Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf was on the end of a stern telling off from the presiding officer during today’s session of First Minister’s Questions (FMQs) after accusing Douglas Ross of “lies”.
The SNP leader accused the Scottish Tory leader of lying during a heated discussion, which led to his conduct being deemed “wholly inappropriate”.
After being asked about police cuts, station closures and officers numbers, the First Minister accused Ross of “telling lies about the police service”.
Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone demanded an apology from Yousaf, but it took three attempts before he eventually did so.
The presiding officer was less than impressed with Humza Yousaf's behaviour
Scottish Parliament
In his first refusal to acknowledge wrongdoing, he said he was happy with his characterisation of Ross.
He said: “I’m happy to call it a deliberate inaccuracy presiding officer because that’s clearly what it was.”
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In another refusal, he said: “I am happy to apologise to anybody who has been offended by the post truth that comes from the Conservative Party and anyone that’s been offended by my remarks.”
In a stern rebuke, the presiding officer said: “First Minister, I would ask that you apologise to myself and to this chamber.”
Finally acknowledging his wrongdoing, Yousaf said: “I am happy to apologise to the chamber for any offence.”
Ross hit out at “slash and burn” cuts to police budgets as Scotland contends with as many as 30 stations being up for closure.
The First Minister has blamed the UK Government for “economic mismanagement”, while claiming officers on the streets are at “historically low levels”.
It comes as the SNP leader appeared on the US publication Time Magazine.
He was included in a list of 10 “next generation leaders” by the magazine’s international edition, owing to his youth and the fact he is the next first Muslim leader of a Western country.
He appears alongside the likes of actor Florence Pugh, racing driver Jamie Chadwick, drag queen Pattie Gonia and Ghanian visual artist Prince Gyasi.
He spoke about what the SNP has to do to increase support for independence, with opinion polls appearing to show backing for it stagnating shy of a majority.
“The way we shift the dial on independence is give people a little bit of hope, and I believe the SNP can absolutely do that,” he said.
“The challenge over the past few months, to be frank and to be blunt, is that we’ve not been able to get cut through because of other events that have dominated the party space.”