SNP leadership: Yousaf defends decision to miss gay marriage vote

Humza Yousaf with parents, Shaaista and Muzaffar, and supporters at a campaign event in Pollokshields, Glasgow

SNP leadership candidate Humza Yousaf has defended his decision to miss the final vote on Scotland's equal marriage legislation.

Former minister Alex Neil said Mr Yousaf arranged a meeting in February 2014 as cover.

But the health secretary said he had an "unavoidable" engagement about a death row prisoner in Pakistan.

Earlier this week fellow contender Kate Forbes said she would have voted against the bill on religious grounds.

The finance secretary, who was not an MSP at the time, later said she felt "greatly burdened" that some of her comments had caused hurt.

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As nominations closed in the race to replace Nicola Sturgeon, Mr Yousaf came under scrutiny for his whereabouts on the day the landmark legislation was passed.

Mr Neil told BBC Radio Scotland's Drivetime Mr Yousaf "did not have the courage" to vote for the bill at Stage Three due to the pressure he was under from religious figures.

He said: "He sought the permission of the then First Minister Alex Salmond to skip the vote.

"If you don't have the backbone to vote for what you believe in, that in my view, is not a good indicator of high-quality leadership."

Asked by BBC Scotland if he sought permission from the first minister to avoid the vote, Mr Yousaf said: "I don't know why Alex Neil has decided to intervene, but I've made my case and I've answered many questions on this already.

"I support equal marriage. I supported it then, support it now.

"I had an unavoidable meeting on a very important topic in relation to a prisoner on death row in Pakistan for blasphemy."

Alex Neil was Scottish health secretary at the time of the equal marriage vote

Mr Neil, who is backing Ms Forbes, said that at least she was "open and honest" about her views.

He added: "I think Humza should just put his hands up and admit the truth.

"He deliberately skipped the vote and he could easily have been there to vote. That meeting did not need to take place at that time."

MSPs voted by 105 to 18 in favour of the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Scotland) Bill.

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Mr Yousaf said he was one of many politicians who were lobbied by groups at the time, including the Muslim Council and the Catholic Church.

But he added: "I have been forthright, explicit, upfront about my support for equality and that's something that I'm going to continue to support."

Mr Yousaf said he had missed the vote for a "pretty serious meeting", which he said resulted in the eventual release of the prisoner in Pakistan.

Finance Secretary Kate Forbes has faced criticism over her remarks about gay marriage

On Thursday, Ms Forbes took to social media in a bid to reset her campaign after she lost support from several SNP politicians over her comments on gay marriage.

Earlier she hit back at John Swinney, who questioned if her views would be appropriate for an SNP leader.

Ms Forbes, who is a member of the Free Church of Scotland, said: "It is possible to be a person of faith, and to defend others' rights to have no faith or a different faith."

The third contender Ash Regan responded to the row earlier in the week by calling for an end to "mudslinging" in the contest.

Nominations for the SNP leadership race closed earlier and the winner will be announced on 27 March.