Imagine a nation where the government is hauled before the courts for blatantly disregarding legal obligations. The catalyst is a transparency 'tsar' whose official role is to champion open governance, yet who has grown exasperated with the political leadership's persistent evasions. At the heart of the dispute are concealed documents concerning the handling of sexual harassment allegations made against a former first minister.
A Culture of Secrecy Denied
The new head of the administration appears on national television to refute claims that he oversees a 'culture of secrecy and obfuscation', delivering his denial with apparent conviction. However, this same leader, while offering nebulous promises that he will eventually honour a directive to release the contentious dossier, is simultaneously delaying compliance with a separate, landmark ruling on gender rights issued by the UK's Supreme Court.
Scandal at the Superhospital
Compounding the crisis, this first minister is embroiled in a furious controversy surrounding a flagship superhospital, where a dysfunctional health board stands accused of effectively poisoning patients, resulting in fatalities and severe illnesses. One could be forgiven for mistaking this scenario for a failing authoritarian state, yet, shamefully, this is 21st-century Scotland under a nationalist government that treats its electorate with brazen contempt.
What renders the situation particularly astonishing is that John Swinney seeks to portray himself as a new beginning for Scotland, despite his extensive history as a key architect of cover-ups and a ruthless political fixer for both Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon. The First Minister markets himself as 'Honest John', yet he represents anything but a fresh start.
The Legal Battle Intensifies
The Information Commissioner for Scotland, David Hamilton, has instructed legal counsel to initiate court proceedings against the Scottish Government due to its failure to publish evidence submitted to an inquiry examining whether Nicola Sturgeon breached the ministerial code. This evidence pertains directly to Ms Sturgeon's management of complaints against the late Alex Salmond, her former mentor turned political adversary.
Judges at the Court of Session will now determine whether to treat the government's non-compliance as contempt of court. Notably, this marks the first instance where the commissioner, appointed by the monarch on the Scottish Parliament's nomination to oversee freedom of information law, has reported a failure to comply to the courts.
A Five-Year Fight for Transparency
This legal escalation follows a protracted five-year struggle by a member of the public who utilised FOI legislation to demand the release of evidence submitted to the 2021 investigation led by James Hamilton, KC. In a prolonged dispute, the government initially claimed it did not possess the information, arguing that Mr Hamilton, as an independent adviser, was not subject to FOI laws. The commissioner intervened, ordering a review, and when ministers challenged this in court, their appeal was rejected.
Erosion of State Institutions
There is a profound and growing concern that vital state institutions have suffered a catastrophic loss of credibility under prolonged SNP governance. During earlier phases of the Salmond saga, the Crown Office faced accusations of censoring crucial evidence on questionable legal grounds, while its head, the Lord Advocate, retains a seat in the Cabinet—a constitutional anomaly.
Former Supreme Court judge Lord Hope of Craighead publicly expressed astonishment when the Crown Office intervened in the parliamentary inquiry into the Salmond affair, warning Holyrood that Mr Salmond's testimony could constitute contempt of court. Lord Hope posed a critical question: 'Does the Scottish parliament think that it is at risk of being held to be in contempt of court? Or is it just not wanting to offend the Crown Office? There is a question here that needs to be addressed.'
Parliamentary Scrutiny Blocked
Five years on, with an election looming, the controversy burns unabated, and the answers Lord Hope demanded remain elusive. Meanwhile, the tangible outcome of over a quarter-century of devolution appears to be a parliament with a Presiding Officer, Alison Johnstone, accused of acting as little more than an SNP puppet. She has repeatedly denied former Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross the opportunity to question the First Minister or his ministers on why the government is flouting another law.
The Holyrood 'speaker' stands accused of shielding SNP ministers from scrutiny regarding their legal rationale for permitting biological males into women's prisons. The SNP argues that a blanket ban 'would violate the rights of some prisoners', a position that directly contravenes a Supreme Court ruling intended to curb nationalist transgender policies.
Devolution's Failed Promise
Devolution was conceived to decentralise power and empower the people, yet those founding principles seem long deceased, if they ever truly existed. For the SNP, the law often appears as a mere inconvenience. This is a party that frequently criticises figures like Donald Trump for their disregard of democratic norms, while simultaneously treating those very norms as optional extras in its own governance.
The NHS Water Contamination Scandal
Concurrently, blame-shifting has intensified over recent NHS water contamination disclosures. The First Minister has conceded there was a 'cultural problem' at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and that it 'looks like' families of deceased patients at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital were deliberately misled. A critical question remains: did his government know these were falsehoods at the time, and if so, why did it fail to act against responsible board members, none of whom have faced accountability?
Police are now investigating the deaths of six patients who contracted infections while being treated at the £1 billion QEUH, a facility opened with great ceremony by Nicola Sturgeon. A whistleblowing doctor maintains the hospital remains unsafe, citing a 'broken culture' of cover-ups. Despite Mr Swinney's assurances of the hospital's safety, public trust has been profoundly damaged.
A Reckoning on the Horizon
The endemic secrecy permeating Mr Swinney's faltering administration would embarrass even the most opaque regimes. When it comes to politics, his actions reveal a profound lack of integrity, rendering his words—whether spoken now or years ago under the ironic moniker 'Honest John'—deeply untrustworthy. He knows where the political bodies are buried; in some instances, he buried them himself.
The public is now expected to believe his pledge to release the Salmondgate files before May's election, or at least provide a response, which may be heavily redacted, continuing the SNP's ignoble tradition of governance by censorship. These shameless hypocrites may finally face their day of reckoning on polling day. It is time to end this damaging charade and rescue Scotland from another five years of toxic, secretive rule.
