RISHI Sunak has quoted Kate Forbes’s attack on Humza Yousaf in the SNP leadership contest to humiliate the party’s leader at Westminster.
The Prime Minister repeated the scathing summary of the health secretary’s record delivered by Ms Forbes in last week’s STV hustings at PMQs.
SNP Westminster leader Stepehn Flynn had raised the issue of higher energy bills in Scotland, and contrasted it with Mr Sunak spending a fortune heating his swimming pool at his Yorkshire home.
Mr Sunak insisted the UK Government was continuing to help people with their bills amid the cost of living crisis.
Mr Flynn said: “You have got to wonder what planet he's on, Mister Speaker.”
He said the average energy bill in Scotland was closer to £3,500 than the Ofgem cap of £2,500, and now the Chancellor was ending the £400 rebate.
“Is it not the case that the Tories aren’t freezing energy bills, they're looking to freeze households?”
Mr Sunak replied: “Actually, the government is delivering for people across the United Kingdom.
"Energy bills have been our priority, which is why over £1000 of support is benefiting households in every part of our country.
“But he talks about delivery. It's now clear that we know because of the SNP that the trains don't run on time, the police are at breaking point, and the NHS in Scotland experienced the longest ever waiting lists.
“Mister Speaker, that isn't that isn't even my assessment.
“That's what we learned in the SNP’s leadership debate last week.”
Mr Flynn is a supporter of Mr Yousaf in the contest to replace Nicola Sturgeon.
Last week, Mr Forbes attacked her main rival’s record, suggesting he was a “mediocrity” who had failed in every brief.
She asked him: “You were a transport minister and the trains were never on time, when you were Justice Secretary the police were stretched to breaking point, and now as health minister we’ve got record-high waiting times.
“What makes you think you can do a better job as first minister?”
Mr Yousaf later accused Ms Forbes of providing the Tories with ammunition - a claim that now appears to have been borne out at PMQs.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel