The thing about being holier than thou is that you actually have to be holier. Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s leader at Westminster, has made much of Sir Keir Starmer’s freebie woes. The SNP called for an investigation into Lord Alli’s donations to the Prime Minister and Flynn used a newspaper column to observe: ‘Of course, it’s important to say that such clothing gifts come with no attachments. No, none at all. They are all just from the kindness of a filthy-rich donor’s heart. I mean, who doesn’t have friends like that?’ Fortunately – and unfortunately – for him, Labour donors aren’t the only generous contributors in politics.
Questions are mounting over a £30,000 donation to a local SNP branch in Flynn’s Aberdeen South constituency from green energy entrepreneur Allan MacAskill. He is the co-chief technical officer of Flotation Energy, which is developing a floating wind farm called ‘Green Volt’ off the coast of Aberdeenshire. The Scottish Daily Mail – for which, in the interests of disclosure, I write a weekly column – reports that Flynn emailed the Scottish government energy minister and fellow SNP member Gillian Martin on 6 October last year about Flotation Energy’s desire to ‘break consent logjam’ over Green Volt. Flynn said he would be ‘grateful’ if Scottish government officials could ‘review the information below and, if appropriate, arrange contact with those involved to discuss these matters further’.
Martin’s assistant private secretary forwarded the message to the correspondence unit, asked them to ‘fast track’ Flynn’s letter, and cc’ed Martin on the email. The Scottish government granted consent to Green Volt on 22 April. Flynn’s register of interests records a £30,000 donation from MacAskill which was made on May 27, five weeks before the general election. The BBC reports that ‘the donation was not made directly to Flynn’ and it is listed in the register as ‘support linked to an MP but received by a local party organisation or indirectly via a central party organisation’.
SNP leader John Swinney, head of the devolved government in Scotland, says the contribution was made ‘as part of a normal political donation for political purposes’ and that it had ‘properly been declared’. He added that addressing climate change was ‘a huge policy priority’ and that it was important that ‘we take these decisions properly and promptly to make sure we can secure investment in renewable energy in Scotland’. Flotation Energy says it has ‘very regular discussions’ about Green Volt ‘with key organisations including the Scottish and UK governments’.
Flynn can point to the fact that he registered the donation in accordance with parliamentary rules. He can also point out that, in addition to his business interest in Green Volt, Allan MacAskill is a long-time supporter of the SNP. (His brother Kenny is a former SNP turned Alba MP and ex Scottish government minister.) However, the question is not about the rules so much as the appearance of an SNP leader lobbying a political colleague on behalf of a company whose boss then made a substantial donation to party funds. This may well be a ‘normal’ part of the political process, but it is reasonable to ask whether it ought to be, or whether public confidence in the political system requires a rethink of the rules.
In the victimhood-addled SNP, the reporting on this donation represents another unfair attack by a rabid and agenda-driven Unionist press. (Would that the Scottish press was anywhere near as rabid or Unionist as Nationalists imagine.) For sure, Flynn couldn’t have anticipated the Labour freebies row, but it was an error of judgement to make hay from it when his register of interests contained a £30,000 bale of its own. The Prime Minister and his colleagues have damaged the voters’ already threadbare faith in politicians. Stephen Flynn wanted scrutiny for them. He can hardly object to it for himself.
Comments