HUMZA Yousaf had a perfect response to Scottish Tory aggravator-in-chief Stephen Kerr after he described the Health Secretary as "patronising".
Yousaf was answering questions from MSPs in regards to his ministerial remit and specifically an urgent question from Tory MSP Meghan Gallacher about Wishaw Hospital's A&E department being at full capacity.
Gallacher, an MSP for Central Scotland, suggested the Scottish Government had not done anything to address the issue, which Yousaf refuted and said he would respond in great detail to her if she needed it.
She then told Yousaf to "apologise" to NHS staff and told him to "get a grip" of waiting times in the health service.
Yousaf responded: "What I will do presiding officer, is thank our NHS staff, something that Meghan Gallacher has not been able to do thus far, for their incredible work in the midst of this global pandemic."
Amidst shouts from the Tory benches, Yousaf explained what the Scottish Government were doing to tackle waiting times.
This was apparently not good enough for Kerr.
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Yousaf faced continued comments from Tories in a sedentary position, but Kerr, the party's chief whip, decided to stand up and speak officially in the chamber.
He said: "I really do think that the Cabinet Secretary has been incredibly patronising towards my colleague Meghan Gallacher. She's asked very reasonable questions and what she's gotten back is snippets from a ministerial briefing and soundbites about investment.
"She's actually asking the Cabinet Secretary about what he and his government have done to pre-empt the crisis that was declared in NHS Lanarkshire and what he's given us back is politics. Can he give us a sample of this extensive, exhaustive list of things he's done that he couldn't tell us one thing of a few minutes ago?"
Kerr never seems to agree with anything the SNP government does and has a penchant for acting like a child in the debating chamber.
However, Yousaf wasn't having any of it.
The Health Secretary said: "That was barely worth listening to I have to say presiding officer.
"This is a serious issue that deserves far more than Stephen Kerr's bluff and bluster."
He was interrupted by presiding officer Alison Johnstone who reminded the chamber that MSPs have a duty to treat each other with courtesy, likely also a reminder to the Tory benches as much as Yousaf.
Yousaf then listed the action the Scottish Government is taking to tackle A&E waiting times which seemed to conjure up a bemused look from Kerr, despite this being what he asked for.
It's no wonder the Health Secretary appeared to be agitated by Kerr attempting to score a few political points as the Tory agitator didn't really want to listen to the response
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