Humza Yousaf says he will speak to arrested SNP treasurer about role in party – UK politics live

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Yousaf says the Scottish government is delaying the introduction of the bottle deposit scheme until 1 March 2024.

That is a significant climbdown. As my colleague Kiran Stacey reported last month, the UK government was considering blocking the scheme because of concerns about how it would operate, and

Yousaf says the second principle in his plan is based on the theme of opportunity.

He says a fair transition to net zero is part of that. He will never do to oil and gas workers what the Thatcher government did to coal and steel workers, he says.

He says businesses are a key part of his plan. He is the proud son of a business owner, he says. The government needs businesses to grow.

Here is the policy paper published this afternoon by the Scottish government. Its title is Equality, opportunity, community: new leadership – a fresh start.

Humza Yousaf is speaking to MSPs now. He is setting out his government’s priorities. The speech was scheduled when he did not know it would coincide with the arrest of his party’s treasurer.

He says the job of first minister comes with some challenges. But it is “the honour of my life”, he says.

And he says the government is publishing a prospectus today setting out its plans.

There are three missions, built around the themes of equality, opportunity and community, he says.

On equality, he says the government will commit to continuing to tackle poverty in all its forms, and to substantially reducing poverty.

Ash Regan, who came last out of three in the SNP leadership contest, told Radio 4’s The World at One that she had “some sympathy” with those members who were saying the internal party turmoil meant the leadership contest should be re-run.

She said she was not calling for that herself. But she said that “some people” were making that argument, and she went on: “I do have some sympathy with that argument.”

She said that during the contest, when it turned out that the party had previously lied to the media about the size of the membership, she had argued for members to be allowed to change their vote, if they had already voted. That was not allowed. But if it had, “we might be in a different situation”, Regan told The World at One.

The argument for rerunning the contest is based on the idea that, if members had known the full extent of the problems allowed to accumulate under Nicola Sturgeon’s leadership, they might have been less keen to vote for the person most seen as the continuity candidate, Humza Yousaf.

Humza Yousaf is giving a speech to the Scottish parliament this afternoon that was billed as the launch of his new administration’s programme. Beforehand, the first minister found himself having to asssure journalists that he did not believe the SNP is operating as a criminal enterprise right now.

That was one of the questions put to him in a brief Q&A with journalists. Here are the main points.

Yousaf said he was “surprised” to learn that Colin Beattie, the SNP treasurer, had been arrested.

He said he did not think the SNP was acting in a criminal way. Asked if he could guarante that the party was not “operating in a criminal way right now, since you became leader”, he replied: “I don’t believe it is at all.” He said he had ordered a review to into transparency and good governance. The party had to change the way it operated, he said.

He appeared to rule out suspending Beattie, saying he took the view that people are “people are innocent until proven guilty”.

But he said he would consider removing Beattie from the the Holyrood’s public audit committe. Asked if he would do this, he said:

I’ll consider that. I have to speak to Colin Beattie. My understanding is he is still in the police station being questioned. When he’s off that, I need to have a word with Colin, not about the live police investigation, we can’t speak about the detail of that, but clearly there are pertinent issues around his role on the public audit committee and his role, of course, as the national treasurer.

This is from Sky’s Connor Gillies.

The Women’s Institute is reportedly facing a revolt from some members of its policy allowing transgender women to join. But on Times Radio this morning William Hague, the former Tory leader, said WI members unhappy with the policy should “get used” to the fact that trans women are part of society now. He said:

I think on this issue, there are some areas where there’s been a danger of going too fast, competitive sport is one of them. And world athletics has made clear that women in women’s sport can’t be transgender, otherwise it would be the end of women’s sport. And I think that is quite right.

I’m not sure that applies to the Women’s Institute, though. There are transgender people, they have changed their gender. This is part of our society now.

And I think large national organisations like the WI have to get over that and get used to that, and welcome new people. So that would be the side of the argument I’m on. I’ll probably get a lot of angry letters now from the from WI members but I would be on that side of the argument.

At the Downing Street lobby briefing the PM’s spokesperson was asked about Hague’s comment, and whether Rishi Sunak was also on that side of the argument. The spokesperson implied, not quite.

The spokesperson said he had not seen Hague’s comments, and that it was for the groups like the WI to decide for themselves who their members should be. He went on:

The prime minister has said that it is vitally important that transgender people are treated with compassion at all times as a starting point … But it will for a specific group to decide [what its policy is].

