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 First Minister asked what I would have done. I would have ensured that my justice secretary let the Parliament and the country know about the decisions that he was making.

The most damning thing of all is that now—on 25 January—we are still having to piece together the details of what happened at the beginning of November, when the Government was involved in one of the most important policing decisions that it has taken since it came to office. We are only now getting formal evidence that the justice secretary was absolutely instrumental in preventing the chief constable’s return. If it had not been for reports in the press, the whole thing would have been kept under wraps and the Parliament would have been kept in the dark.

When the national force was set up, we were told that transparency would be its watchword. Can the First Minister really stand there and claim that this episode has shown that to be true?