Tories to push ahead with no confidence vote in Swinney

The Scottish Conservatives said a vote of no confidence in John Swinney is to go ahead “on Tuesday or Wednesday”.

The Tories submitted a motion of no confidence in the deputy first minister last week over the Scottish Government’s refusal to hand over legal advice.

The advice related to Alex Salmond’s successful legal challenge of the government’s harassment complaints procedure, which led to the former first minister being awarded more than £500,000.

The proposed vote prompted the Scottish Government to release the legal advice in stages.

Scottish Conservatives leader Douglas Ross said Swinney’s “position has become untenable”.

The vote will be held on Tuesday or Wednesday subject to the decision of the parliamentary bureau, the party said.

Ross said the deputy first minister “manipulated the flow of information”.

“He claimed that the documents showed the government did not ignore advice from counsel, which was contradicted by the very documents he published,” he said.

“John Swinney’s position has become untenable. He has disrespected the Scottish Parliament repeatedly, blatantly withheld evidence from a parliamentary inquiry and tried to mislead the public.

“He has had more than enough chances to be transparent but his actions are getting more murkier and inexcusable as the weeks go on.”

He added: “We are proceeding with the vote of no confidence.

“I urge all opposition parties to support it to uphold the reputation of the Scottish Parliament and to ensure that, in future, votes of the parliament are respected by the Scottish Government.”