MPs in ‘nasty’ row over newspaper comments

Committee delayed while Tory leader and SNP convener have set-to

A furious bust-up between the Scottish Tory leader and a senior SNP MP almost derailed a Commons committee.

Moray MP Douglas Ross was said to have remonstrated with Pete Wishart over comments he made before the summer break in an interview with The Press and Journal, delaying the Scottish affairs committee by several minutes.

Mr Wishart, who chairs the committee, suggested in the interview that ministers should get a crash course in devolution to avoid a repeat of “confusion and frustration” caused by mixed messaging during the pandemic.

The Scottish Tory leader was unhappy that the comments were made on the same day the committee, of which he is a member, published its interim report into “intergovernmental working” during the Covid crisis.

A source, who heard the row likened the men to “spoiled children” arguing.

They added: “They were in a private meeting, not the chamber, so why the need for grandstanding?

“It showed a complete neglect for the impact on staff trying to support the vital work of the committee.

“Sadly, it was a nasty episode that saw them fall a long way short of what the public would expect.”

Mr Wishart said it would not be appropriate to comment as the committee had been in private session.

Mr Ross said: “The private part of the meeting is where members can discuss a range of issues.

“I will always put forward my opinions in the strongest possible way while being respectful, someone’s trying to make a mountain out of a molehill here.”

Meanwhile, UK Government ministers have been challenged after photos apparently of unpublished papers onplans forapost-Brexitinternal trade market appeared on social media.

Scottish Constitution Secretary Mike Russell said he raised the issue after a picture on Twitter seemed to show a press release concerning the UK Government’s Internal Market Bill.

Jenny Gilruth, the Scottish Government’s Europe minister, had spotted the tweet by Political Pictures, and alerted him to it, he said.

Mr Russell said it “broke in the last few minutes” of the Joint Ministerial Council meeting on EU Negotiations – which brings together UK Government ministers and their counterparts from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

He said: “I was able to raise it, given devolved administrations had just been asking (with no success) to see the Bill.”

Mr Russell said instead of asking to see the proposed legislation he should “just have ambled past Dover House”, the Scotland Office’s London base.

The Scottish Government has already spoken out against Westminster’s plans for an Internal Market Bill, branding it a “power grab”.

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford said: “The leaked pictures confirm what we have been warning about since these proposals first emerged – the Tories are preparing to overrule the democratic will of the Scottish Parliament and are laying the groundwork for the biggest raid on devolution since 1999.”

Sadly, it was a nasty episode that saw them fall a long way short of what the public would expect

Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross, left, took exception to remarks the SNP’s Pete Wishart made about mixed messaging on Covid-19.