SCOTTISH Labour’s deputy leader has been reported to parliamentary authorities for alleged rule breaches, The National can reveal.
Holyrood bosses are probing whether Jackie Baillie fell foul of the guidelines governing the use of taxpayer-funded Scottish Parliament websites.
It comes after Scottish Labour blasted SNP politicians for promoting their party through official communications channels – demanding that if any wrongdoing was found, they should reimburse the taxpayer.
After the Daily Record revealed that the websites of senior ministers Jenny Gilruth (below), Shona Robison and Angela Constance carried party political material, Labour MP Gregor Poynton said: “The Scottish Parliament must investigate each case in full, and if wrongdoing is confirmed, public money should be repaid. Anything less would send the message that the rules don’t matter or worse, that they don’t apply to SNP ministers.”
An SNP source has now hit back, telling The National: “Once again, Labour’s hypocrisy has been laid bare.
“It’s high time Labour got their own house in order and sorted this out.”
MSPs are given websites through the Scottish Parliament which are intended to help them communicate their activities to the public – but they are governed by strict rules to reduce political spin.
They are not allowed to refer to their party roles and are banned from criticising other parties, including references to “the SNP government” or “the Labour government”.
But Baillie drew attention to her role as Scottish Labour’s health spokesperson in a blog post from June.
The rules state: “Publications funded from parliamentary resources must be factual and relate to the member’s work as a parliamentarian. This does not include a member’s work as a party spokesperson or member of the Scottish Government.”
Baillie’s blog post about a “showdown” with Health Secretary Neil Gray (below) reads: “Jackie, also Scottish Labour’s spokesperson for health, asked her opposite number to consider imposing a maximum waiting time target for patients to be transferred into hospital from ambulances.”
She has also been referred to the parliamentary authorities for an alleged breach of the rules relating to referring to the government by the party in power.
The link included in the complaint shared with The National makes no reference to the SNP.
The rules state: “Publications can refer to the 'Scottish Government', 'UK Government' or the 'Government', but must not refer to the Government by party.”
A Scottish Parliament spokesperson said: “The Parliament’s policies reflect that parliamentary resources cannot be used for party political purposes.
“When an investigation is carried out following a complaint, the SPCB will publish the details and its findings once concluded.
“As a matter of standard practice we would not, however, comment upon or confirm whether an investigation is underway.”
Scottish Labour were approached for comment.
