John Swinney attacked for withholding 'Salmond files' as he accused information commissioner of error

The First Minister was also accused of withholding information on a probe into Nicola Sturgeon to avoid “extreme embarrassment” to the SNP government.

Scotland’s Information Commissioner David Hamilton gave the Scottish Government until Thursday 22 January to disclose internal communications and legal advice relating to the review.

The review, carried out by the independent adviser on the ministerial code James Hamilton, cleared Ms Sturgeon of breaking the ministerial code following a botched investigation into harassment allegations against former first minister Alex Salmond.

However, the information commissioner ruled the government wrongly withheld information relating to the investigation and told ministers they would face legal action if they did not publish some of the evidence by the deadline.

Scottish Labour MSP Katy Clark grilled Mr Swinney on this at first minister’s questions, saying the government had wasted “millions of taxpayers’ money” fighting this issue in court.

In response, Mr Swinney said: “The Scottish Government will comply with the commissioner’s decision and do so as soon as practicable. I don’t expect this to take much longer.

“The courts have made it clear that the identities of those who complained in relation to allegations of sexual assault must have their identities protected.

“There are no circumstances in which I will do anything that risks breaking those court orders.

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“I cannot release information which breaches these court orders and amounts to a contempt of court.”

Opposition politicians heavily criticised the First Minister for refusing to hand over all the documents necessary, and said he was hiding behind the “excuse” that it would breach contempt of court laws.

Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser said: “I wonder if the First Minister appreciated what a bad look it is for his government to spend huge sums of taxpayers’ money contesting rulings from the independent information commissioner.

“Commissioner David Hamilton is a professional who has spent his entire career in Scotland’s justice system - does the First Minister think he would ask the Scottish Government to do something that would be unlawful?”

In response Mr Swinney said: “The government has made clear we believe the information commissioner has erred in law in two of the cases that the government is appealing.”

Former rebel SNP backbencher Fergus Ewing added: “What the First Minister hasn’t said is James Hamilton, when he produced a report himself in public, in an unprecedented move expressed severe reservations with the redactions he was required to make.

“Moreover, the orders made regarding the release of further information have been made by David Hamilton.

“The First Minister will accept that both James and David Hamilton are individuals of the highest repute and integrity, they would not invite him to do anything illegal.

“Isn’t the First Minister using the excuse of jigsaw identification as a human shield, as a pretext for declining to release information, because the real reason is it will cause extreme embarrassment to several people in the Scottish Government now and previously in that trusted position?”

Mr Swinney refuted Mr Ewing’s claims, and said: “I cannot find it in myself to associate myself with the words Mr Ewing has made of the excuse of jigsaw identification because that question lies at the very heart of the provision of statute in this country.

“My duty as First Minister at all times is to obey the law, and Mr Ewing is inviting me to be cavalier with the orders passed by a court in this country.

“I will do not one bit of it.”

Speaking after first minister’s questions, Dame Jackie Baillie MSP, Scottish Labour’s deputy leader, said: “The arrogance and secrecy of John Swinney and the SNP know no bounds.

“Of course the Scottish Government should always uphold the law, but that includes abiding by the rulings of the independent information commissioner.

“The SNP is spending taxpayer money trying to protect its own reputation and maintain its culture of cover-up.

“From withholding these documents to refusing to answer basic questions about its role in the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital scandal, this government is treating the public with contempt.”

This long-running saga began in March 2021 when Ms Sturgeon was cleared of breaking the ministerial code while giving evidence to a Holyrood inquiry into the handling of harassment allegations against her predecessor Mr Salmond.

Ms Sturgeon was accused of misleading MSPs, failing to properly record meetings, attempting to influence the inquiry, and breaching legal obligations.

Following this, a member of the public made a Freedom of Information request to the Scottish Government for all written evidence used in the investigation into Ms Sturgeon.

Ministers initially refused to disclose this information, but the information commissioner intervened and ordered the documents, known as the ‘Salmond files’, to be released.

The government tried to challenge this in the Court of Session which then led to a series of appeals. The information commission then criticised the government for missing deadlines and for heavily redacting documents.

Mr Hamilton said he would “not hesitate” to bring the issue back to the court if ministers missed the 22 January deadline - Mr Swinney has insisted the government will comply with the order.

Earlier this week Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said he would release the ‘Salmond files’ if he becomes First Minister after the Holyrood election in May.

He said the SNP government had a “dangerous obsession with secrecy and cover-up”. He said: “We will stop the waste of public money, we will release the Salmond files and we will follow the law.

“That’s the different kind of government that we can have after May.”