To Scotland, where today the SNP government’s embattled Health Secretary Neil Gray is in the firing line. The Scottish Tories have tabled an amendment – which will be voted on today – calling for the ‘Limogate’ minister to step down after Gray admitted to inadvertently misleading parliament over using taxpayer-funded cars to transport him to sports matches. Dear oh dear…
Gray used chauffeur-driven cars to take him to nine football games between 2022 and 2024, which the Health Secretary claims he attended on ministerial business. Yet his journey to the 2023 Scottish League Cup Final between Aberdeen and Rangers raised eyebrows after Freedom of Information requests revealed that there was ‘no note’ of a meeting summary from the event – despite the nationalist MP claiming in the Holyrood chamber that notes had been taken. So much for transparency, eh?
Tory MSP Stephen Kerr has urged independent advisers to investigate the matter of Gray’s misleading parliament while his party hopes to gain the support of Labour and the Liberal Democrats in today’s vote. Scottish Conservative spokesperson Sandesh Gulhane has also been quick to slam his SNP counterpart, fuming that: ‘Not only is Neil Gray is similar to Michael Matheson in that he is distracted by a personal scandal, he also has no vision for the future of our NHS.’ Ouch.
The Matheson comparison is certainly not the most flattering. Mr S would remind readers that Gray’s predecessor was forced out of the job after he was accused of lying about his £11,000 iPad bill – which he tried to fob off onto taxpayers. Talk about shameless…
But whether the SNP will lose yet another Health Secretary today depends on whether the Scottish Greens – ousted from government by hapless Humza Yousaf – will side with their former pro-indy allies. The resignation of Gray – and subsequent appointment of a successor – would mean that in the space of 12 months the party will have had not only two different First Ministers but, er, three different health ministers. The SNP just can’t seem to shake off the scandals…
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