‘I will lead by example in adhering to this Code and knowing it is an incredible privilege to serve the people of Scotland. I know that Ministers will do likewise,’ is how First Minister, Humza Yousaf, ends the foreword to the latest edition of the Scottish Ministerial Code, published in July.
Just a couple of months later and Yousaf appears to have potentially broken the Code, which stipulates ministers must ‘give accurate and truthful information to the Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity’.
As revealed in an investigation by These Islands, Yousaf made a false statement in relation to Scotland’s renewables energy capacity back in June. At First Minister’s Questions (FMQs) on June 22, in response to a question from Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, Yousaf said that Scotland had ‘the majority of the renewables and natural resources’ in the UK. The correct figure for 2022 was 26 per cent, according to UK government figures.
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