Meeting of the Parliament 24 February 2026 [Draft]
I am very concerned about that. I have had literally a few minutes to go through 70 pages. There may be yet more questions, but some questions certainly already arise from last Wednesday’s session and from this information.
I therefore make a request of the Minister for Parliamentary Business and Veterans to add in a statement either later today or tomorrow. I cannot see why the minister would not want to do that or why the Lord Advocate would not want to come to the chamber to answer questions. If the Government does not agree to that, it will seem to some as if someone is being protected for some reason.
I also look to you, Presiding Officer. When I raised a point of order on 9 December last year about ministers committing to providing information to Parliament and then offering to release it in a different way—that is, not through a statement or to Parliament—you said:
“The ‘Scottish Ministerial Code’ states: ‘The Scottish Government should be accountable to the Scottish Parliament’.”—[Official Report, 9 December 2025; c 95-96.]
There is no accountability if the Government simply hands out 70 pages of information and refuses to answer any questions on it. [Interruption.] The minister can groan, and SNP members can be unhappy that this is being raised, but there are questions to be answered here.
For sure, there are questions to be answered by the First Minister, who, when he was questioned about this last week by Russell Findlay and other MSPs, never mentioned at all not only that had he known about it in January of this year, but that he had known about it way back in March of last year. Nobody can doubt that the Lord Advocate also needs to account for the information in these documents and the further questions that they raise.
I stress to the minister that we need to hear from the Lord Advocate in this chamber to answer those questions. I urge him to add a statement on the issue either later today or tomorrow. If he does not, I will stand up in here every day until the Government concedes. If it has something to hide, it will have to hide it. The public and wider communities across Scotland deserve answers on what is in these files.