Sturgeon ‘trying to avoid Indyref questions’
NICOLA STURGEON has been accused of attempting to avoid scrutiny on her draft Scottish independence Bill by publishing it during parliamentary recess.
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale claimed yesterday the First Minister was hoping to dodge difficult questions from opposition parties.
Miss Sturgeon is set to publish her Bill for holding a second independence referendum for consultation later this week – while MSPs are not in Holyrood.
This is despite the ministerial code stating that any important announcements of government policy should be made to the Scottish parliament.
Miss Sturgeon announced the Bill’s planned publication to a standing ovation at the SNP conference last Thursday.
Yesterday, Miss Dugdale wrote to Holyrood’s presiding officer Ken Macintosh seeking clarification on how the Scottish Government’s proposals can now be scrutinised.
In her letter, Miss Dugdale said she was surprised to learn Miss Sturgeon had announced her intention over the draft Bill at a party conference, rather than in parliament.
She continued: ‘It also troubles me that the consultation itself will be published during recess, when MSPs will have no opportunity to question the First Minister on this announcement.
‘It is not acceptable that MSPs will not have an opportunity to question the Government on a plan of such significance, possibly for as much as a week after publication.’
Miss Dugdale added: ‘Publishing the consultation in recess is only avoiding necessary parliamentary scrutiny.’ Last night, she also said Miss Sturgeon should focus on running hospitals and schools rather than continuing her campaign for independence.
The Scottish Government hit back last night, with a spokesman for Finance Secretary Derek Mackay saying: ‘This is a silly, incoherent attack from an increasingly pointless Labour Party.
‘The announcement that a referendum Bill would be published for consultation was already made to parliament last month in our programme for government – and of course, the whole point of having a public consultation is to enable proper scrutiny.’