Meeting of the Parliament 20 February 2024
I echo the First Minister’s welcome to my newest colleague in Parliament, Tim Eagle. I also pay tribute to Donald Cameron. He was a fine parliamentarian, and I am sure that he will be a fine minister in the Scotland Office.
This is a reshuffle that the First Minister did not want to make and one that was brought about by the actions of Michael Matheson, whom Humza Yousaf believed to be a man of integrity—a man who had to sack himself because the First Minister was too weak to do so. This winter, Michael Matheson should have been saving our national health service, but instead he spent it trying to save his own career. Whether they have been misleading the media or mismanaging our health service, SNP ministers have repeatedly failed the accountability test. Mr Matheson leaves Government without a shred of integrity but, having failed to dismiss him, Humza Yousaf is left without a shred of credibility.
For the First Minister, this reshuffle was a missed opportunity to reset his failing leadership, to regain control of the agenda and to kick the Greens into touch. He ducked it, because the Green tail continues to wag the SNP dog. [Interruption.]