Late yesterday evening I got around to tracking down reports I had seen earlier in the day that Humza Yousaf had (apparently) been inconsistent in explaining why he became politically active. In one interview he had cited the 9/11 attacks and in an earlier one he gave the Iraq War as a reason (2 not unconnected things IMHO).
In a move which I accept was cynical, I created a Twitter poll to highlight this. My decision to do this was not based on his or my race.
I woke this morning to find a number of people genuinely found my survey offensive. Offending anyone was not my intention – particularly Humza Yousaf.
I can see that placing the survey on Twitter without the context of the two arguably contradictory interviews was a mistake.
Clearly, Humza Yousaf is not above criticism, but I should have thought more about his race and faith (and how others too often choose to use this against him) before triggering the poll.
I have therefore deleted the poll and I am more than happy to meet with Humza Yousaf to discuss it.
Let me be clear – this is an unreserved apology.
PS I have been accused of destroying the evidence, so here it is:
Dr Scott Arthur 