'Karma's a b****!' JK Rowling takes brutal dig at Humza Yousaf with SNP leader on brink

JK Rowling has aimed a swipe at Humza Yousaf (Image: GETTY/SWNS)

Harry Potter creator JK Rowling has swiped at Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s beleaguered First Minister, by suggesting his troubles are payback for the SNP’s transgender policies.

And she also pointed out of the irony of his fate being in the hands of Ash Regan, the woman he beat to become SNP leader.

Mr Humza is rumoured to be pondering resigning from his post barely a year after succeeding Nicola Sturgeon, the day after pulling the plug on his party’s power-sharing deal with the Greens.

The agreement foundered after the Greens became concerned at the SNP’s decision to roll back climate change commitments.

Both the Scottish Tories and Labour have now filed no-confidence motions against his Government

And Ms Rowling, posting on X, formerly Twitter, highlighted one key aspect, sharing a picture of a mocked up Tarot card emblazoned with the slogan: “They say Karma’s a b**** but I hear she’s a turf.”

Former SNP MSP Ash Regan is now a member of the Alba party (Image: Getty)

She commented: “The idea that Humza Yousaf's political fate may now lie in the hands of Ash Regan, the woman who left the SNP in disgust at its plans for gender self-ID, reminds me…”

Ms Regan herself was one of 15 SNP politicians who signed a public letter in 2019 urging the Scottish government to delay reform to the Gender Recognition Act, which would make it easier for transgender people to legally change their gender. She has since quit and now sits in Holyrood as the Alba party’s only MSP.

Commenting on Ms Rowling’s tweet, she said: “Thank you for your incredible strength and support for me and many women and girls.

“Some react to storm clouds; interestingly, women often make the weather.”

Ms Rowling has clashed with transgender campaigners on numerous occasions after initially voicing her concerns on the issue in 2020.

Earlier this month she criticised the introduction of controversial legislation by the Scottish Government, explaining: “In passing the Scottish Hate Crime Act, Scottish lawmakers seem to have placed higher value on the feelings of men performing their idea of femaleness, however misogynistically or opportunistically, than on the rights and freedoms of actual women and girls.

“The new legislation is wide open to abuse by activists who wish to silence those of us speaking out about the dangers of eliminating women’s and girls’ single-sex spaces, the nonsense made of crime data if violent and sexual assaults committed by men are recorded as female crimes, the grotesque unfairness of allowing males to compete in female sports, the injustice of women’s jobs, honours and opportunities being taken by trans-identified men, and the reality and immutability of biological sex.”

Mr Yousaf today cancelled a planned speech as he battles for political survival, with SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn saying the First Minister will "come out fighting".

The 39-year-old was due to speak about the labour strategy in an independent Scotland at Strathclyde University.

But a source close to the First Minister confirmed the event has been cancelled.

Meanwhile Ms Regan, whose vote could be crucial to Mr Yousaf's future, wrote to him, setting out demands in exchange for her support in a vote of no confidence in him.

Ash Regan, a former SNP minister who defected to Alex Salmond's party, said she wants to see progress on Scottish independence and defending "the rights of women and children".