Scottish Police Authority

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 25 January 2018.

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Photo of Ruth Davidson Ruth Davidson Conservative

The evidence that emerged this morning might be inconvenient for the First Minister, but she cannot pretend that it does not contradict her earlier answers. This morning, the former chair of the SPA was asked whether he felt that the Cabinet Secretary for Justice had made “a value judgment” on the decision, and he said yes. Just hours after their one-to-one, Michael Matheson hauled the chair of the SPA back in for another meeting—this time with civil servants—in which he raised issues of process that would prevent the chief constable’s return. The chair of the SPA called that a “one-sided” meeting and said that he felt that he had “no choice” but to reverse the decision of his independent board. He said that he changed his mind based on the cabinet secretary being unhappy.

The independent chair of an independent body had two meetings with the justice secretary. In the first, he was told that he had made a bad decision. After the second meeting, he was left in no doubt that he had to reverse that decision. How can that possibly tally with what Scottish National Party ministers have claimed in recent weeks?