SNP and Tories accused of misleading parliament
The SNP and Scottish Tories have accused each other of misleading parliament in a furious spat over different handlings of the coronavirus crisis.
It began when Alister Jack, the Westminster government’s Scottish Secretary, claimed Jeane Freeman, the Scottish Health Secretary, had misled MPS over a lack of communication with the UK government.
Mr Jack told MPS he had attended a meeting with Ms Freeman in March to discuss “joint Covid-19 working” between the two administrations.
His comment was pounced upon by the leader of the Scottish Tories, Douglas Ross, who insisted Ms Freeman had previously told the committee otherwise.
He explained: “You said you had a long meeting with Ms Freeman in her office I believe you said, in Edinburgh.
“At least an hour with just yourself and the health secretary and then you were joined by the UK Health Secretary.
“I have a quote in which she told the Scottish Affairs Committee on the 11 June, saying she is not aware and could recall no communication with Mr Jack.”
The Scottish Tory then asked who was misleading the
committee, to which Mr Jack replied: “She has”.
His comments sparked fury from the SNP, who have now demanded a full apology from both Tory MPS.
They pointed to transcripts from Ms Freeman’s appearance in June which show she had confirmed the meeting took place.
SNP shadow Scotland secretary Mhairi Black said: “Rather than playing politics with the pandemic, Douglas Ross and Alister Jack must apologise for their deliberately selective and deceiving remarks against the Scottish Health Secretary.
“It’s clear from the exchange that Ross omitted the key part of the answer from Jeane Freeman at the committee – highlighting that this is nothing short of a cheap Tory stitch-up that will fool absolutely no one.
“Douglas Ross, of course, has form in issuing incorrect remarks given he earlier misrepresented the views of National Farmers Union Scotland and misled the public over the threat of low-quality imported goods – with NFU Scotland’s policy director stating he was ‘fuming’ with the MP’S comments.
“The people of Scotland deserve better than the petty and dangerous politics being peddled by Douglas Ross and Alister Jack. They must apologise now.”
Yesterday the Scottish Tories refused to back down.
A Scottish Conservatives spokesman added: “Scottish Conservative MPS accurately represented Jeane Freeman’s spurious claims. She is clearly furious that she has been caught out playing politics.”
The dispute came during a heated committee session that also saw Nicola Sturgeon accused of sparking “bad feelings” between Holyrood and Westminster by misleading the public about the infection rate south of the border. Mr Jack said: “The idea that the virus was all but suppressed and gone in Scotland and that the prevalence was five times higher in England was repeated many times, it was totally untrue, totally unhelpful.”