A farcical approach

IT was a simple enough question. How are you spending our money? But last April’s Freedom Of Information request by The Sunday Post sparked a depressingly familiar pattern of ignored emails, faux apologies, appeals to the Information Commissioner and partial answers dragged out of ministers.

The fact that Alex Salmond and his SNP ministers do a good job selling Scotland around the globe, securing jobs and investment, is not in doubt here.

But as we have the right to know what MPs claim on expenses, we are also entitled to know how the Scottish Government spends the money entrusted to it by the people it serves.

Officials initially claimed disclosing the names of the hotels “could lead to significant security risks for the Cabinet”.

Now such fears have been waved away, but only for overseas hotels.

The Scottish Government has also released full details of the transactions, such as meals and taxi rides, on “travel and subsistence cards” for SNP ministers but continue to block the full release of similar information for the First Minister, again for “security reasons”. So it is fine for the public to know where Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead buys lunch when working overseas but publishing the same details for Mr Salmond would put him in some sort of mortal danger?

It’s farcical and the Scottish Government’s approach does itself no favours with an increasingly untrusting electorate.