SCOTLAND stands ready to offer asylum to Ugandans who are persecuted by the country's new anti-gay laws, external affairs minister Humza Yousaf has said.

Mr Yousaf has written to Westminster Foreign Secretary William Hague urging the UK Government to make "strong representations" to Ugandan officials on the issue.

The anti-homosexuality legislation was enacted earlier this week, strengthening the country's already strict laws relating to gay people.