Humza Yousaf’s wife Nadia El-Nakla is Scottish. She
was born and brought up in Dundee. But unlike most Scots she has family living
in Gaza. Her parents chose to ignore Foreign Office advice about visiting Gaza
and ended up in a warzone after the 7th October Hamas attack on Israel. That
was unfortunate and naturally Humza Yousaf and his wife were concerned about
their safety. But it is important that we distinguish between a politician’s
political role and his personal life. Humza Yousaf is First Minister of
Scotland. His wife is a Dundee SNP councillor. The Scottish Government has no
role in foreign affairs.
It must be tempting if you are a well-known politician
to try to use that role to gain personal advantage for yourself, your friends
and your family. It would be understandably human to use connections available to
you because you are First Minister to deal with a personal private issue rather
than use the means available to everyone else. But it would nevertheless be a
form of corruption to do so.
When El-Nakla’s family were trapped in Gaza Humza
Yousaf contacted the British government and Foreign Office to expedite their
rescue from Gaza, but he didn’t do so as a private citizen like the rest of us
would have done if our family were trapped in Gaza, he did so as First Minister
of Scotland. But it has nothing whatsoever to do with that role. Humza Yousaf’s
wife’s family deserved no more extra special help than any other British citizens
trapped in Gaza just because SNP members had elected him leader of their party.
In time El-Nakla’s parents were able to leave Gaza
with the help of the British government. I don’t recall any thanks from either
Humza Yousaf or Nadia El-Nakla nor indeed from her parents.
Next, we discover that Nadia El-Nakla went to Turkey in November to attend an international summit calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
It seemed rather odd that at the time that she should
do so. It cannot be often that a Dundee councillor meets the First Lady of
Turkey and other important figures. Indeed, it is rather surprising that they
knew of her existence.
She is said to have attended in a personal capacity.
One assumes therefore that she paid for the trip out of her own money and didn’t
claim expenses for her iPad. But the truth is that El-Nakla would have been nowhere
near this meeting if she had not been married to Humza Yousaf.
Next, we discover that Humza Yousaf has a meeting with
Recep Erdoğan the president of Turkey at the COP28 meeting in December. Yousaf
did so without permission from the British government and without Foreign
Office staff being present as is required.
The reason for this is that the First Minister has no
role in foreign affairs, which is reserved to the British government. The UK
cannot have two foreign policies one directed from London and the other from
Edinburgh. Yousaf is not the leader of a nation state and therefore Scotland
has no international role at all. El-Nakla is no more the wife of an
international politician than the leader’s wife of a province in Turkey, who
doubtless does not get to meet Erdoğan’s wife.
But it now is beginning to become clear that Yousaf
and El-Nakla have been using his position as First Minister for personal
private reasons. First Scotland gives £750,000 in aid to Gaza and shortly
afterwards El-Nakla’s parents get to leave Gaza. Then we discover perhaps why
El-Nakla went to Turkey to meet Erdoğan’s wife and why later Humza Yousaf was
so desperate that no one would be present at his meeting with Erdoğan.
El-Nakla has just admitted that the Turkish government
helped her family in Gaza to move to Turkey. It’s an amazing coincidence. Such
generosity on the part of President Erdoğan. What did he get in return?
I have no idea what happened when El-Nakla met Erdoğan’s
wife, nor do I know what Yousaf talked to President Erdoğan about. One of the
reasons I don’t know is that he went to a lot of trouble to make sure that Foreign
Office officials were not present, but I do know this, it is not the role of
the First Minister of Scotland let alone a Dundee councillor to have international
meetings so that non-UK citizens can move from Gaza to Turkey.
El-Nakla now wants her Gazan family to come to the UK.
She points out that Ukrainian refugees are living near her, why can’t her Gazan
family not also come here as refugees?
Well, if El-Nakla wants Gazans in general rather than
her family in particular to escape Gaza why doesn’t she ask Egypt to open the
border. Perhaps she could fly to Egypt to have a meeting with the wife of
President el-Sisi. Humza Yousaf could then attend an environment meeting somewhere
where he happens to meet el-Sisi and the border between Gaza and Egypt could be
opened.
But there is a problem here Egypt does not want to
open its border to Gaza and nowhere else in the Arab world wants to take refugees
from Gaza and indeed when Israeli officials suggest resettling Gazans elsewhere,
they are condemned by the whole world including I imagine El-Nakla and Humza
Yousaf.
So, we have a situation where if Israel suggests
resettling Gazan refugees in Africa that’s disgusting, but it’s OK for as many
Gazans as El-Nakla can find to settle in Scotland. What’s the difference?
Is El-Nakla a Zionist? Let’s make all the Gazans
refugees and it will make room for Jewish settlers to take their place.
It is becoming clear to me that Humza Yousaf and his
wife have their own private agenda that is quite different from the role of
First Minister of Scotland and different indeed from the aims of the SNP.
It is quite understandable that they should be concerned
for their relatives, but that is a private matter for them. It has nothing to
do with Scottish politics.
Each British citizen can sponsor the visit of a friend
or a relative who is not a British citizen. If we follow the rules these people
will probably get a visa, but we cannot expect that all of our relatives can
come to the UK to live, and we cannot expect that refugee status is given to
our relatives in preference to everyone else who might deserve that status.
If I become Prime Minister and use that office to gain
personal advantage whether financial or to gain favours for my friends or family,
it would be considered corrupt. If I used public money to further my own
private interests it would also be considered to be corrupt.
There is one rule for Humza Yousaf and family and another
for everyone else.
This stinks much worse than the rotting fish did.
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