Father of SNP minister Humza Yousaf injured in doorstep attack

Scottish Transport Minister Humza Yousaf who said racist threats had left him so "worried" about his safety and that of his family that he carries an personal attack alarm. Picture: PA

Police have confirmed Mr Yousaf’s accountant father Muzaffar, 65, was injured on his doorstep as he prepared to go out to work earlier this month.

The successful professional was taken to hospital for treatment to a face wound.

The incident has shocked neighbours in an upmarket estate in Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire. Officers told local residents to stay inside and lock their doors just after 7.30am on Friday, February 2.

Police Scotland said officers were called to a report that a man ‘had been injured and his Jaguar car allegedly stolen by two men from outside a house’.

A spokesman said: “The injured man was taken by ambulance to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, where he was treated for a facial injury and then released.

“The Jaguar car was recovered a short distance from the house.”

Two men, aged 42 and 36 years, have been arrested and charged and a report has been submitted to the procurator fiscal.

A friend of the 32-year-old transport minister said that Muzaffar Yousaf, a self-employed accountant and father-of-three, had been left ‘badly shaken’.

The friend said: “It was absolutely horrific and Humza was shocked to hear of his father’s ordeal.

“Thankfully he is recovering well but it was traumatic for his dad, who had been getting ready to go to work.

“He had a lot of support from neighbours and the local community.”

Mr Yousaf became the youngest-ever SNP MSP when he was elected in May 2011, aged 25.

In an interview he said his father ‘became a Scottish Nationalist listening to a teacher at school’.

He said: I was obviously heavily influenced by my dad and our family friend Bashir Ahmad, who was elected an MSP for the SNP in 2007.”

Last year Mr Yousaf admitted he was pulled over by officers while driving a colleague’s car, near Dingwall, Ross-shire, which he was not insured to drive.

The minister claimed the error was a ‘genuine mistake’ and has blamed it on a misunderstanding following the break-up of his marriage.

In February last year, he was fined £300 and given six penalty points.

Last year Mr Yousaf said: “You can take my word for it. It’s easy to say this could never happen to you, but that’s exactly what I thought.

“And let me tell you, you don’t want the first time you realise you’re not properly insured to be when you’re pulled over for a routine police check while driving a friend’s car which you believe you are insured for. Especially not when you’re Transport Minister.”