Humza Yousaf Becomes First Minister – Farheen Alom GGS

Humza Yousaf has pledged to be a ‘first minister for all of Scotland’ and vowed to ‘kickstart’ a grassroots campaign that would ‘ensure our drive for independence is in fifth gear. Thus, amidst the increasing problems within healthcare (waiting lists exceeding 600,000, regularly full A&E departments, rising drug costs etc.), the new FM’s priority is to reform and recover the NHS which will unfortunately have to involve unpopular decisions regarding what the system can afford and what it can’t There are also strenuous debates about the issue of education and whether That lies in the hands of Westminster or Holvrood with the Scottish government arguing that they do not have the powers to help young people overcome the effects of poverty and disadvantage alongside opposition parties arguing more could be done by Holyrood. Indeed, with regards to this underlying problem, Humza Yousaf should expect to be facing close scrutiny on the effectiveness of his government’s approach to education performance.

Another problem is climate change which was arguably one of Nicola Sturgeon’s top priority shown by the Scottish Parliament’s ambitious targets having been set. However, these targets have continuously not been met and the government’s independent advisors have said Scotland’s lead has been lost. So, Huma Yousaf will have to be able to grasp these failures and turn them around in order to tackle the global crisis alongside the legally binding 2030 and 2045 targets.

Whether Humza Yousaf will be able to resolve these problems among his ever-growing in-tray is questionable, many certain that he will crack under the pressure. However, he has rallied mass support in Scotland and many strongly believe that he will be able to provide a solution to the economic recession currently plaguing Scotland.