Meeting of the Parliament 10 June 2026 [Draft]
Yet, when it comes to holding one of its own to account for embezzling party funds, the urgency mysteriously disappears.
Meanwhile, Scottish Labour, which called this debate, might want to reflect on its party’s sleazy history. After all, its hero, Lord Mandelson, was twice forced to resign from Tony Blair’s Cabinet—first over an undeclared loan from a colleague and again over allegations of interfering in a passport application for wealthy donors. Just last year, Mandelson was sacked as His Majesty’s ambassador to the US. He later resigned from the Labour Party and the House of Lords amid fresh revelations about his close and continuing ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, including allegations of passing sensitive Government information and receiving substantial payments.
Sleaze is not unique to one side of the chamber, but only one party is pretending that it does not exist. The public are sick of it—sick of the cronyism, sick of the cover-ups and sick of politicians who treat public office as a protection racket for their own interests. That is why this Parliament must launch a full, independent parliamentary inquiry with the power to call witnesses and examine all relevant documents. No more self-serving internal reviews and no more hiding—the First Minister must choose: Scotland or the SNP; country or party. The time for secrecy is over. Let the inquiry begin.