Since First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon announced her resignation on 15 February - a cheerful moment if, like me, you're a British unionist and consider Sturgeon to be a hateful, divisive authoritarian - there has been much speculation as to who will succeed her. Unfortunately, the delight I and many other unionists felt whilst watching Sturgeon announce her resignation has evaporated now that nominations for the leadership contest have closed and her three potential replacements have been announced: Kate Forbes, Ash Regan, and Humza Yousaf.
It seems unlikely that Regan will be successful, with one recent poll having found that there are more SNP voters (31%) who 'don't know' who to support than there are who support Regan (7%). Interestingly, the same poll indicates that Forbes is the most popular candidate among members of the party, despite having been harshly - and rightly, in my view - criticised for her repressive social conservatism, which is at odds with the SNP's official policy platform.
The furore over Forbes' religious views, however, has resulted in Yousaf - considered by many to have the best chance of becoming Sturgeon's successor - receiving less media scrutiny than he should be. Here are three key reasons why Yousaf would be an atrocious First Minister.
- His authoritarianism. Just like Sturgeon, Yousaf holds incredibly tyrannical views when it comes to freedom of expression, and has made it quite clear that he supports using state power to silence his ideological opponents. The best example of this can be seen in the Hate Crime and Public Order Bill. Its passage was spearheaded by Yousaf himself, and it received significant backlash in the summer of 2020 prior to its becoming law in April of the following year. The bill criminalises 'stirring up hatred' against others on the basis of disability, race, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity, and age. Any reasonable person would agree that discrimination against others because of their immutable characteristics is immoral and should be fought against, but it doesn't take a genius to understand why all censorship laws should also be opposed. Yousaf has never bothered to explain exactly why the Scottish government should have the right to criminalise people for their speech, or who gets to decide what 'stirs up hatred' and what doesn't, though presumably that responsibility has been awarded to a bunch of nameless SNP apparatchiks. The bill is so oppressive that both the Catholic Church and the National Secular Society have spoken out against it, and, as the BBC's Scotland editor noted at the time, it's quite impressive that the Scottish government managed to unite two institutions normally so rigidly opposed to each other.
- His record as Health Secretary. Yousaf's track record throughout his tenure as Health Secretary has been less than brilliant, to put it mildly. In June 2021 he was publicly criticised by Professor Steve Turner, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health's Scotland officer, for falsely claiming that ten children aged nine and below had been hospitalised due to COVID-19. Turney stated that children's hospital wards weren't seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases. The following month, as infections in Scotland exploded - according to The Telegraph, the country's rates were 'almost twice as high as England's and four times those of Wales' - he went on holiday.
- His seemingly shaky commitment to gay rights. As mentioned earlier, Kate Forbes has received a barrage of - in my opinion, utterly justified - criticism for her rigid social conservatism. She has stated that as a Christian she wouldn't have voted to legalise gay marriage in 2014, and attempting to use religious beliefs to deny others equal rights and freedom is, in my view, one of the worst things any politician can do. A close ally of Yousaf recently suggested that Forbes' beliefs means she can't be trusted to protect Scots' rights. Interestingly, however, The Telegraph recently reported that the minister who spearheaded the legalisation of gay marriage in Scotland has accused Yousaf of avoiding the gay marriage vote after facing pressure from a local mosque. If true, this would, of course, be very awkward for Yousaf, given that he has repeatedly criticised Forbes' commitment to LGBT rights. The allegation may explain why Yousaf, when asked whether he would have Forbes in his ministerial cabinet, avoided directly answering.
Yousaf is generally considered to be favourite to succeed Sturgeon, though Forbes does enjoy a strong base of support within the party despite her views on social issues. Regardless, for unionists like myself there is no good option.
