Swinney’s reputation ‘damaged irreparably’
● MSPS say education minister discredited after refusal to resign
The reputation of Scotland’s embattled education secretary has been “damaged irreparably” it was claimed yesterday, despite John Swinney surviving a vote of no confidence led against him in the Scottish Parliament.
Opposition MSPS said Mr Swinney was “discredited” after he refused to resign over the exam grades fiasco and a series of other “education scandals” which had “failed Scotland’s children”.
However Mr Swinney won the vote against him by 67 votes to 58, after the SNP was supported by the Scottish Greens to keep him in place.
After the vote, Scottish Conservative Holyrood leader Ruth Davidson said that while the Perthshire North MSP had been “a huge contributor to parliament”, he had only survived after a “last-minute pact with the Greens”.
She added: “The principle of parliamentary responsibility is forever damaged by his clinging on. Scottish education desperately needs new leadership and damaged, discredited John Swinney simply isn’t able to deliver it.”
She was backed by Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie who said pressure would continue to grow on Mr Swinney to go.
“When the policy direction is constantly changing in an erratic and uncontrolled fashion it has an debilitating impact on the organisation. That is when the organisation just does not know what to expect next and loses confidence in the leadership.
“That has been happening to John Swinney for years now. The chopping and changing on the education bill, curriculum for excellence, testing, blended learning, the exams and the falling international standing of our education system are central to the reasons he should leave his post.”
Richard Leonard, Scottish Labour leader who had led the debate against Mr Swinney, said the education secretary was “clinging on to his job” and his win was “not an endorsement of his record of failure”. He added: “It is an indictment of a governing party which prioritises looking after its own rather than standing up for education, and a so-called opposition party – the Greens – which could be mistaken for the SNP government’s back bench.” However SNP MSP Angela Constance said: “Parliament endorsed the actions of John Swinney in restoring grades to young people across Scotland. Those young people have shown themselves to be a far more effective force for good than Labour, the Tories or the Lib Dems.
“When the SNP behaved like the opposition parties behaved today we spent seven more years in opposition. It is clear that, while Scotland’s young people are excellent learners, Holyrood‘s opposition has a long way to go.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon described him as “one of the most decent and dedicated people in Scottish politics”.