The ‘fresh start for Scotland’ has turned into an episode of The Thick of It

‘Of course I’m surprised that one of my colleagues has been arrested,’ Yousaf unwisely told a scrum of reporters. Malcolm Tucker would have exploded, writes Andrew Grice

Humza Yousaf looks holed below the waterline (PA)

The “fresh start for Scotland” promised by Humza Yousaf when he set out his agenda as the country’s first minister turned into an episode of The Thick of It, farcically overshadowed by the arrest of Colin Beattie, the SNP treasurer. “Of course I’m surprised that one of my colleagues has been arrested,” Yousaf unwisely told a scrum of reporters. Malcolm Tucker would have exploded.

Although you couldn’t make it up, there are more episodes to come. SNP figures fear Nicola Sturgeon will be arrested soon; she is the only senior person named on the party’s most recent accounts not to be arrested yet. Today, Kate Forbes, narrowly defeated by Yousaf in the SNP leadership election, demanded “decisive and quick action” over the “mind-blowing” revelations about the party’s finances, which prompted Police Scotland’s investigation.

Forbes warned that voters are watching extremely closely. Indeed, many Scots might ask: if the SNP cannot run the comparative whelk stall of a party, how on earth can it be trusted to run a government? In turn, that will invite a look at the SNP’s patchy record in 16 years in power, which it has been very good at diverting attention from – often by blaming the country’s problems on the UK government. It won’t be so easy from now on.