Imran M Khan, Cambuslang, Glasgow

Song cycle

The words of Sir Joseph Porter in Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta HMS Pinafore seem particularly apt right now: “I always voted at my Party's call and I never thought of thinking for myself at all, and I thought so little they rewarded me by making me the leader of the SNP.”

Well, they may have written that if the SNP had been around. Hence we have a new leader – privately educated, we are told – and an unbounded failure at his last three jobs, and hardly ever worked professionally outside the parliamentary bubble.

I just hope that his left of centre protestations hold good and he can work for all of Scotland and not just the independence lobby. I have my doubts but I fear the threat of losing the fringe independence support will bring him back to the Sturgeon fold.

Time will tell.

(Dr) Alan Naylor, Penicuik, Midlothian

Forget Labour

Scotland will not be changed for the better by a Labour government wedded to Brexit, which will mean a lower standard of living compared to our independent European neighbours, particularly when Sir Keir Starmer has no intention of even supporting freedom of movement or a customs union (Jackie Baillie, Perspective, 28 March). Whether it is on Brexit, immigration, taxation, drug policies or allowing Scotland the right to choose our future in a democratic referendum, Labour under Starmer is merely Tory-lite.

Under Rishi Sunak the Tories are narrowing the opinion poll gap at UK level and there is no evidence of a Labour resurgence in Scotland, so winning 20 seats from the SNP at the next general election is mere fantasy. In any event the SNP are the main challengers by some distance in the remaining Tory seats in Scotland.

Humza Yousaf will be a far more progressive, inclusive leader than Westminster establishment figure Keir Starmer, elected on a mere 62.6 per cent turnout of members of a party that has haemorrhaged members since the days of Jeremy Corbyn. However, only through independence, with the full economic powers of a normal country, can he solve the problems highlighted by Jackie Baillie.

Mary Thomas, Edinburgh

Logic lass?

So Kate Forbes unequivocally loses the SNP leadership contest. As a pro-Scexit politician, this surely means she'll now start demanding that the vote is rerun until she wins?

Martin Redfern, Melrose, Roxburghshire

Same old...

Yet again the SNP government decides to do things differently from its counterparts in Westminster. Just as we learn that the latter are introducing strict controls on laughing gas, the SNP announce Humza Yousaf as First Minister of Scotland. You have to laugh!

Brian Petrie, Edinburgh

… same old

Given the results of the SNP leadership contest, it would seem that the Murrell dynasty is still controlling political events in Scotland. Humza Yousaf's alleged comments about being on “speed dial” to Nicola Sturgeon may have been said in jest but I think there is more than a grain of truth in them as Mr Yousaf seems to suffer from the lack of any original thought.

Given his poor performances in previous ministerial roles, there is an expectation of more of the same as First Minister, although perhaps he has at last found his niche. Any hopes of a more workmanlike relationship with Westminster seem to have been dashed, with the march to “independence” again taking centre stage and the much-needed improvements to public services being kicked into the long grass.

The next few months will be revealing as the new First Minister sets out his priorities but the chances of a return to political and economic stability and credibility seem remote.

Bob MacDougall, Oxhill, Stirlingshire

Spinning voters

With a supposed membership of 70,000 plus, the figures released after the SNP leader election would suggest only 50,000 of those entitled to do so chose to vote at all. This seems quite literally incredible. That such a staggeringly high percentage – around 30 per cent – did not even take part in such a crucial vote would make even the most least suspicious-minded begin to at the very least question the numbers supplied by the SNP. As this matter involved every Scot and not just nationalists, it all begged for openness and clarity and truth; qualities that have been conspicuous by their absence for many years in the SNP. Are they able to function at all without spin?

Alexander McKay, Edinburgh

That’s rich

Christmas may be an odd thing to evoke at Eastertime, but that is how it seems for many of us as the once-impregnable SNP implodes. The SNP have been in charge here since 2007. I have asked friends how many major companies have announced large investments in Scotland since Alex Salmond set up a minority Executive in that year. No one can think of any. Neither can I. Humza Yousaf's brilliant idea, which is typical of socialists, is to tax people more at higher levels of income. Such people will simply move south, or overseas. But we all know that prosperity comes when you make things or sell services. Scotland is doing less of that now than for any time since the 18th century. Mr Yousaf doesn't know what makes a country rich.

Clearly, he thinks that he speaks for all the people of Scotland, but the truth is that he only speaks for one-third of members of the SNP and no one else. Not only that. Kate Forbes totally demolished his claims to any kind of success in his track record as a politician and – correct me if I'm wrong – but I don't think he has actually done anything else in all his 37 years! Add to that that he is a republican and you can see what sort of leader of Scotland he will be.

No wonder that a senior SNP figure gives him 18 months before he is ditched. That is still 18 months too long.

Peter Hopkins, Edinburgh

Go figures

Two interesting statistics from the leadership vote. 21,675 didn’t bother to vote (30 per cent) and 1,696 of Ash Regan’s backers put Humza Yousaf as their second vote. It’s difficult to say which of these is the most dubious.

Lewis Finnie, Edinburgh

Acceptance

A 52:48 split but no calls for another vote? At last the SNP has accepted this proportion as acceptable. Referendum no more!Good luck Mr Yousaf, you are going to need it and will find out quickly that the “top job in Scotland” isn’t everything you imagined. Your mentor saw the writing on the wall and got out at the right time.

Neil Anderson, Edinburgh

Outside edge

The declaration by the new First Minister that his immediate priority is a demand for a Section 30 agreement from Westminster highlights the lack of precedence given to the implementation of COP26 by any of the candidates during their quest to be First Minister of Scotland. However, the poor state of the economy means Scots cannot adopt both policies; it means voters must choose between IndyRef2 and a decade of austerity or following the lead of the pupils and students who marched in their thousands to support the demand of Greta Thunberg to Save the Planet by making COP26 the premier goal in Scottish politics.

That means that Holyrood must revive the economy to provide the cash required to pay off the £150 billion debt arising from a Green Revolution as detailed by the Climate Emergency Review Group.

Energy consumers also need to note that, even if the unit prices of energy return to those prior to the Ukraine conflict (4p for gas and 16p for electricity), the total annual bill for the average user escalates from under £1,000 to around £2,500 (including service charges ) once fossil fuels are banned by Holyrood.

That returns Scots to the price level that was the root cause of the cost-of-living crisis. Add on the further costs of 25GW of hydrogen-fuelled gas turbines needed to keep the lights on when unreliable wind farms fail to operate and it will led to fuel penury for a majority of Scots, especially if a decade of austerity results from independence.

It’s time for all Scots to accept that independence is irrelevant until we have fixed the climate, park IndyRef2 for 30 years and eliminate the scourge of wildfires from ravaging the Scottish countryside, and rivers running so low they cannot support life!

Ian Moir, Castle Douglas, Dumfries and Galloway

Read on

Although every social action has an equal and opposite social reaction that will all take time. I hope I'm still around to enjoy the fun that follows when the Wokes have bowdlerised the Bible only to then set about the Koran,

Tim Flinn, Garvald, East Lothian