Meeting of the Parliament (Hybrid) 25 November 2020
I would be happy to share that. It is available on the website. However, I say to the cabinet secretary that he has had not just the time that the committee has been meeting. He has had 20 months since the committee was established to get his act together and deliver on this.
We are facing a complete and utter farce. The Scottish Government is a joke and should be embarrassed at how incompetent it appears to be. There have been attempts to blame the former First Minister for the delay. I would simply note, from their letters, which were published today, that his solicitors, Levy & McRae, received the documentation on 2 November and have been going through it since. They tell us that there are pages and pages of irrelevant material, that there is some new material that was not provided to the Court of Session, and that—surprise, surprise—some material is missing. Given that Levy & McRae will turn that around in a month, can the cabinet secretary explain to us why the Scottish Government, with all its resources, has taken more than five months past the original deadline of July to get the information to the committee?
I look forward to the cabinet secretary apologising to members, including his back benchers, for the incorrect briefing that they received, because it was patently untrue.
On 17 January, the First Minister promised that the committee would get whatever information it required. In light of the Deputy First Minister’s actions, it is clear that that was a hollow and meaningless promise. The Parliament voted by majority for the release of the legal advice, and it asked the Deputy First Minister to get on with releasing it. If he refuses to do so, he and his Government will be holding the Parliament in contempt. It is becoming increasingly evident that he has something to hide.
16:56