UNIONISTS have fumed at the appointment of a minister for independence as the Tories branded him a “taxpayer-funded nationalist campaigner”.
Jamie Hepburn was formally voted in as the Scottish Government’s first-ever minister tasked solely with advancing the case for independence – sparking fury among the SNP’s critics.
Douglas Ross said the move showed new First Minister Humza Yousaf was “looking for a fight” with Westminster.
He said: “On Tuesday, in a call with the Prime Minister, he demanded another independence vote, and yesterday he appointed a Minister for independence – a taxpayer-funded nationalist campaigner.
“Instead of looking for cooperation between Scotland’s two governments he’s looking for a fight.”
The Scottish LibDems said Hepburn’s appointment exposed the Government as having the wrong priorities, hitting out at Yousaf bundling the mental health, social care and sport briefs into one junior ministerial role in his Cabinet reshuffle.
The party’s leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: “Just days after declaring that he would be a leader for all of Scotland, Humza Yousaf is appointing a permanent minister to continue agitating for the breakup of the UK at the taxpayers' expense.
"Cramming mental health, social care and sport into a single role is an insult to the thousands awaiting support. Scottish Liberal Democrats want to see a dedicated mental health minister re-instated to tackle the sea of unmet need.
“Instead that time, money and energy will be spent on a minister for stirring up grudge and grievance, rather than dealing with real issues like long NHS waiting lists.”
And a number of unelected peers took aim at the appointment, arguing the Scottish Government was operating outside its powers because the constitution was a reserved matter.
Speaking in the Lords, former Tory Scottish secretary, Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, asked: “Surely this is a question of the propriety of the use of public funds and that the Scottish Government are involved in spending public money on a matter for which they have no rights?
“If these people were in local government, they would be being surcharged.”
Treasury minister Baroness Penn responded: “It shows that the Scottish Government’s priorities lie in the wrong place.”
Earlier this year, acting finance secretary John Swinney announced that the remainder of the £20 million planned on preparations for indyref2 would instead go to a fuel poverty fund after the Supreme Court blocked a second vote.
Speaking exclusively with The National after his appointment, Hepburn said he was “exhilarated” to take on the new role and said it was “go time” for independence campaigners.
