The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Tories renew call to publish advice
Th e S c o t t i sh Conservatives have made a fresh attempt to force the Scottish Government to release the legal advice it received for the review of the botched investigation into allegations against Alex Salmond.
After winning a vote calling on the SNP to release the legal advice earlier this month, the Scottish Conservatives will bring a second vote to the Scottish Parliament on Wednesday to demand that the legal advice is published immediately.
A deadline for the evidence to be handed over was previously set for November 13 but Deputy First Mi n i s t e r John Swinney responded to the committee investigating the Scottish Government’s handling of harassment complaints by saying it was still under consideration.
In his letter, published on November 13, Mr Swinney said ministers were considering arguments MSPs made during the first vote in parliament for why legal professional privilege should be waived in this particular case.
Scotland’s top lawyer, Lord Advocate John Wolffe QC, who appeared before the committee for a second time earlier this week, was continually quizzed by MSPs on the recent decision by the Scottish Parliament to demand the government publish the legal advice it was given.
Mr Wolffe, who in his role as Lord Advocate is the Scottish Government ’s chief legal officer, said it was not a norma l occurrence to disclose legal ad v i c e g i v en to governments by their lawyers.
He listed the three occasions it had been done before — the inquiries into infected blood, historical child abuse and the Edinburgh trams.
When asked if the government had followed the advice given to it by senior counsel ahead of the review, Mr Wolffe said he would not attribute “any particular advice to any particular individual”.
Mr Sa lmond was awarded more than £500,000 from the public purse when the Court of Session ruled the way the allegations against him were dealt with was “unlawful” and tinged with “apparent bias”.
Murdo Fraser, Scottish Conservative spokesman on the Salmond inquiry, said: “It’s a dark day for the Scott ish Pa r l iament when the government arrogantly dismisses its will without even lifting a finger.
“T h e S c o t t i s h Conservatives are confident that MSPs of all parties will send a clear message that the government has no choice.
“They must release the legal advice, which would help to explain how more than £500,000 of taxpayers’ money was lost to Alex Salmond.
“The SNP think ignore scrutiny away with it.
“We ’re calling for opposition parties to unite against this disgraceful display of arrogance.”
A Scottish Government s p o ke s m a n said: “The deputy first minister has clearly set out in his letter to the committee on Friday November 13 the de tailed consideration that the government is giving to this issue and also the extensive steps that are being taken to secure the release of further documentation.
“The Lord Advocate provided evidence to the comm i t tee on Tuesday about the legal position taken by the Scottish Government dur ing the jud ic ia l review.” they and can get