Chamber and committees

That was as clear as mud.

John Swinney often talks about integrity, yet his party and his Government have none. He denied that his justice secretary had broken the ministerial code until the Scottish Conservatives proved that she had done so—not once but twice.

John Swinney shows exactly the same disregard for integrity and facts when it comes to taxation. Here are the facts: more Scottish workers pay more income tax than those elsewhere in the United Kingdom. John Swinney falsely accuses me of misleading the Parliament when I state that hard fact, and then he does not correct the record. I know that the Scottish National Party’s culture of dishonesty will never change, but does John Swinney at least agree that Scots are paying too much tax?

When it comes to the state of the NHS in Scotland under the SNP, John Swinney’s selective statistics do not cut it. Patients know the reality. They see the reality with their own eyes.

John Swinney thinks that he can take more and more from workers and businesses and, at the same time, spend more and more on benefits. The SNP’s annual benefits bill of £7 billion is on course to reach £10 billion a year. State benefits are a vital safety net for those in need, but that bill is unaffordable, unfair and unsustainable. The only way that John Swinney can pay for it is by hiking taxes even more.

However, there is another way. We believe that workers should keep more of their hard-earned money—[Interruption.]

If a Scottish Government minister misleads the Parliament and, by extension, misleads the public, should they correct the record?

That got one clap. He has strengthened accountability by dishing out a get-out-of-jail-free card to all his SNP pals—that is one way of doing it.

Taxes are too high in Scotland. Scots are forced, and not asked, to pay £1.7 billion extra a year through SNP income tax rises, yet they see a wasteful Government that is utterly incapable of fixing public services, which only get worse. As demonstrated once again today by the revelation that bed blocking costs the national health service up to £0.5 billion every year, the SNP’s list of costly failures is truly endless.

Struggling workers, families and businesses all deserve a break. That is why we are calling on John Swinney to reduce the crippling financial burden by cutting income tax in next week’s budget. Will he do so?

—and that that will help to increase prosperity by growing the economy.

John Swinney could cut people’s taxes by tackling the out-of-control benefits bill in the budget—but does he have the bravery to do so?

I thank the cabinet secretary for advance sight of her statement.

On 18 December, John Swinney told me that he was

“content that there has been no breach of the ministerial code.”—[Official Report, 18 December 2025; c 11.]

Over many weeks, he repeatedly suggested that there was nothing to see here. John Swinney was wrong, because his discredited justice secretary, Angela Constance, breached the ministerial code—not just once but twice. I have been telling him that for weeks, but he put his Scottish National Party friend above the truth and above respect for Parliament and for grooming gang victims. We have those official findings today only because of the sustained efforts of many Scottish Conservative MSPs.

The first breach was that, having misrepresented the views of a leading expert on child sexual abuse, Angela Constance failed to correct the record. The independent advisers described that as a “significant error”.

The second breach was the failure to have officials present during an official Government phone call with Professor Jay. The saga has all the hallmarks of John Swinney’s Government: cover-up over candour and self-preservation over integrity.

Will Angela Constance tell Parliament whether she has offered her resignation to John Swinney? If he will not do the right thing and sack her, why will she not do the right thing and quit?

Professor Jay told the Scottish Government on 26 September that she had been misrepresented. That was Angela Constance’s earliest opportunity to correct the record. She could have corrected the record—she should have—in September, October, November and December. She should have corrected the record when we challenged her in three urgent questions, two ministerial statements, two First Minister’s question times and a motion of no confidence. She should have corrected the record after being repeatedly challenged by grooming gang victims and by journalists.

Three months have passed and only now is Angela Constance trying to correct the record. She did not correct the record at the earliest opportunity, as is required under the ministerial code. How on earth can John Swinney continue to defend his disgraced justice secretary?

The scandal—and it is a scandal—shows the very worst of the SNP. It is a cynical, calculating, dishonest and devious Government that always chooses short-term political fixes and convenience. It is never about doing what is right for victims. It is always about doing what is right for the SNP.

Angela Constance’s evidence to the Education, Children and Young People Committee yesterday was shambolic and indefensible. The justice secretary has confirmed beyond any doubt that she broke the ministerial code by refusing to admit her mistake at the earliest opportunity. Angela Constance misled the public, the Parliament and grooming gang victims.

What on earth will it take for John Swinney to sack any of his ministers?

The information has been dragged out of the justice secretary.

Paragraph 1.7 of the ministerial code is crystal clear. I will read it out for John Swinney’s benefit. It states that ministers must

“give accurate and truthful information to Parliament, correcting any inadvertent error at the earliest opportunity.”

Angela Constance blatantly and brazenly decided not to correct the record at the earliest possible opportunity. How can John Swinney pretend to himself and to the public that Angela Constance has not breached the ministerial code?

On 16 September, the justice secretary misrepresented Professor Alexis Jay to justify the Scottish National Party’s opposition to a grooming gangs inquiry. For months, in public and in the Parliament, she denied any wrongdoing, but we now know that Angela Constance apologised to Professor Jay on 1 December. She knew that she was wrong all along, but she tried to get away with it.

Yesterday—a full nine weeks later—Angela Constance was forced to finally come clean. Does John Swinney believe that Angela Constance tried to correct the record at the earliest possible opportunity?