Two former government ministers have claimed SNP leadership candidate Humza Yousaf deliberately avoided a Scottish Parliament vote on gay marriage.
The Sunday Mail has spoken to the senior politicians who last night piled more pressure on the health minister to explain if he was excused due to pressure from religious leaders.
Yousaf is the favourite to replace Nicola Sturgeon as party leader and first minister, followed closely by finance minister Kate Forbes.
She provoked a storm of controversy last week by saying she wouldn’t have voted in support of equal marriage had she been an MSP in February 2014 when the bill was passed.
That turned the focus on Yousaf’s record who – despite saying he supports it – wasn’t at the key vote because of an apparently unavoidable meeting to help a Scot imprisoned in Pakistan.
Former SNP health secretary Alex Neil has already accused the leadership candidate of lying and yesterday the Sunday Mail spoke to two other Scottish Government cabinet members from the time who have questioned Yousaf’s version of events.
One said: “There is absolutely no doubt that Alex Neil’s version of events is correct and that Humza skipped the vote because he was under pressure from religious leaders.
“A message was communicated to then-First Minister Alex Salmond through Joe Fitzpatrick, who dealt with parliamentary business at that time.
“The request to miss the vote was granted, nobody had a particular problem with it at the time.
“But the issue here is about being straight with the electorate.
“Kate has been up front and honest about it and Humza now needs to be clear about why he missed that vote.”
A second said: “It’s certainly true that the reason the meeting was set up was so Humza wouldn’t have to vote.
“If he chooses to lie about that then he’s in serious trouble. In politics, it’s often the cover-up that gets you into the really hot water. If you make a mistake and say, ’I’m sorry, I got that wrong. I shouldn’t have done that’, then that’s the end of the story.”
Yesterday, the Sunday Mail asked Yousaf if he believed Alex Neil to be lying but he refused and insisted he would not engage in “mudslinging”.
Instead, he raised doubts about the former MSP’s motives, indicating that his public support for rival candidate Forbes was the reason for his claims.
Yousaf said: “The fact this is being resurrected during a leadership campaign, by an individual who’s very evidently supporting another candidate, probably betrays the motivation behind why Alex Neil has said what he’s said. I’m not going to get into mudslinging, accusing people and calling them names.
“I’m not going to do that with Alex Neil either. I’ve put on record what happened and my support for equal marriage.
“I voted for it then, I’d vote for it now and I’d fight to protect that very important piece of legislation.”
The Glasgow MSP pointed to his support for the equal marriage Bill at the first stage of the legislative process and said: “It makes no sense to skip a vote at stage three when you vote for the general principle at stage one.”
The saga has caused more strife for Yousaf, who has been accused of being unfit for his job and urged to resign with opposition politicians saying he was “unqualified” to be the next first minister.
Rival Forbes has come under fire for her views on equal marriage, abortion and having children outside marriage, which have been linked to her membership of the Free Church of Scotland.
It has generated debate about the role religion plays in political decision-making and political leadership.
In his comments last week, former MSP and Forbes-backing Neil said Yousaf had been given an exemption from voting in the third stage of the equal marriage Bill at Holyrood “because of pressure from the mosque”. He said: “There is no doubt at all that Humza asked for and was given leave of absence from the vote because of ‘pressure from the mosque’.
“He asked if he could be skipped from the vote and the first minister gave him permission, and it was agreed he would arrange a ministerial appointment which would be timed for the day of the debate and the vote, so that he would have cover.”
Forbes and third leadership contender Ash Regan have also been questioned on their views about transgender prisoners after Nicola Sturgeon previously refused to say whether Isla Bryson, a double-rapist who was being accommodated in a female prison, was male or female.
Asked about Bryson, Yousaf said he believed the inmate was “at it” but would not state whether they were a man or woman.
He said: “To be really clear, I think Isla Bryson is at it. I think Isla Bryson is not a genuine trans woman. I think they are a disgusting, despicable individual who has been a manipulator for many years and they’re trying to manipulate the system now, so don’t believe they are genuinely a trans women.”
Pressed again, Yousaf said: “I don’t think they’re a trans woman, so you can say that Isla Bryson is a man, if you wish.”
The Bryson scandal brought into focus concerns about the Scottish Government’s gender reforms which aim to make it easier or people to legally change gender by self-identifying as the opposite sex.
Despite being backed by a majority of MSPs in Holyrood, the UK Government blocked the legislation.
Yousaf, if elected as first minister, has already vowed to take the issue to court.
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