Humza Yousaf’s independence plan is a desperate power grab

During her eight years as Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon perfected the art of false promises. She consistently told SNP supporters that a second independence referendum was within reach, but the truth was that she had no power to deliver one. All Sturgeon was able to do was lead her troops halfway up the hill before having to bring them back down again.

‘Continuity candidate’ Humza Yousaf, the SNP’s new leader, seems to think that this is a strategy worth copying. In a speech at the party’s independence convention in Dundee, Yousaf unveiled his new Indyref plan. His latest brainwave appears to be, on the face of it, a complete U-turn from everything he said on the subject during the leadership race. 

‘Vote SNP for Scotland to become an independent country,’ the First Minister announced in Dundee’s Caird Hall. ‘If the SNP does win this election then the people have spoken,’ Yousaf continued.