Alex Salmond urges next SNP leader to appoint 'competent' ministers in new Cabinet

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Alex Salmond has urged the next SNP leader to appoint "competent" ministers in their new-look Cabinet.In a swipe at the current ministerial team led by Nicola Sturgeon, he said fresh faces were required for the key health, transport and education briefs.Salmond, who served as First Minister from 2007-2014, claimed the Scottish Government was too often scoring "own goals".It comes after Sturgeon this week stunned the political world by announcing she was resigning after more than eights years in power.The First Minister will stand down as soon as her party completes a selection process to find a replacement.Salmond told the Record the next leader would have to "address the fundamentals" of health, education and transport as a priority."They certainly should replace all three ministers and put in their place competent people to address challenges in these key areas," he said."The government faces difficulties - some of which are due to the difficult economic situation, but some of which are self-induced, they're own goals."Humza Yousaf, the health secretary, has faced repeated calls to resign from opposition parties as the NHS struggles through one of the worst winters in its history.Waiting times in A&E wards have reached record levels while patients face a growing backlog in non-emergency procedures.Shirley-Anne Somerville, the education secretary, has been grappling with a wave of teacher strikes after education unions repeatedly rejected below-inflation wage rises.Michael Matheson has Cabinet responsibility for transport along with energy and net zero.He oversaw the transfer of ScotRail back to public ownership after years of complaints from passengers over service cancellations.Salmond also said the next SNP leader