Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Record
Daily Record
Politics
Peter Davidson

SNP accused of 'control freakery' after Holyrood questions email accidentally sent to all MSPs

The SNP has been accused of "control freakery" after an email was mistakenly sent to all MSPs instead of just SNP members on what their questions will be in the Chamber later this week.

Earlier today an email was sent by the SNP whips office to all members of parliament to, "please respond to this email with all Portfolio supplementaries by 1400 Tuesday".

MSPs from all sides will ask Scottish Government ministers portfolio questions on Wednesday and Thursday on a range of topics from health to housing, and the constitution.

Portfolio Questions are published in advance to allow ministers to give accurate answers.

After a minister responds to the first MSP other members are allowed to ask supplementary questions on the topic being discussed.

Supplementary questions are not published in advance and they allow MSPs to ask about issues that may affect their constituents.

Scottish Labour has now accused the SNP of not being "interested in hearing the real voices of the people of Scotland" after the whips office asked Nationalist MSPs to submit their supplementary questions in advance.

Neil Bibby MSP, Labour's business manager, said: “The SNP have been caught in the act of spin and cover up.

"This is control freakery on another level.

"This email exposes the reality that SNP MSPs are not there to speak up for the Scottish people, they are just mouthpieces for Nicola Sturgeon’s Government.

"Constituents should be able to trust their MSPs to represent them properly by asking difficult questions of Ministers and speaking their mind- the SNP are clearly not interested in hearing the real voices of the people of Scotland."

Meanwhile, north east Labour MSP Mercedes Villalba tweeted: "An interesting insight into how the SNP group operate in the Scottish Parliament.

"All supplementary questions to the Scottish Government (usually unseen) must be submitted in advance. Not the SNP scared of a bit of scrutiny."

A SNP spokesperson said: "This email is part of a standard process to notify the Presiding Officer of Members’ questions on behalf of their constituents."

To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.