FMQs: Recap as Humza Yousaf quizzed at Scottish Parliament over police officer cuts
Recap what happened at FMQs
FMQs: Recap as Humza Yousaf quizzed at Scottish Parliament over police officer cuts
Key Events
- Humza Yousaf faces FMQs as people go to the polls in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election
- This comes a day after Rishi Sunak scrapped HS2 and said he’d be investing £36 billion in other infrastructure projects around the UK
- We’re expecting the First Minister to be questioned on the £6.6 million cut to Creative Scotland’s funding
Welcome to FMQs!
Hello and welcome to The Scotsman’s live blog for this week’s first minister’s questions.
I’m Rachel Amery and I’m the paper’s political correspondent - I’ll be letting you know all the latest gossip from FMQs as it happens.
Quick recap on what’s happened this week
Quick recap on what has happened this week in politics before FMQs gets started.
- Earlier this week it was revealed not all police officers in Scotland have been vetted properly. Humza Yousaf says the Scottish Government will take on any recommendations on the back of this.
- Former cabinet secretary Alex Neil launched an “explosive” attack on the Scottish Government over delays to dualling the A9. The Scottish Conservatives have also said the money raised from scrapping HS2 should be spent on upgrading the A9.
- Former SNP MSP Joan McAlpine accused the government of eroding the arts after it cut £6.6m from Creative Scotland’s budget. Culture Secretary Angus Robertson also admitted this morning that the world cycling championships went £8m over budget - something Creative Scotland says is a “concerning development”.
- A new ban on hunting with dogs came into effect this week, but there are concerns about animal welfare, licence confusion, and hounds being put down.
- There will be no compensation claims made to the Scottish Government after the deposit return scheme was delayed.
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Douglas Ross kicks off FMQs
Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross kicks off FMQs with police officer numbers - an issue Douglas Ross often goes on, particularly as his wife is a police officer. He said more deaths like the “tragic” death of Lamara Bell and John Yuill on the M9 will happen again because of the “harsh realities” of falling police officer numbers.
He says the number of police officers has fallen by 700 since the creation of Police Scotland.
Humza Yousaf says police numbers have increased by 300 since they came to power in 2007 and have more officers per head of population in Scotland than in England and Wales - 30 per 10,000 people compared to 25 down south.
I say this every week, but I do really need to make some bingo cards for FMQs. Only Humza Yousaf’s second question in and he is referring to the “economic mismanagement” of the Conservatives in the UK Government and their “torpedoing of the economy”.
He also says levels of recorded crime are at one of their lowest levels in Scotland on record and said police officers of every rank are better paid than they are in England, which gets a round of applause from the SNP benches.
Douglas Ross says the SNP is closing dozens of stations, is stopping some crimes for being investigated, and has cut officer numbers, and branded the First Minister “a criminal’s dream” and says he doesn’t want to stop them or put criminals in jail.
The debate is descending into chaos a bit here - Douglas Ross says the First Minister “loves the sound of his own voice”, which gets a lot of outrage from the SNP benches.
Humza Yousaf responds by saying Mr Ross is “jealous no one likes the sound of his voice” and says the Conservatives are a post-truth government out of ideas and out of time.
Humza Yousaf forced to apologise for calling Douglas Ross a liar
Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone has demanded Humza Yousaf apologises after accusing Douglas Ross of lying about the police service.
Ms Johnstone said it was “wholly inappropriate” to suggest someone has lied, and asked him to apologise - Mr Yousaf said his comment was a “deliberate inaccuracy”.
She pressed again and said he must formally apologise.
Mr Yousaf said he was happy to apologise for the post-truths of the Conservatives and any offence caused by his remarks.t
Anas Sarwar up next
Anas Sarwar from Scottish Labour up next, and he’s clearly not happy with the exchange between Alison Johnstone and Humza Yousaf, saying this is a serious matter.
Mr Sarwar says while he was out campaigning in Cambuslang he met a “distressed woman” who was trying to report a serious crime, but had found her local station in Blantyre and the station in Cambuslang were both closed.
He says this is a “heartbreaking example” of what the loss of local policing means, and asked which stations will be closed down and accused him of “decimating Scotland’s police presence”.
Humza Yousaf says this is “another inaccuracy”, which Mr Sarwar says is a “head in the sand answer” which doesn’t make this woman in Cambuslang feel any safer.
Anas Sarwar said: “The First Minister might not choose to believe the police, but I do when they say they are worried about the loss of resources and staff.
“The police are telling you people will be put at risk and you should listen to them.”
He then said he police is “weaker” after 16 years of SNP failure, and said those sitting behind him on the SNP benches can see that.
Humza Yousaf then says Anas Sarwar’s backbenches don’t believe him - perhaps a reference to the fact there’s quite a few empty seats behind him on the Labour benches today.
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