ALEX SALMOND today came under fire over a Holyrood no-show as opposition MSPs demanded a judicial review into the recent row over Scotland’s EU membership after independence.
• FM attends to official business instead of Scottish Parliament debate
• Scottish Government spent £12,000 to defy an order from the Information Commissioner to reveal whether it had taken legal advice on EU legal advice
The call comes one week after his deputy Nicola Sturgeon revealed that taxpayers’ cash was spent to keep the public from knowing that no “specific” legal advice had been taken in the first place.
Mr Salmond had appeared to indicate in a TV interview with the BBC’s Andrew Neil that such advice had been taken.
Labour leader Johann Lamont used a Holyrood debate on the issue to call for a judge-led inquiry into the affair and this was backed by her Liberal Democrat counterpart Willie Rennie.
Mr Salmond did not attend the debate and instead opted to carry out official business which included the opening of a new cross-Scotland national trail and announcing new green energy targets at a major renewables conference.
“The First Minister is getting on with the job promoting jobs and investment in Scotland,” a spokesman for Mr Salmond said.
But Labour’s James Kelly said: “The whole nation doubts the First Minister’s word and yet he refuses to come to the Scottish Parliament to defend his battered reputation.
“He says he will debate David Cameron any time any where, but he is too feart to debate Johann Lamont on his own character in front the Scottish people.”
Inquiry
Ms Lamont’s call has deepened the row at Holyrood after Mr Salmond last week launched an inquiry into opposition claims that he breached the ministerial code. It will be held by former Whitehall civil servant Sir David Bell, but Labour now say there must be a far wider probe.
“This isn’t about his future. It is about the future of Scotland and Scotland deserves better,” said Ms Lamont.
“That is why today I am calling for a judicial inquiry into the First Minister’s handling of this affair from the beginning.
“An inquiry into the basis on which the First Minister did ever assert Scotland would automatically be a member of the EU. What made him say that this separate Scotland would not have to adopt the Euro? An inquiry into why he said he’d sought advice from law officers when he had not.
“No amount of bluff and bluster will stop us seeking the truth.”
Mr Rennie said such a review could restore confidence in the word of the Government.
“I support the Labour party’s proposal,” Mr Rennie said.