I fear we're losing a generation to hate

Yousaf says action is urgently needed to counter 'toxic masculinity' online

- DAN VEVERS

FORMER minister first Humza Yousaf has warned Scotland risks losing a generation of boys and young men to far-right extremists and misogynists.

In an exclusive Sunday Mail interview, the ex-SNP leader slammed successive UK governments for "legitimising and mainstreaming" racist views on immigration.

It comes after statistics this month revealed the number of Scots youngsters referred to the government-led, multi-agency Prevent counterterrorism programme has doubled.

About 90 per cent of referrals are male, with extreme right-wing views the most common reason for referral.

Yousaf, who was Scotland's leader between March 2023 and May last year, warned the emboldened far-right is "literally on the march"-even around our primary schools.

Last week, two schools, and in Glasgow Inverness, were hit with protests linked to immigration that were branded "toxic".

The majority of pupils referred to the Prevent scheme are from secondary schools with 60 boys under 15 referred last year, compared with 28 in 2017-18. Meanwhile, 65 males aged 15-20 were referred to Prevent in 2024-25, compared with 34 seven years ago.

Yousaf, the first Muslim leader of a Western democracy, said: "As first minister, I held a round table with a number of organisations doing work with young men and young boys, because we could see there was an upsurge in what was often called toxic masculinity. I don't think we have people preaching what is positive masculinity to tackle the toxic traits advocated by the likes of Andrew Tate, Tommy Robinson and others.