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Riots force Yousaf to question his family's future in Britain
Former first minister Humza Yousaf on the back benches in the main chamber during First Minister's Questions at the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood, Edinburgh, May 30, 2024

SCOTLAND’S former first minister Humza Yousaf has questioned his family’s future in Britain as the country is hit by widespread far-right rioting. 

Mr Yousaf, who was the first Muslim to lead a country in western Europe, told The News Agents podcast of his fears for his partner and three children amid the “horrendous” targeting of ethnic minorities in the ongoing race riots and growing hostility to the Islamic faith.

He said: “You cut me open, I’m as about as Scottish as you come.

“But the truth of the matter is, I don’t know whether the future for me and my wife and my three children is going to be here in Scotland or the United Kingdom, or indeed in Europe and the West, because I have for some time really worried about the rise of Islamophobia.”

He said rioters were “going after people who are black, who are Asian, who are Muslim and that, again, comes back to some of the language that’s been used far too often in our politics about people not adopting our values.”

Mr Yousaf argued the rhetoric of prominent politicians such as former Tory home secretary Suella Braverman and Reform Party leader Nigel Farage had helped ensure the language of the far-right had “become institutionalised in our politics.”

The sentiment was echoed by Labour’s London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who posted on X (formerly Twitter): “It’s the legacy of decades of dog whistles, including from some irresponsible politicians.

“We all bear not just the responsibility, but also the duty to stand up to hate. To be vocal. To be allies to those who are being unjustly targeted — online and off.”

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