Doing his duty... if only to save himself

WITH breathtaking arrogance, the SNP Government has defied parliament repeatedly over the Salmond affair.

MSPs have voted on two occasions to demand sight of the legal advice handed to ministers as they fought a judicial review launched by Alex Salmond.

The Tories tabled a motion for a noconfidence vote in Deputy First Minister John Swinney – a move which presented the SNP with the starkest of choices.

Last night Mr Swinney, knowing that the Government would lose the vote, caved in to the pressure at the eleventh hour and agreed to release the key documents, subject to some redaction for ‘data protection’ reasons.

Frankly, he did so purely to save his own skin – this was a decision motivated by self-preservation rather than any sense of public duty.

It appears that a parliament often regarded as little more than an inconvenience by the SNP finally lost patience with its endless evasion – and its brinkmanship paid off.

Mr Salmond has claimed ministers ploughed ahead with their doomed bid to contest the judicial review, ultimately leaving taxpayers with a bill of more than £500,000 – despite being advised it was likely to fail.

This is a deeply serious allegation and – if proven – would make the First Minister’s position untenable.

The Government had argued that disclosing the legal advice would create a dangerous precedent, as communications with their lawyers should remain confidential.

But it’s worth remembering that lawyers’ advice to government has been published before, notably during the scandal over contaminated blood supplies, and in relation to the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry – as well as the probe into the Edinburgh trams controversy.

Mr Swinney’s U-turn was forced upon him by parliamentary arithmetic – if the Tories hadn’t tabled their motion, it is likely that the files he suppressed for so long would have stayed firmly under wraps.

But this is information that could no longer be hidden. The Salmond committee needs to see it to make a judgment on what went so badly wrong – and who is to blame.

It is desperately shabby behaviour by an administration that has nothing but contempt for parliament – and by extension for the voters who, in two months’ time, will get the chance to cast their judgment on its conduct.

In the past week we have seen an unprecedented crisis of faith in some of the most important institutions of our state.

While the SNP has portrayed it as an invention of its Unionist opponents, many of those raising legitimate concern about government and the prosecution system are highly credible and impartial observers, including a former Supreme Court judge.

Public confidence is at stake – and voters expect MSPs to get to the bottom of this toxic mess.