Sir Jeremy Fleming, the director of GCHQ, the government’s secret surveillance centre, briefed cabinet ministers this morning on the potential benefits and risks of artificial intelligence.

Dame Angela McLean, the government’s chief scientific adviser, and Michelle Donelan, the culture secretary, also contributed to the discussion, No 10 said.

There is increasing concern around the world that AI is developing so rapidly that a system could emerge that might pose a threat to the human race. Elon Musk was one of many AI pioneers who recently signed an open letter calling for six-month pause in the development of the most powerful AI technologies, saying: “Recent months have seen AI labs locked in an out-of-control race to develop and deploy ever more powerful digital minds that no one – not even their creators – can understand, predict, or reliably control.”

According to the Downing Street readout from cabinet, while ministers discussed the pros and cons, Rishi Sunak told his team that he wants the UK to be at the forefront of this technology. No 10 said:

The prime minister said he wants the UK to be at the forefront of [science and technology] on the world stage so the UK reaps the economic and social benefits. He added that in no other area is this more important than artificial intelligence …

Cabinet agreed on the transformative potential of AI and the vital importance of retaining public confidence in its use and the need for regulation that keeps people safe without preventing innovation.

The prime minister emphasised that we need to ensure we remain competitive, which is why we confirmed our intention in the integrated review refresh to establish a new government industry taskforce on foundation models. It will be modelled on the vaccines taskforce.

The prime minister concluded cabinet by saying that given the importance of artificial intelligence to our economy and national security, this could be one of the most important policies we pursue in the next few years which is why we must get it right.

More than 5,000 people have been detected crossing the English Channel in small boats so far this year, Home Office figures show. As PA Media reports, the cumulative number of Channel crossings this year is currently running below the level for 2022. At the equivalent point last year, the number of crossings stood at just over 6,300.

At the Downing Street lobby briefing the PM’s spokesperson rejected suggestions that the measures announced so far were failing to have a deterrent effect on small boat crossings. The spokesperson said:

I think it’s too early to draw conclusions at this stage … So I think it will be the culmination of all the different policies we are introducing which will have a long-lasting impact.

He said the partnership with Rwanda, the legislation being introduced and the deal with the French to increase the number of small boats being stopped would all have an impact.

Keir Starmer has said the SNP is in a “real mess” and letting down the people of Scotland.

Asked to comment on the arrest of the SNP’s treasurer, Starmer told journalists:

The SNP developments are deeply concerning.

Obviously there is a criminal investigation going on, so there is only so much I can say.

But after 16 years in power, it has descended to this – a real mess – and those being let down are Scottish voters who are entitled to better than this.

And if anything makes the case for change clear it is what is happening with the SNP just at the moment.

Scotland deserves better and with Labour they would get better.

Keir Starmer has urged Rishi Sunak to publish his entry in the register of ministerial interests today. Speaking at York University, Starmer said:

The prime minister promised integrity and accountability when he came into office so I think he needs to clear this up and declare his interests.

The register of ministerial interests hasn’t been published for nearly a year so I invite the prime minister to publish, at least, his entry on this issue today, clear this up, because he promised transparency.

Don’t hide behind the process, just come clean and tell everybody what the interest is so people can see it and judge it. That’s what transparency is.

At the Downing Street lobby briefing the PM’s spokesperson said Sir Laurie Magnus, the independent adviser on ministers’ interests (who is more commonly known as the No 10 ethics adviser), would be publishing the updated list of ministers interests, and that he wanted to do this “as quickly as possible”. The work was still ongoing, the spokesperson said.

Asked if Sunak would publish his own personal entry before the publication of the full list, the spokesperson said he was not aware of any plans to do that.

PA Media has filed a profile of Colin Beattie, the SNP treasurer arrested as part of the police investigation into SNP finances. PA says:

Originally working in international finance, a biography on his website claims Beattie spent 23 years living in the “Middle and Far East”, followed by 11 years in London, before settling in Dalkeith, Midlothian in 2001 with his wife Lisa – a former leader of the local authority.

First elected as a councillor in Midlothian in 2007, Beattie led the SNP group at the local authority.

But in 2011, he moved to Holyrood, being elected as an MSP for the newly-formed Midlothian North and Musselburgh constituency.

