As transport Minister, she was immaculate. An angel. The smiling babies in her cradles were like vermin squirming beside her. Abominations, they hid their faces in shame. disgust
At least, that was the gist of Humza Yousaf’s message on FMQ when the heretic Douglas Ross suggested that Ms Gilruth had been doing crafty favors for Fifers.
Press reports and FoI suggested that he rejected official advice to keep trains running through his constituency between Christmas and New Year.
His decision to delay an eight-day closure for repairs cost him an extra million pounds and work has yet to start, but hey, the line to Markinch remained open for sales.
“Preferential treatment,” frowned the Tory leader, who had just returned from the Coronation.
Yousaf said it was a “very serious allegation” and would be “properly investigated.”
However, now that I think about it, he had already decided that she was safe.
She acted for the “right reasons”, she declared, based on reading the Daily Mail.
Ross thought a time change too far. “She said she was going to investigate, but she also said that she investigated this morning and she sees no fault with what Jenny Gilruth did!”
Mr Gilruth, now education secretary, began to misbehave in class.
As he ranted down the hall, Presiding Officer Alison Johnstone reminded him of the rules about “on-camera behavior.” Mrs. Gilruth nodded and ranted a little more calmly.
Mrs. Ross continued. She should have recused herself due to a conflict of interest, she said. It was a “clearly dismissable crime” according to the ministerial code.
Yousaf, who oversees the code, doubled down on his neutrality and made the case for the defense.
She just wanted to help people “properly travel across the country to see their loved ones.” So, “rightly in my opinion”, she made Network Rail drop the shovels.
“This is getting worse,” Ross said. “Now he says that Jenny Gilruth was right to do this.”
Was his ‘micromanagement’ also behind the ScotRail chair resigning at that moment? he wondered sarcastically.
Mr. Yousaf’s neutrality spilled over.
An “undoubtedly desperate” Mr. Ross was trying to “throw as much mud as possible”, he raged. Ms Gilruth’s approach was “absolutely correct”.
Mr. Ross scoffed. Instead of “looking at it over breakfast”, how about some proper research?
Mr. Yousaf rolled his eyes. How many times did he have to exonerate this model of virtue?
“We take the ministerial code very seriously,” he said.
And besides, it was his train.