Sheriff: Time for Matheson to step down
A FORMER sheriff has demanded that Justice Secretary Michael Matheson quit following claims he misled parliament amid the ongoing crisis at the top of Police Scotland.
Douglas Cusine, who sat on the bench for 17 years, yesterday described Mr Matheson as an ‘embarrassment’.
Opponents say that Mr Matheson’s position is ‘untenable’ after claims that he told Scottish Police Authority bosses it was a ‘bad decision’ to allow Chief Constable Phil Gormley to return to work before an investigation into bullying allegations was complete.
Mr Matheson was accused of misleading parliament after claiming he only asked former SPA chairman Andrew Flanagan whether he had contacted the acting Chief Constable, complainants and the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner about the decision.
But Mr Flanagan later said the pair had met twice over Mr Gormley’s proposed return to work.
Mr Cusine said: ‘The bottom line is if Matheson did intentionally mislead parliament then he should go.’
He added: ‘I think the position for the First Minister and the government is that this is an embarrassment.
‘That alone should suggest that Michael Matheson is removed from his position.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The Justice Secretary has acted entirely appropriately.
‘He has been absolutely clear and consistent he considered the deficiencies in the decision-making process by the SPA board around the return of the Chief Constable to be completely unacceptable.’