Calls for investigation after revelation SNP minister Ewing attended unrecorded dinner with banker and steel tycoon
An SNP minister's unrecorded dinner with banker Lex Greensill and steel billionaire Sanjeev Gupta has sparked calls for an investigation into whether he broke the ministerial code.
Fergus Ewing, Rural Economy Secretary in the Scottish Government, dined with the pair and two of their senior colleagues at one of Glasgow's top restaurants in 2017.
But a Freedom of Informationrequest(foi)bythesunday Mail has revealed that the minister had no officials with him, no notes were taken, and the Government claims to have no emails, texts or phone records about the meeting.
Financial deals struck between the Scottish Government,mrguptaandmrgreensillhavesinceexposedthegovernment to hundreds of millions of pounds of debt after the latter'sfinancegroup,greensill Capital, collapsed.
Thescottishgovernmentsaid Mr Ewing attended the dinner with Mr Greensill, Mr Gupta, Tim Haywood - who was later fired from fund management firm GAM Holdings for alleged
misconduct - and Jay Hambro, butdoesnotknowwhopaidfor the meal.
Accordingtothesundaymail, the Government response to the FOI said the "themes of discussion" were recorded by Mr Gupta's company, GFG Alliance, and reported a "positive relationship" focused on "derisking" both parties while maximising plans for growth at the Lochaber smelter and hydro.
The lack of any official record of the meeting and no correspondenceaboutitforamonth either side of the dinner's date requiressome"seriousexplaining", Scottish Labour has said.
But the SNP said suggestions that the Inverness and Nairn Mspbroketheministerialcode are "baseless".
The code states that a private secretary or official should be presentforalldiscussionsrelating to government business, with the basic facts of formal meetings to be recorded.
It adds: "If ministers meet external organisations or individuals and find themselves discussing official business without an official present - for example,atapartyconference, social occasion or on holiday any significant content (such assubstantiveissuesrelatingto government decisions or contracts)shouldbepassedbackto their private offices as soon as possible after the event."