HUMZA Yousaf has explained a gaffe he made on the campaign trail after he was criticised for asking a group of Ukrainian women “where are all the men”.
The SNP leadership contender met women at the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain in Edinburgh where he made the comment.
The BBC’s James Cook reported that Yousaf’s quip was met with “polite and awkward laughter” before the women explained many of their partners were still in Ukraine fighting against the Russian invasion.
NEW SNP leadership candidate Humza Yousaf just jokingly asked a group of Ukrainian women in Edinburgh “where are all the men?” There was polite and awkward laughter before they explained that many of their partners had stayed in Ukraine to fight in the war. pic.twitter.com/mpw544vXgi
— James Cook (@BBCJamesCook) March 16, 2023
Yousaf told the BBC there were Ukrainian men in the building and the women he had spoken with did not appear to take offence.
The country enforced marital law after the invasion, including barring men aged 18 to 60 from leaving Ukraine, except in limited circumstances.
Exemptions include the fathers of three or more children under the age of 18, single fathers with children under 18 or the fathers of children with disabilities.
Yousaf told the BBC: “They of course were rightly saying to me that for many of them their families are not able to make it, not all of their families are able to make it.
“I don’t think any of the women were at all offended or upset.”
The Scottish LibDems pounced on the slip-up, accusing the Health Secretary of having an “awful ability to put his foot in his mouth”.
The party’s leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “From the man who would lead Scotland, this is clumsy, insensitive and displays a real ignorance of international affairs.
"Many of these women could have male relatives fighting and dying on the Eastern front, defending not just Ukraine but the free democracies of the world.
"Humza Yousaf has an awful ability to put his foot in his mouth."
