These are not the best of times for Scottish Government Minister for Transport, Humza Yousaf.
The SNP MSP has been under fire in recent weeks in relation to the ScotRail crisis – and now he is likely face further criticism after being caught driving without insurance.
Yousaf was in a friend’s car when he was caught during a routine stop in Dingwall, according to a
Daily Record report, and insists he thought he was covered to drive any vehicle as part of his comprehensive car insurance cover. However, an alleged mix-up when he split from his wife Gail meant that she was the main policyholder and that he was only able to drive his own car.
“They asked if I was familiar with the road and warned me that the gritters had just been out and that would bring deer to the road,” commented Yousaf to the
Scottish Sun.
“They asked for my licence and did a routine check for insurance. They asked if I was insured and I said ‘absolutely, yes’ but they put it through their computer and they said ‘no’.
“I was absolutely certain. I have had fully comprehensive insurance for over 10 years.
“I told the police I had recently gone through a marriage separation and I called the insurance company to tell them about that.
“They agreed. They said they had a record of my call in the middle of July saying that I wanted to transfer my policy to another car but it hadn’t been fully followed through.
“I was the policy holder, I was fully covered and my wife was the named driver but I was transferred as the named driver and she was the policy holder.”
A genuine mix-up perhaps, but also a case of seriously bad timing as a series of problems on Scotland’s railways prompted Yousaf to comment recently that lessons had been learned after a host of disruptions.
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