Meeting of the Parliament 21 December 2023
I am relatively new to the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee, so my role was to content myself that the process, which previous members of the committee had agreed with the Scottish Government, had been fulfilled and that fidelity to the process had been observed. That was underpinned by the office of the Commissioner for Ethical Standards in Public Life in Scotland. That was my duty as a new member of the committee. When we looked at the available information, it was clear that that was the case.
I will not include Mr Whitfield in the observations that I am about to make. We have to look at the motivation for objecting to the appointment. We have heard Mr Kerr’s scurrilous accusations from a sedentary position—shame on him—and Mr Lumsden has said in public what his motivations are. Is it to re-run an interview process that was independent of Government and overseen by the office of the Commissioner of Ethical Standards? Is it to make up unsubstantiated inflammatory and spurious party-political points at a committee? I suspect so. Is it to honour the fidelity to the process that our committee signed up to? Absolutely not.
I look forward to the new chair, when they take their place, attending our committee early. I fully expect robust exchanges, which is absolutely as it should be.
My role is simple. I need to assure myself that the process, which the committee said would be robust, open, certain, independent and scrutinised—not just by our committee but by the Commissioner for Ethical Standards—has been adhered to. It has been.
On that basis, and only on that basis, I support all the appointments that are being made this afternoon.
13:26