I’m not sure whether it’s me or whether lies and obfuscation from politicians have become ingrained in our daily lives, but I can’t escape the feeling that there’s something highly suspicious about the timing of the harrowing interview with First Minister Humza Yousaf’s mother-in-law, who had been trapped in war-torn Palestine.
Elizabeth El-Nakla describes in detail her imprisonment at the hands of Israeli forces in its war with Hamas, and her subsequent dramatic escape into Egypt. The moving account of her and husband Maged’s terrifying four-week ordeal came a fortnight after she finally tasted freedom.
In common with virtually everyone who watched a clearly still distressed Mrs El-Nakla being interviewed alongside her daughter Nadia – Mr Yousaf’s wife and an SNP councillor in Dundee – I came away with a sense of growing anger and frustration at the events currently unfolding in the Gaza Strip.
But, then, the nagging suspicions started tugging at me. Why now? After two weeks of near-silence on her ordeal, what prompted Mrs El-Nakla to choose this moment to sit down with Sky News and recount in minute detail what must have been the ultimate nightmare?
Now, I’m the first to admit that 40 years in journalism has taught me to doubt everything I’m told until I see incontrovertible proof that it’s true. I’m by no means a conspiracy theorist, but I live life by the mantra that if something seems too bizarre to be true then it probably isn’t. Which brings me back to that interview.
Could it possibly be the case that it was arranged as a diversionary tactic to deflect attention from the ongoing controversy encircling Health Secretary Michael Matheson and, by association, his friend and cheerleader Mr Yousaf?
iPad scandal won’t disappear
Mr Matheson has faced two weeks of questions, condemnation and ridicule over his attempts to charge Scottish taxpayers almost £11,000 for data roaming charges incurred on his parliamentary iPad during a one-week holiday in Morocco last December.
Mr Matheson said that usage was all down to parliamentary business, and claimed the full amount on his expenses. Even when his wife belatedly mentioned that their two sons had used the iPad to stream TV coverage of the Old Firm football derby, Mr Matheson continued to assure the first minister that no one else had had access to it.
It was only when the pressure from political opponents showed no sign of abating that the beleaguered minister made a statement to the parliament admitting the latest true version of events. And threw his sons to the wolves in the process.
Mr Yousaf, having offered full support to Mr Matheson, was left with no escape route other than to declare grandly that the matter was closed. But the stench of dishonesty now surrounding his government is so great that people no longer swallow that. The people will decide when the matter is closed, and that decision seems a long way off at the moment.
Was traumatic interview just a distraction tactic?
Now, I’m no technological whizz-kid – or, indeed, any other kind of kid these days – but even I know that running up £11,000 in data charges in just seven days is worthy of mention in the Guinness Book of Records.
Earlier this year, I spent six weeks abroad in a house with no wifi and managed to continue my normal phone usage without exceeding my 25GB allowance. So, it beggars belief that the government IT specialists who noted the vastly excessive data usage on Mr Matheson’s iPad checked only the days on which the usage was incurred, but didn’t look at the browsing history to find out HOW it was incurred.
“It feels like we’re being erased”
Elizabeth El-Nakla @HumzaYousaf Scotland's First Minister’s mother-in-law talks about being trapped in Gaza says “I left my heart in Gaza”pic.twitter.com/ltFP6VEoUr
— Saima Mohsin (@SaimaMohsin) November 20, 2023
We have all seen enough of the work of spin doctors to know that there would have been a huddle among the SNP’s management team, desperately searching for an escape route. I can quite imagine that one suggestion would have been the interview with Mrs El-Nakla, guaranteed to rack up a few sympathy votes for a first minister under increasing pressure.
I can also imagine that Mrs El-Nakla would agree to the interview to help her daughter. After all, what parent wouldn’t go through personal trauma to protect their children? Other than Mr Matheson, that is.
I really hope my reading of events is completely wrong and that the timing is just completely coincidental. But, at a time when integrity among politicians and their lackeys is at an all-time low, who can blame me for having doubts?
Derek Tucker is a former editor of The Press and Journal
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