Police advise Humza Yousaf to increase security after recent threats

Police officers checked the home and constituency office of Scottish health secretary Humza Yousaf after a threat made last month.

Concerns have been raised about the safety of politicians following the fatal stabbing of Sir David Amess at a constituency surgery in Essex last week.

Speaking to Bauer Media on Wednesday, Yousaf said officers attended his home and office last month.

“It still rocks me to my very core, actually, when I think about Sir David’s murder,” Yousaf said.

“Only two weeks before Sir David’s murder, I was talking to the chief executive of the Parliament, the Permanent Secretary in the Government and Police Scotland were at my house and my constituency office doing a security survey because of threats that I had received just a month ago.

“It’s a very topical issue, it’s a very live issue, but I know that it’s an issue that Police Scotland in particular take very, very seriously.”

As a result of the survey, Yousaf said he was given “30 or 40” recommendations on how to improve security.

“I will take forward every single one of those recommendations,” he said.

While on another ministerial visit on Wednesday, Scottish community safety minister Ash Regan told the PA news agency she feels safe while meeting the public.

Launching a firework safety campaign at Holyrood Secondary School in Glasgow, Regan said: “As an MSP, I haven’t been doing face-to-face surgeries, but that’s been because of Covid, I’ve always conducted face-to-face surgeries – I think I was doing something like five or six a month previously.

“I’m quite keen to get back to doing that.

“I think it’s really important to me to be able to speak to my constituents and I think they really value that as well.

“I’m not sure if anything like that can ever be completely safe – I don’t think it’s limited just to politicians.

“We know that anybody that’s working with members of the public can be at risk as well, whether you’re a police officer or a teacher and so on.

“I know this is going to be under review right now, certainly at Westminster and I’m sure they’ll be reviewing the policies at Holyrood as well and we’ll just have to wait and see what comes from that.”