Another day, another report about the SNP’s behaviour in office. Now, the accused is Education Secretary and former transport minister Jenny Gilruth, who faces claims that she breached the ministerial code. Gilruth is alleged to have deliberately chosen to delay vital rail works – which will cost the taxpayer around £1 million– to allow her own constituents to travel over the Christmas period. Rules for thee but not for me…
The ministerial code states that frontbenchers must not use their position to influence constituency matters, meaning that if an investigation finds Gilruth guilty then she could lose her cabinet post. And opposition leader Douglas Ross was keen to make capital out of the story at First Minister’s Questions. He turned up at Holyrood with a stapled stack of email print-outs in hand to grill Humza Yousaf, asking him:
Does the First Minister think it’s acceptable for a minister to make a political decision for her own benefit instead of acting in the interests of all of Scotland?
Gilruth has said that the proposed rail works would have disrupted travel for passengers across the entire east coast of Scotland – not just her constituency.
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