First Minister John Swinney has said the expected appointment of Anas Sarwar as a UK minister will “exacerbate” mistrust in politics.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has admitted politicians have “not been good enough” in recent years as he seeks to improve public trust. But responding to the expected appointment of the Scottish Labour leader to the House of Lords and a minister in the expanded Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, Mr Swinney said the move goes against the Prime Minister’s goal.
Hypocrisy over Lords
Speaking to the Press Association on Wednesday, the First Minister hit out at the “hypocrisy” of the situation, with Mr Sarwar having previously ruled out a move to the Lords.
“I think what it demonstrates is an appalling level of judgement by Anas Sarwar,” he said. “He said before the (Holyrood) election he had absolutely no interest in going to the House of Lords, he only wanted to be first minister of Scotland. Then, after the election, Anas Sarwar has accepted a place in the House of Lords – a body, by the way, he wants to abolish. That is an incredible level of hypocrisy and it just illustrates what I think the Prime Minister is trying to address, which is the fact that politicians say one thing one minute and then do another thing the next minute, when it suits them. That, I thought, was what Andy Burnham was trying to address and to solve. But instead, Andy Burnham has exacerbated that sentiment within our society.”
Constructive call with PM
News that Mr Sarwar would be leaving Holyrood to join the UK Government broke on Tuesday night – coming hours after the First Minister had a “very constructive” telephone conversation with the new Prime Minister. Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland earlier on Wednesday, Mr Swinney said the PM had told him they would “have to agree to disagree” on the issues of independence and a second referendum. But the First Minister said: “It’s not really a surprise to me the Prime Minister doesn’t agree with me on Scottish independence.”
Mr Swinney added, however, that he had had a “constructive and positive” discussion “about the devolution of greater responsibilities to Scotland” with the Labour leader. The First Minister stated: “What the Prime Minister said to me yesterday, which is really significant, is that he is in favour of the devolution of more powers and responsibilities, but he is not going to do that in a fashion which bypasses the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government. That’s a really significant commitment the Prime Minister gave me.”
Relations with Scotland Office
That comes despite Mr Swinney saying the relationship between the Scottish Government and the Scotland Office had “haemorrhaged” when Douglas Alexander was appointed Scottish Secretary in September last year. Mr Alexander was kept in the key position by Mr Burnham when he set out his Cabinet team after moving into Downing Street on Monday. “There was a deterioration in relationships between the Scottish Government and the United Kingdom Government when Douglas Alexander was appointed as Secretary of State for Scotland,” Mr Swinney said.
While he said Holyrood ministers had had a “pretty constructive relationship” with the Scotland Office when Ian Murray was in the post, the First Minister added: “That pretty much haemorrhaged with Douglas Alexander’s arrival.” While he said relations had “soured significantly”, Mr Swinney said the PM had assured him he wants a “collaborative relationship” with Scotland. The SNP leader added: “I take that at face value and I hope that that is reflected in the approach that is taken by the Secretary of State for Scotland.”
