Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf angrily hit back at an MSP who accused him of “pandering to a racist prime minister” on emergency terror laws.
They were discussing the UK Government’s plan to prevent terrorists being released automatically from jail halfway through their sentences.
The law was drawn up after Sudesh Amman stabbed two bystanders with a knife he had grabbed from a shop in Streatham, London. He'd been jailed in December 2018 for possessing and distributing terror documents but was freed at the halfway point of his sentence.
It was the second attack in three months to be carried out by a convicted terrorist.
Usman Khan stabbed and killed two people at Fishmongers' Hall near London Bridge in November. He had been released nearly a year earlier, halfway through a 16-year jail sentence.
Yousaf was clearly furious at Green party MSP John Finnie after the extraordinary question while scrutinising the new law in the Scottish Parliament.
Finnie asked: “Why are you pandering to a racist UK prime minister, cabinet secretary?”
Yousaf hit back: “I have to say I take enormous exception to that. As somebody who’s been at the forefront, I’m afraid, of racist abuse - probably more than John Finnie has ever been in his life - I would suggest to him that he might want to ask that question in another way.
“This is not pandering. Ridiculous to suggest it is pandering.”
The law covers areas the Scottish Parliament is responsible for so MSPs are being asked to allow Westminster to pass it on their behalf.
In Scotland, prisoners jailed for four years or more are considered for parole halfway. The law will extend that to the two-thirds point.
Yousaf said he has “deep reservations” about the rushed way the law is being put in place.
But he warned failure to agree to the plan will lead to “errors and confusion”.
After the tense exchange, Finnie told Yousaf: “Can I unreservedly apologise to the cabinet secretary for my clumsy framing of the question. I know the principled stance the cabinet secretary takes in all matters regarding equality issues including racism. There was no offence intended.”
