Swinney forced to reveal legal advice

JOHN Swinney has been forced by opposition MSPs to reveal the Scottish Government’s legal advice during the Alex Salmond civil case it lost.

The government confirmed the details would be shared with the committee investigating the botched probe into Mr Salmond today.

The evidence has been viewed as key to the work of the inquiry, but the government had previously insisted it remain secret, despite two votes of parliament demanding its release.

However, a rethink was announced after it became clear opposition parties had enough votes to pass a “no confidence” motion in Mr Swinney, the deputy first minister.

Mr Swinney said: “In normal circumstances, government legal advice is not released. Indeed, such is the importance of being able to get frank, private advice, it is almost unheard of for the legal advice to be released.

“But, we have to acknowledge that the issues at stake now are not normal.

“The very integrity of the legal system is being questioned.

“Serious allegations have been made. This material allows people to confirm that these allegations are false.”