Despite the SNP being in power throughout his tenure as an MSP, Beattie has never achieved ministerial office, having never been invited by Alex Salmond, Nicola Sturgeon or Humza Yousaf to serve in government.

His highest office to date has been the national treasurer post, a role he was elected to in a vote by party members in 2004.

In the party’s 2020 internal elections, however, Beattie lost out to MP Douglas Chapman.

But Chapman’s tenure would be short-lived, with him resigning in May 2021, claiming he had not been given enough information to carry out the job.

The following month, Beattie was reinstated to the role.

But, in July 2021, Police Scotland opened an investigation into the use of about ?600,000 of donations received by the party as part of a fundraising effort to finance an independence referendum campaign.

In August 2021, Beattie sought to reassure members in a statement released alongside the party’s accounts, saying: “There has been concern expressed in some quarters that this system does not result in a separate fund being officially recorded in the annual accounts of the party.

“Hence a claim from some that the money does not exist.

“In fact, the money is earmarked through the internal process set out above and will be deployed fully through future cash flow for the purpose of promoting a referendum on independence and campaigns intended to secure independence.”

He continued: “While these monies are not separated out, their existence in terms of the commitment as to what they will be spent on is tangible.”

The Scottish Labour party is also calling for the suspension of Colin Beattie, the SNP treasurer arrested by the police. Jackie Baillie, the Scottish Labour deputy leader, said:

For too long, a culture of secrecy and cover-up has been allowed to fester at the heart of the SNP.

And while the investigation spreads, the SNP is still refusing to take the basic step of suspending MSPs who are the subject of police inquiries.

Humza Yousaf’s inaction raises questions – is his priority the cover up to protect the SNP or the people of Scotland?

Chris Philp, the policing minister, will make a statement later about Home Office plans to ban the sale of so-called zombie knives. In time-honoured fashion, MPs will hear the details some hours after they were disclosed to readers of the Sun, which has published an article by Philp. He says:

There is no legitimate reason for someone to carry a machete or zombie knife on the streets of Britain. These knives, which have no practical purpose, are carried by criminals.

So-called ‘Rambo’ and ‘zombie style’ knives, spark fear and can cause unimaginable harm. They are often used to intimidate victims as part of a street mugging for a phone or a watch or used by drug gangs on the streets.

That is why we are moving to ban all these terrifying weapons.

The Home Office has also tweeted about the plans.

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, says this should have happened years ago. She says:

These knives should have been banned years ago.

Knife crime devastates lives and rips apart communities and the government must do all it can to prevent it. Sadly, the Conservatives have dragged their heels and are only launching a consultation.

We have made it our mission in government to halve knife crime over the next decade.

As Rosa Prince writes in her London Playbook, Tory home secretaries have been promising a crackdown on the sale of zombie knives for at least seven years.

Labour claims every home secretary since 2010, bar the short-lived Grant Shapps, has made the same announcement. Here’s Theresa May in 2016, Amber Rudd in 2017, Sajid Javid in 2018 and Priti Patel in 2021.

The Scottish Conservatives are urging Humza Yousaf, the SNP leader, to suspend Colin Beattie, the party treasurer who has been arrested by the police – as well as Peter Murrell, the former chief executive, and Nicola Sturgeon, the former first minister.

In a statement Craig Hoy, the Scottish Conservative chair, said:

The police investigation into the SNP’s murky finances is consuming the party – and Humza Yousaf has to get a grip of the situation, rather than stand by wringing his hands.

He must show some leadership and suspend Colin Beattie – along with Peter Murrell and Nicola Sturgeon.

That is the precedent the party set when politicians such as Michelle Thomson and Natalie McGarry were under investigation – and it must be followed here, for the benefit of everyone.

Colin Beattie should also stand down from membership of the public audit committee until the conclusion of the investigation.

This extremely serious matter is escalating by the day and everyone in the SNP has a duty to be as transparent as possible about what they knew and when.

Bill Clinton, the former US president who is in Belfast for the conference marking the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement, told BBC Ulster this morning he had become “more optimistic” about power-sharing being resumed after talks with Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, my colleague Lisa O’Carroll reports.

In the Commons there is one urgent question today, on the US leak of top secret documents, and one statement, from the policing minister Chris Philp, on a new crackdown on dangerous knives.