HUMZA Yousaf revealed his pals still “rip the p***” out of him about his infamous topple from a knee scooter at Holyrood.
The Health Secretary – who’d been nursing a badminton injury – took the unfortunate tumble from the mobility aid as he raced to the parly chamber in September 2021.
Humza Yousaf used the scooter after a badminton injury
He fell off the mobility aid while in parliament
The clip went viral
And after the clip went viral, Mr Yousaf sent out a prickly tweet, saying: “All for media scrutiny & never shy away from it.
“Just not sure there is need or purpose to tweet out a video of me falling over while injured.
“If anyone else had fallen over while on crutches, a knee scooter, or in a wheelchair would your first instinct be to film it & tweet out?”
Asked by The Scottish Sun on Sunday about his reaction and whether it showed him as thin-skinned, Mr Yousaf said he’d since been able to laugh it off.
He said: “I think back on that moment and no matter what you say about that scooter incident nobody, nobody can rip the p*** out of me as much as my friends did.
“To this day, in fact only a couple of days ago, Faisal, my friend, took great delight finding out that me falling over on my scooter was a gif on WhatsApp.
“So he took great pleasure in sending me that.”
He said of his reaction to the 2021 incident amid the height of the ambulance delays crisis: “It came on the back of a pretty tough week so I probably could have reacted better to it.
“It was not the proudest moment I’ve had in politics.”
Mr Yousaf is currently running against Finance Secretary Kate Forbes and Ash Regan to replace Nicola Sturgeon as SNP leader.
The latest poll shows that Mr Yousaf and Ms Forbes are neck and neck in the race to replace Ms Sturgeon.
His record in the health job was savaged by Ms Forbes, during the STV debate on Tuesday evening.
His record in the health job was savaged by his leadership rival, Ms Forbes, during the STV debate on Tuesday evening.
In a brutal takedown, Ms Forbes said that “trains were never on time” when he was transport minister, cops were at “breaking point” when he was Justice Secretary, and Scots now faced “record high waiting times”.
Ms Forbes stunned viewers with her brutal takedown, adding: “What makes you think you can do a better job as First Minister?”
Despite calling for an end to such personal attacks and accusing Ms Forbes of handing “ammunition” to opponents, Mr Yousaf has continued to take the opportunity to take a swipe at his rivals.
He has painted himself as the “grassroots” candidate for the competition – despite claims he is really the “establishment candidate”.
Ms Sturgeon has said she will not publicly reveal who she is backing to succeed her – but several of her close allies and ministers have backed Mr Yousaf.
Asked whether the FM had ever suggested that she would like him to replace her, he claimed this was an “unfair question” as he suspected “for a number of us she’s always said you guys are the future of our party”.
He revealed pals still wind him up about the incident
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