On Gulhane on Politics this week,

we reflect on the SNP membership’s choice of the ranting, gaff-prone Humza Yousaf as their Party’s leader – and OUR First Minister;

we take a quick look at Mr Yousaf’s eye opening appointments to his government;

And we have a message for Graeme Dey, the new Minister for Higher and Further Education, on the urgent need to back Scotland’s colleges so more Scots can be trained for the workplace.

The self-styled First Activist is now in charge of Scotland’s Government.

SNP members selected Holyrood’s most incompetent minister to lead their Party, well only just. In the second round of voting, Humza secured 52.1% of the vote, rival Kate Forbes 47.9%.

So Humza was sworn in as FIRST Minister, keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland. And MSPs were CLAPPING like seals on his side of the SNP’s divided ranks when Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross reminded Parliament of Humza’s priorities.

Hapless Humza Yousaf is not only the worst Health Secretary in the history of devolved government, his undignified record includes spells as an ill-fated Transport Secretary who drove a car without insurance.

He was also the power-obsessed Justice Secretary - who thought heated discussions over dinner at home should be treated as hate crimes.

Humza Yousaf, with little experience outside of politics, is an SNP princeling - having worked in a call centre for a year after leaving university in 2007.

He was then employed as an SNP office assistant before being elected as MSP in 2011.

Humza has been well mentored for the top job – by both Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon.

So what does Humza stand for – politically ? Well, the SNP princeling wants to scrap the Monarchy. He regards the UK Government as a foreign power.

He dreams of establishing Scotland as an independent republic.

With regret, under Humza, expect the days of SNP failures to continue -  as he obsesses over breaking-up the United Kingdom

Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf has decided on his new-look government line up.

Well he actually retained key figures from Nicola Sturgeon’s government, at least the ones that supported him during his leadership campaign.

He also kept the 2 Green MSPs as ministers.

But he didn’t keep the best TALENT from the Sturgeon years – including Kate Forbes who wouldn’t accept a demotion and her supporter Ivan McKee, the only former minister who knew how to run a business.

The First Minister and Deputy First Minister are both failed former Health Secretaries. And their line-up of Cabinet Secretaries and Ministers has been described as a B-list of politicians.

But what a B-List ! Of the 64 SNP MSPs, 26 are now Ministers. 

And the make-up of Humza Yousaf’s Government reflects his priorities: independence.

Tourism may account for 7% of employment in Scotland and 5% of Scotland’s GDP.  Yet Humza Yousaf, in all his wisdom, thinks this industry doesn’t need his attention. And as a flavour of what to expect during his time in office – however long that may be - Humza Yousaf has stated there will be no relaxation of the tax burden on higher earners.

There’s no disguising the fact that Scotland now has an anti-business, anti-growth…. First Minister.

The new Cabinet Secretary for Higher and Further Education, Graeme Dey should listen carefully !

Scotland needs to train and upskill its workforce. This is particularly the case in health and social care.

Training programmes at our colleges of further education provide the essential link between people and employers, yet they don’t receive the level of support that universities enjoy.

To find out more, I visited the City of Glasgow College and its simulated hospital ward training suite…..where I spoke with College Principal Paul Little and Vanessa Telfer, Associate Dean of Health and Early Years.

https://www.cityofglasgowcollege.ac.uk/