SNP HIT BY £3M CRONY STORM
Sturgeon in row over donor cash
NICOLA Sturgeon was last night at the centre of a £3 million cronyism row over links between Government Ministers and SNP donors.
Property tycoon Alexander Adam and his firm, Springfield Properties, have given the SNP and the proindependence Yes campaign nearly £100,000 in the past three years.
Over the same period, the company has been given a Government loan of nearly £1 million. It has also been selected to take part in a lucrative construction scheme where mortgages for new-build houses are guaranteed by Ministers.
The firm has been repeatedly
‘People will be extremely suspicious’
backed in public by Ministers – including Miss Sturgeon, who was pictured wearing its logo.
Meanwhile, the Government has also been forced to admit – despite previous denials – that a former Health Minister had a number of meetings with a party donor whose company later received NHS contracts worth more than £2 million.
The two separate revelations – weeks after a prospective SNP candidate was accused of brokering a £150,000 Government grant for her employer, the profitable private firm behind the T In The Park music festival – have led to accusations of cronyism in the Scottish Government.
Despite being a relatively small company, Elgin-based Springfield has been extensively promoted by Ministers, including Miss Sturgeon, Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead, Transport Minister Derek Mackay and SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson.
The catalogue of links between the housebuilder and the Scottish Government has sparked concerns that Ministers are giving special treat- ment to SNP donors and independence supporters.
A strict code of conduct forbids Ministers from promoting private companies. Last night, opposition politicians said the SNP must ensure the rules are not being broken.
Scottish Tory enterprise spokesman Murdo Fraser said: ‘People will be extremely suspicious about such a vociferous independence-supporting firm winning so much work and praise from an SNP Government.
‘There are numerous examples set out here and, given recent allegations of cronyism, the Scottish Government should move to explain this relationship immediately.
‘The message appears to be if you support separation, you’ll receive fawning praise and senior Ministerial visits as a reward. You have to wonder if this pro-independence company and Yes financial backer had been a vocal supporter of the UK, would it have received similar attention?’
Mr Adam, who has run Springfield since 1998, was one of the first businessmen to sign Yes Scotland’s ‘Yes declaration’ and donated £25,000 to the pro-independence group shortly after it launched in May 2012.
In December 2013, he donated a further £13,210 to pro-independence group Business for Scotland, of which he was a prominent member.
His firm was also one of the SNP’s biggest backers in the run-up to this year’s General Election, giving the party £50,000 in March and donating £2,000 to the office of Nationalist MP Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh and £5,000 to fellow Nationalist MP Michelle Thomson, former managing director of Business for Scotland.
Shortly after the first donation to Yes Scotland, Springfield was given a £926,000 loan by the Scottish Government to ‘kick-start’ development on vacant land it owned in Edinburgh, where it developed 80 homes.
It was also named as one of 12 firms selected to take part in a new ‘mortgage indemnity scheme’, whereby home buyers can purchase new-build homes with loans guaranteed by the Scottish Government.
Earlier this year, Moray Council awarded three Government-funded affordable housing contracts to Springfield – in an £8.8 million deal.
The firm was selected independently by council officials, with the local authority saying yesterday that strict controls had been in place to ensure neither the Government nor the council’s elected representatives had played any part in the decisionmaking process.
Springfield has also enjoyed a remarkable level of access to Government Ministers.
Only two weeks after the SNP accepted Springfield’s £50,000 donation in March, Miss Sturgeon launched her business manifesto at its new Braehead development in Glasgow, where it is trying to sell homes for up to £254,000.
She had also been guest of honour at the site when the first resident moved in 12 months earlier, being photographed alongside Mr Adam.
Mr Lochhead, Mr Mackay and Mr Robertson have all posted positive messages about the company on Twitter. In April, Mr Lochhead called it a ‘very generous local firm’.
The Scottish Ministerial Code of Conduct says Ministers should ‘avoid promoting an individual company’s products or services by association’.
Mr Adam has also had private meetings with ex-First Minister Alex Salmond and Mr Mackay, while Housing Minister Margaret Burgess visited his Whitehurst Grange development in Ayrshire and Mr Lochhead opened Springfield’s Elgin office.
A senior business leader said: ‘I’m
not surprised Ministers wish to be seen with companies towards which there is a warm feeling, as opposed to those who do not support them.
‘But it would be wrong if Government contracts were being placed with companies because they support them, rather than on merit. The officials in the Civil Service should ensure that the rules on impartiality are strictly followed.’
The Scottish Government has also been accused of cronyism after awarding £150,000 of public money to T In The Park, after meetings with Ministers were brokered by SNP high-flyer Jennifer Dempsie, who was working for festival promoter DF Concerts.
Scottish Labour public services spokesman Jackie Baillie said: ‘The SNP Government must make sure their dealings with party donors as a government are completely transparent and above board. The Scottish public have to have faith that government is operating honestly.’
Springfield, which had pre-tax profits of £4.1 million in 2014, seems to have been praised by Ministers much more regularly than Scotland’s biggest housebuilders, such as Miller Homes, Cala and Barratt.
In 2012, Miller’s former managing director Keith Miller warned the referendum was causing uncertainty to the homebuilding industry.
In contrast to Springfield, Miller hasn’t been mentioned in a Scottish Government press release since 2012; nor has it been mentioned on the Twitter feeds of Miss Sturgeon, Mr Mackay or Mr Lochhead.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘Springfield Properties is one of numerous successful Scottish businesses that the Scottish Government supports and works with, regardless of whatever political views may be held by the staff of those companies.
‘It is entirely in keeping with the Ministerial Code For Ministers to encourage investment in economic activity for the benefit and prosperity of the people of Scotland.’
A Springfield spokesman said: ‘Our chairman’s support for Scottish independence is well known. He believes that the people who will do the best job of governing Scotland are the people of Scotland.
‘Springfield is a successful housebuilder, creating jobs and helping to build communities across Scotland. As such, we have dealings with the Scottish Government. These are conducted entirely appropriately and in line with relevant processes.’