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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent

SNP in shock: a party that surged to power but forgot about self-governance

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's then first minister and SNP leader with her MPs in Dundee after the 2019 UK general election.
Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's then first minister and SNP leader with her MPs in Dundee after the 2019 UK general election. Photograph: Neil Hanna/AFP/Getty

The first day back at Holyrood after Easter recess should have been the moment for Scotland’s new leader, Humza Yousaf, to reset the agenda after a bruising leadership contest.

Instead, hours before his first big policy statement on Tuesday, Yousaf found himself besieged by reporters asking questions about the arrest of the SNP treasurer, Colin Beattie, earlier that morning, and having to insist that while Beattie’s arrest was a “very serious matter”, people were “innocent until proven guilty”.

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