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How Scotland's incoming prime minister is making history

Transcript¹

Humza Yousaf is the new leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party. As head of the governing party, he is set to become Scotland's first minister.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

A Muslim of Pakistani descent is now the leader of the Scottish government. Humza Yousaf, currently Scotland's health secretary, is the person making British history. For more, we turn to NPR's Frank Langfitt, who is following the story from London. Frank, help put this in perspective for us by telling us a little bit about Yousaf.

FRANK LANGFITT, BYLINE²: You know, A, in addition to being health secretary, A, he also served as transport minister. And Yousaf's grandparents - they came here to the U.K. in the 1960s. His grandfather used to work at this Singer sewing machine factory outside of Glasgow. Now, you know, Yousaf is now 37. And he's become the youngest person, the first ethnic³ minority to run the Scottish government, which - of course, Scotland is about 96% white. And there was this striking line yesterday from an analyst⁴ that I know who said, you know, when King Charles holds his coronation in May, he's going to be inviting⁵ a British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, who is of Indian descent, and a Scottish first minister of Pakistani descent. And when you think about the colonial history, when you also think about the racism⁶ that South Asians have faced here over the years, it really is a milestone⁷.

MART?NEZ: Yeah. So I imagine the British press is giving Yousaf's identity a lot of coverage⁸.

LANGFITT: No, it's not. That's what's really interesting, A. It's actually not. Most of the coverage is really about Scottish and national politics. Scottish politics are fascinating. And this is true also to some extent - when Sunak, who's a Hindu - when he became prime minister, the coverage was much of the same. And I think this is - while it is a milestone, this is not out of the blue. People of South Asian descent have been in positions of power for quite some time here. And so this seems kind of pretty normal and kind of evolutionary⁹.

MART?NEZ: All right. So let's get into the politics then. What's on his agenda?

LANGFITT: Yeah. So Yousaf - he's leader of the Scottish National Party, which has dominated politics in Scotland for a really long time. And their biggest priority is Scottish independence. And this is how Yousaf put it yesterday.

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HUMZA YOUSAF: We want to return to the European Union and play our part in building a continent that's based on human rights, on peace, prosperity and social justice. We will be the generation that delivers independence for Scotland.

LANGFITT: Now, that's what Yousaf says, but that's going to be a big challenge, A. The U.K. government has refused to allow Scotland to hold an independence referendum. Polls show that more Scots are actually against leaving the U.K. than are for it. And there are a number of reasons for that. They've seen how difficult it's been for the U.K. to leave the EU. You know, the whole Brexit process has been incredibly fraught¹⁰. And there are also concerns that Scotland, which has a population, A, of, like, 5 1/2 million - that they financially just wouldn't be able to afford to go it alone outside the United Kingdom.

MART?NEZ: Now, Yousaf is replacing Nicola Sturgeon, who had dominated Scottish politics. Does he have her popularity or even her presence?

LANGFITT: No, he really doesn't. And almost nobody does. I mean, Sturgeon - I followed her on the stump¹¹ over the years. She is one of the most - was, as she's now retiring from that job - she's one of the most skilled politicians in the entire country. And Yousaf - this is really interesting. He only won the Scottish National Party's top job with 52% of the vote. And there were quite a few attacks from his rivals, which is unusual because the Scottish National Party's famously disciplined. But they had ammunition¹². You know, when Yousaf was health minister, there were record waiting times here, which, in fairness, you see around the U.K. But as head of transport, there were also troubles with ageing ferries on the western islands. So also, last year, membership plunged¹³ about 30%. So Yousaf has a lot of work, I think, ahead to unify¹⁴ and energize¹⁵ the party and try to maintain its dominance up in Scotland with the next elections, which - they're coming about 2024.

MART?NEZ: That's NPR's Frank Langfitt in London. Frank, thank you.

LANGFITT: Hey, happy to do it.

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1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

4 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

5 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

6 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

7 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

8 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

9 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

10 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

11 stump   

n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走

参考例句：

• He went on the stump in his home state.他到故乡所在的州去发表演说。
• He used the stump as a table.他把树桩用作桌子。

12 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

13 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

14 unify   

vt.使联合，统一；使相同，使一致

参考例句：

• How can we unify such scattered islands into a nation?我们怎么才能把如此分散的岛屿统一成一个国家呢？
• It is difficult to imagine how the North and South could ever agree on a formula to unify the divided peninsula.很难想象南北双方在统一半岛的方案上究竟怎样才能达成一致。

15 energize   

vt.给予(某人或某物)精力、能量

参考例句：

• It is used to energize the city.它的作用是为城市供给能量。
• This is a great way to energize yourself and give yourself more power!这种方法非常棒，可以激活你的能量，让你有更多的活力！