Humza Yousaf claims Nicola Sturgeon is Europe’s ‘most impressive politician’ and denies being too weak to suspend ex-first minister after her arrest in SNP finance probe – as her former deputy says police just wanted a ‘formal’ chat
- Scotland’s First Minister tried to brush off accusations he was too ‘weak’ to act
- Said he refused to move against his former ally due to belief in ‘natural justice’
Humza Yousaf launched an astonishing defence of Nicola Sturgeon today, branding her Europe’s ‘most impressive politician’ and again refusing to suspend her following her arrest at the weekend.
Scotland’s First Minister tried to brush off accusations he was too ‘weak’ to act against his predecessor, who was held for seven hours on Sunday by detectives investigating SNP finances.
Speaking to reporters at Holyrood today he said he refused to move against his former ally and mentor because he believed in ‘natural justice’.
‘Nicola Sturgeon is the most impressive politician I think we have seen in Europe, she is an asset to our movement and to our party,’ he added.
It came hours after Ms Sturgeon’s former deputy tried to play down the seriousness of her arrest.
Keith Brown told the BBC said she had been released without charge and ‘arrest is just a way of making sure that the interview and information gathering by the police is put into formal footing’.
Scotland’s First Minister tried to brush off accusations he was too ‘weak’ to act against his predecessor, who was held for seven hours on Sunday by detectives investigating SNP finances.
Speaking to reporters at Holyrood today he said he refused to move against his former ally and mentor because he believed in ‘natural justice’.
Keith Brown told the BBC said she had been released without charge and ‘arrest is just a way of making sure that the interview and information gathering by the police is put into formal footing’.
Ms Sturgeon’s arrest on Sunday morning is a fresh blow for Mr Yousaf, as the Police Scotland Operation Branchform investigation continues to dominate his first three months as First Minister.
She was released without charge pending further inquiries after seven hours of questioning – and issued a statement insisting that ‘I know beyond doubt that I am in fact innocent of any wrongdoing’.
She became the third figure in the SNP to be arrested and interviewed by detectives in the ongoing investigation into the party’s finances, alongside former chief executive Peter Murrell – her husband – and former treasurer Colin Beattie.
SNP MSP Michelle Thomson was among those calling for Ms Sturgeon to resign from the whip while the investigation was ongoing.
Ms Thomson argued that she herself had needed to resign the whip while an MP in 2015, despite not being ‘personally under investigation’ and ‘certainly not arrested’.
Former leadership contender Ash Regan and MP Angus MacNeil, both of whom were critics of Ms Sturgeon’s leadership, had also suggested that she should be suspended.
Today Mr Brown told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme that he ‘certainly’ agreed with Mr Yousaf’s decision not to suspend his predecessor as the investigation is ongoing.
‘Nicola Sturgeon has not been charged – she has not been accused, in fact, of anything,’ he said.
‘The arrest I appreciate is a dramatic thing to have happened.
‘It’s perhaps not as well understood that arrest is just a way of making sure that the interview and information gathering by the police is put into formal footing.’
He also raised the case of Boris Johnson, saying Conservatives had not called for him to be suspended despite being investigated by the police.
The SNP depute leader said Ms Sturgeon had given a ‘strong defence’ of her own innocence and he was not aware of any complaints being made to the party’s member conduct committee.
The Scottish Conservatives said some of Mr Brown’s claims were ‘absurd’.
Deputy leader Meghan Gallacher said: ‘Keith Brown’s desperate spinning in defence of Humza Yousaf will only pour petrol on the bitter civil war between SNP MSPs and MPs over Nicola Sturgeon’s preferential treatment.
‘His claim that Michelle Thomson had voluntarily given up the SNP whip when she was under investigation amounts to gaslighting, as she has said very clearly she had the whip removed from her by Nicola Sturgeon.’
She added: ‘No amount of spin can disguise the fact that Humza Yousaf is so compromised by his closeness to Nicola Sturgeon that he is having to move the goalposts on internal discipline.’
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