He conveyed 'apologies' from the Post Office and said he understands 'fully' the 'profound mistrust in many quarters'.Mr Jackson admitted the disclosure of evidence had been “suboptimal”.Despite counsel to the inquiry, Jason Beer KC, opening the day by warning it would be 'rather dry,' a number of important points were covered.In the meantime, here's a summary of some of the key points from today as Mr Jackson faced questions about 'process failings' in the Post Office’s disclosure of evidence: He says he doesn’t make instant announcements as that is 'fraught with danger' and will instead 'reflect' on what has been said and will comment further where necessary over the coming days or weeks. The Post Office inquiry closed earlier with chairman Sir Wyn Williams thanking Chris Jackson, representing the Post Office, for his 'detailed written evidence' and the 'clarity' of his answers today. This issue is clearly a priority for him, but he hopes it is a point of difference for SNP voters too - he listed it second after the cost of living among the issues the SNP would say they had stood up for people on, when the election campaign gets under way. Yousaf has been a strong backer of a ceasefire in Gaza, where his wife's family were trapped at the start of the conflict following the October 7 attacks. When I pressed Humza Yousaf on what other evidence was needed given the indiscriminate attacks on international shipping the Houthis have been carrying out for weeks - with warnings from the West that retaliation would follow - he said the risk was that this intervention was not a 'one-off' and he feared British troops being committed to the region. She said the strikes then risked 'dangerous escalation'. Nicola Sturgeon opposed airstrikes on IS targets in Syria in 2018 - despite describing the use of chemical weapons as 'sickening'. It's no surprise to see the Scottish National Party trying to differentiate itself from Westminster on foreign affairs and defence policy - over which it has no formal powers.įormer leader Alex Salmond's vigorous opposition to the Iraq War became a running battle with then prime minister Tony Blair. There seems little prospect such a vote would stop it as Labour backs the airstrikes.īut he said the 'evidence base' and end goal of the action was not clear and the UK 'does not have a good track record' when it comes to intervention in the Middle East. Humza Yousaf said parliament should have been consulted ahead of the decision to attack around 60 targets in concert with the US and other allies last night.īut while he said MPs should have had a chance to debate and scrutinise the decision, he did not go as far as demanding a vote on the action.

The Scottish first minister used the start of his general election campaign launch to express scepticism about the UK’s airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

Hand signal for dog to come