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.
Context is key.
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 
would be helpful if you also posted your sources where he said he joined because of 911 and then because of the Iraq invasion. Cheers
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They are linked in the blog.
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As a Muslim, and as a sometimes Yesser, this seems like – not even a mistake – an honest accident. Yousaf brought up 9/11 and Iraq in the fictions he created about what pushed him into politics, this was clearly a reference to that.
Joking about a government ministers’ inconsistency isn’t any form of prejudice. It’s no coincidence that those shrilly pretending that it is are among the most abusive bigoted fringes of the Scottish nationalist movement. Expediency, not any real concern for the muslim community.
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Thanks Muri.
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