For those who still believe in that old-fashioned thing called the British constitution, there has come a glimmer of hope from an unlikely source. Lord Cameron has threatened to withdraw Foreign Office support for overseas visits by Scottish government ministers if the SNP continues to disregard protocol on international jaunts.
Humza Yousaf raised eyebrows during COP28 when he shook hands and chatted with Turkish strongman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The SNP leader, who was at the event in his capacity as first minister of the Scottish government, tweeted out a photograph of the meeting and said they had discussed the situation in Gaza. In the same tweet, Yousaf called for an ‘immediate and permanent ceasefire’, which is at odds with the UK government’s position. Foreign affairs is supposed to be reserved to Westminster but the SNP government in Edinburgh isn’t terribly attentive to such constitutional niceties.
In a letter to Angus Robertson, the Nationalists’ grandly-titled ‘cabinet secretary for constitution, external affairs and culture’, the Foreign Secretary says the Scottish government failed to provide ‘sufficient advance notice’ to allow a Foreign Office official to be present at the Erdoğan tete-a-tete.
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