HUMZA Yousaf has missed First Minister's Questions today (Thursday, December 14) due to an illness.
Deputy First Minister Shona Robison instead took questions at noon from Tory leader Douglas Ross, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and other MSPs ahead of the Budget being announced next week.
Yousaf has spent time at COP28 over the last couple of weeks meeting with world leaders. The conference concluded on Wednesday.
Reports on Thursday morning suggested Yousaf is preparing to announce a new tax band for higher earners in a bid to plug a black hole.
According to The Times, the Scottish Fiscal Commission, which produces forecasts for the Scottish economy, tax receipts and social security spending, was told of the decision last week.
A shortfall of around £1 billion for the 2024-25 financial year was estimated between planned spending and what funding would be available but a number of sources are said to have confirmed the gap is more than £1.5bn.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel