A true nationalist. How Pakistani Hamza Yousaf became the first minister of Scotland

Why did the ethnic groups of the former colonies become a bright phenomenon in British public, political and cultural life, пишет journalist-observer of "DS" Sergey Ilchenko.

The leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) Hamza Yousaf

The extensive list includes Prime Minister Risha Sunak, Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Suella Braverman, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, Sajid Javid, who headed several ministries in different governments, ex-Minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Pritha Patel and several dozen other politicians with colonial roots who are very well-known in Great Britain , recently added the leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP) Hamza Yousaf.

Yusaf was elected SNP leader at a convention on March 27, replacing the resigned Nicola Sturgeon. The next day, the 28th, the Scottish Parliament elected him instead of Sturgeon to the position of First Minister of Scotland (Head of Government). And, finally, on the 29th, he was approved at the head of the Scottish government by King Charles III.

A Muslim and a Scotsman

A list of several dozen names is only the figures of the first row. The number of British regional politicians, civic activists, writers, musicians (yes, Freddie Mercury, but not only him!), artists, scientists, who are descended from former colonies, will first reach hundreds, and then thousands. None of them consider themselves a "representative of minorities" - those have their own, separate list. All of them position themselves as British and act as such regardless of appearance, race and name given within the framework of family traditions. Although, of course, "Scottish nationalist Hamza Yousaf" looks intriguing even in such a list. And you won't get anywhere: the chairman of the SNP is supposed to be a Scottish nationalist, and nothing else.

There is no question of playing a fake game in front of the public for the sake of a career - just look at Yusaf's biography. A native of Glasgow and the son of first-generation immigrants who found salvation from national and racial intolerance in Scotland, he showed an interest in civic activism while still at school. Moreover, Yusaf began as a Muslim activist loyal to Britain and an opponent of Islamic extremism.

Continuing to position himself as a Muslim, 20-year-old Yusaf joined the SNP in 2005, while already a student at the University of Glasgow. There he studied political science and was the president of the Muslim Students Association. He was immediately pushed to join the SNP by the party's position opposing the war in Iraq and the example of Bashir Ahmad, a member of the SNP, and since 2007, the first Muslim in the Scottish Parliament. In 2007-09, until Ahmad's death, Yousaf worked as his aide, then aide to other MPs, including Anne McLaughlin, Nicola Sturgeon and Alex Salmond, who was then First Minister. Then he became the SNP's public relations secretary and, finally, in May 2011, he was elected to the Scottish Parliament, becoming its youngest member at the age of 26. At the same time, Yusaf considered it necessary to emphasize his British-Pakistani identity. Coming to the oath dressed in a traditional sherwani, he read its text twice: in English, and then in Urdu. All this was met with full understanding by other deputies, mass media and ordinary citizens.

Then everything developed quite normally: the career of a politician and the ascent, step by step, to the leader of the SNP and the head of the government of Scotland. At the same time, Yusaf always showed himself to be both a Muslim and a Scotsman at the same time - and this did not hurt anyone's eyes and ears.

Unity in diversity

Hamza Yousaf's career is not at all unique in British politics, so there is no need to talk about an incredible coincidence here. Rather, there is a British norm — a norm of tolerance and recognition of the right to private life. No one in Britain cares about the personal circumstances of a politician or an official, if he copes with his duties and does not seek to shock the public, intentionally, by irritating it and directly challenging the established rules of behavior. More precisely, this is the case, since dark horses are not welcome in politics, but a person who has successfully fit into his social role is easily allowed to be whatever he wants outside of it.

On the other hand, new members of British society, in the first and second generations, do not yet perceive this level of personal freedom as something given by nature and understood by itself. They understand its greatest value and see it as a chance - an open door to the social elevator. And, if they have the desire and abilities, they take a step into this door — and a successful career, giving birth to hitherto unthinkable combinations of social types. The sum of such previously unthinkable combinations guarantees the British society its constant and unique combination of properties: flexibility and strength, which make it possible to withstand the most difficult circumstances; the ability to find internal compromises in hopeless, at first glance, situations, reconciling the irreconcilable and organically remelting it into something new, and, finally, absolute rejection of all totalitarianism. First of all, as an unceremonious and unacceptable interference in private life. Times, people, fashions, the map of the world change, but the idea of ​​everyone's right to personal space, where no one dares to invade, remains. Actually, this idea is exactly what Britain is. The rest is transitory: yesterday one thing, today another thing, and tomorrow a third thing. The kilt is replaced by a shervani and a turban, but perhaps not replaced, but organically combined with it. A man dressed in them plays the bagpipes because he is a Scotsman. This is natural, and no one around is surprised.

Follow Britain

It is British society, with its specific set of priorities, that forms the basis and ideological center of what we usually call "the West". In this regard, the USA is still a periphery, albeit the closest to the center, but already diluted by other, less flexible, traditions. The USA is a place where the power and resources of the West are concentrated, capable of turning in any direction. But Britain invariably chooses this direction first, setting the USA as an example. And if they agree with him and follow him, the rest of the West will follow them.

Does it always work? No. But if it works, it will lead the West to success. Britain was the first to take an irreconcilable position in relation to Hitlerism, recognized the impossibility of compromise and "peaceful coexistence" with it, which Hitler hoped for very much. And the USA, after some delay, followed her example, which determined the outcome of WW2. But when Churchill, after the capitulation of Germany, raised the question of the necessity of defeating the USSR after it, and was unable to convince the Americans of this, half of Europe plunged into a deaf Soviet night for half a century, even darker and more terrifying than the defeated Hitlerism. The British treated the following options of "peaceful coexistence" with the greatest skepticism, which, after Hitler, with the second, and further, demands, pushed the West, first the USSR, then China, then Putin's Russia. But the rest of the West bought into them, and Britain also gradually succumbed to the general mood. But now she is the first — and most consistently — to spit out these hooks, before everyone else in the West recognized the impossibility of compromise and "peaceful coexistence" with Putinism, which she equated with Hitlerism.

Of course, no one is perfect - but the British have an ideal flair for any Nazism and totalitarianism. They see and recognize them instantly, under any mask. The characteristic "not Hitler, but a Hitlerite and Hitlerite" was written out to Putin by His Majesty Charles III even when he was a prince, in the spring of 2014. Then, when half of Europe led by Merkel and Obama in the White House were ready to "show understanding" and pander to the Kremlin's guests.

So, in any incomprehensible situation, when you do not immediately understand: whether this is a little Hitler, or not yet, feel free to ask the British. As a rule, they are in the know - although outwardly their awareness is manifested, sometimes, in a somewhat unusual way. However, only at first glance, and so-and-so, in its manifestations, there is its own iron logic.

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