SNP must end its 'culture of secrecy' – or face the consequences
Discontent about the SNP leadership’s attitude to open government could start to spread to the party’s own supporters unless things change
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With the SNP in power for nearly two decades, it would be understandable if patterns of behaviour had become entrenched over the years. Some good, some bad.
Critics have claimed for some time that the whispered rallying cry of ‘wheesht for indy’ – an exhortation not to expose the party’s dirty linen in public – has turned into something more sinister and potentially even dangerous: a widespread ‘culture of secrecy’. A new legal ruling, which found the Scottish Government in contempt of court after ministers failed to comply with a freedom of information (FOI) request, adds weight to that accusation.
The FOI request, from a member of the public, asked for all written evidence gathered during an investigation by James Hamilton, an independent adviser, into whether former First Minister Nicola Sturgeon had breached the ministerial code, amid concerns she failed to record meetings and phone calls she had with her predecessor Alex Salmond after he was the subject of harassment complaints from civil servants.
‘Assumed respect for the rule of law’
Hamilton cleared Sturgeon of breaching the code in 2021. However, the Scottish Government withheld some information requested in the FOI despite a decision by the Scottish Information Commissioner that it should be released.
Welcoming the new judgment, Information Commissioner David Hamilton said pointedly: "This was the first time in more than 20 years of FOI that a commissioner has had to refer non-compliance with one of their decisions to the court. It was not a step taken lightly, and was all the more disappointing given that Scottish ministers have a role in making the law and an assumed respect for the rule of law... We must work to ensure that this does not happen again.”
If the SNP had a culture of genuine transparency, rather than secrecy, this clearly would never have happened. And the 12-year period during which their former chief executive Peter Murrell stole £400,000 from the party might have been considerably shorter.
Scotland has a newly elected government. It must bring a fresh, new approach that is open, honest and respectful of people’s democratic rights or discontent, among its own supporters as well as the general public, will only grow.
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