The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Trump’ s golf courses won’t face probe
MSPs have rejected calls for the Scottish Government to investigate Donald Trump’s business interests in Scotland.
The Scottish Greens brought forward a motion calling for an investigation into the Trump Organisation’s golf courses via an unexplained wealth order (UWO).
Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf told MSPs the move would be an “abuse of power undermining our entire justice system”.
He added it would be for the Civil Recovery Unit – a branch of the Crown Office – to independently undertake the investigatory role associated with civil recovery in Scotland, on behalf of Scottish ministers.
However, Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said the move was “not a proposal for prosecution” but “simply about asking a court to seek answers to reasonable questions”.
He added he thought the SNP would “regret their previous errors in courting
Trump”, but “perhaps they didn’t see the scale of the threat he posed, or the damage Scotland’s reputation might suffer, from association with the toxic Trump brand”.
Mr Harvie claimed Mr Trump “remains a political danger” and that the “threat he brought to Congress is by no means limited to the US”.
The Scottish Greens coleader has repeatedly called on the first minister to look into “serious and evidenced concerns” surrounding how the former US President purchased the land required for his first Scottish development, at the Menie Estate in Balmedie, Aberdeenshire, and the luxury Turnberry golf resort in Ayrshire.
The party says a legal opinion from Aidan O’Neill QC states that ministers, rather than the chief legal officer, are responsible for UWOs.
Mr Yousaf said that as “a person of colour and a Muslim, I’m exactly the type of person who would be a target of his racist and divisive policies, if I was living in America”.
He added: “However, we rightly have a separation of the political and indeed law enforcement.
“Just because I do not like someone, or indeed simply because something might be to my political advantage, I should not exercise any power that allows me to instigate an investigation or law enforcement processes against such individuals.”
An amendment moved by the justice secretary – which said there “must not be political interference in the enforcement of law” – was supported by SNP and Conservative MSPs.
To conclude, Mr Harvie said: “Let’s clearly assert that Scotland is not the kind of country where anybody with money, no matter how they came by it, can rock up, buy a slice of our country, do what they like with it, trash our environment and keep their business dealings opaque.
“Let us say clearly they will be held accountable.”