Humza Yousaf says some will be ‘uncomfortable’ with cost of Coronation

Humza Yousaf has appeared to question the cost of the King’s Coronation. The Scottish First Minister, who is an avowed republican, said some people would have “felt uncomfortable” with the price tag of the historic event at Westminster Abbey on Saturday.

Mr Yousaf, who was one of 2,300 guests, claimed even monarchists would have wanted the amount spent “kept to a minimum” due to the cost of living crisis.

The royal event, which saw Charles crowned alongside Camilla, is estimated to have cost around £100million.

Speaking during a visit to a community larder in Dundee yesterday, Mr Yousaf said: “I made it pretty clear that I hope that the costs would be kept to a minimum.

“I think most people watching, whether they’re republicans or whether they’re monarchists, would want the costs kept to a minimum.”

Mr Yousaf added: “Yes, I think a number of folk will have felt uncomfortable with the costs that were involved.”

Asked if he was one of those people who took issue with the cost, the SNP leader would not be drawn.

But he repeated his assertion that he hoped “everything possible would be done to keep costs down to a minimum”.

Mr Yousaf made the comments on Monday as he visited Whitfield Community Larder as part of the Big Help Out – a UK-wide drive to increase volunteering in the wake of the Coronation.

Ahead of the Coronation, the SNP leader had insisted the cost should be limited.

During the SNP leadership race earlier this year, Mr Yousaf suggested that an independent Scotland could ditch the monarchy within five years.

He told The National: “Let’s also talk about things like monarchy.

“I don’t know why we should be shy about that, I don’t think we should be.

“I’ve been very clear, I’m a Republican. That’s never been anything I’ve hidden.

“And it’s not an immediate priority, I accept that.

“But when we’re independent, we’ll need to get our central bank up and running, we’ll need to transition to a new Scottish currency, which I’ve been keen to do as quickly as possible.

“But let’s absolutely within the first five years consider whether or not we should move away from having a monarchy into an elected head of state.”

But the Scottish Tories accused Mr Yousaf of “shamelessly pandering to the republican base of the SNP support” and insisted the monarchy “remains one of our most loved and respected institutions”.

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