Scottish Labour has warned about an “looming cronyism crisis” in the Scottish government in the wake of the Greensill lobbying scandal at Westminster.
Ian Murray, the Shadow Scottish Secretary, said the SNP government had to answer questions on the “complex web of connections” between senior Scottish ministers and steel magnate Sanjeev Gupta who was backed by financier Lex Greensill.
Murray said revelations that the SNP rural secretary Fergus Ewing had an undocumented meeting with Greensill and Gupta, who later benefitted from more than half a billion pounds in taxpayer guarantees from the SNP government warranted investigation.
Scottish taxpayers could lose hundreds of millions as a result of complex financial deals struck between Gupta, Greensill and the Scottish Government.
Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing met controversial banker Lex Greensill and steel billionaire Sanjeev Gupta at one of Glasgow’s top restaurants with no officials were present.
A rule in the ministerial code when on government business calls for notes to be taken of any meeting on government business.
The SNP claimed that the meeting was properly recorded within government.
Gupta was given massive state support to buy metal and power plants in Lanarkshire and the Highlands including a 25 year guarantee to support power to the Lochaber aluminium smelter which was then levered into finance deals by the company.
Murray said: “That is money now not available to our NHS and schools. The deal was supposed to create 2,000 jobs but resulted in fewer than 50 and, with Greensill’s collapse, 5,000 are now at risk across the UK."
He added: “There remain questions to answer about when Sturgeon knew about the meeting, why her initial scepticism about the deal with Gupta was overruled, and who else in the Scottish government has met with Greensill and others in private.”
Murray said that while Labour has been challenging the Tory government at Westminster, the Scottish Conservatives are incapable of holding the SNP’s feet to the fire while the Tory government was embroiled in the Greensill scandal.
He added: “Douglas Ross has no incentive to hold Sturgeon’s feet to the fire when cronyism in his own party is just as bad, if not worse than the SNP.”
Labour is demanding a full-scale inquiry into Greensill’s links with UK ministers centred on the lobbying role of former PM David Cameron.
But Boris Johnson has set up an independent review led by a leading lawyer.
Murray said Scottish leader Anas Sarwar proposed to strengthen the power of Holyrood committees to summon witnesses to enable them to better scrutinise links between lobbyists and ministers.
Murray said: “Scotland deserves a better government and a better opposition. It is far more convenient for the SNP and the Tories to take us back to the old arguments over the constitution, rather than scrutinise how taxpayer’s money is being wasted.
An SNP spokesperson said: “We are used to Ian Murray doing the Tories’ bidding for them but this is just desperate nonsense from the Labour party.
“The SNP committed to protecting jobs at Dalzell and Lochaber and we continue to do so, in fact we will be updating local MSPs later this week."
The official added: "It seems Labour would have simply let Scotland’s remaining steel industry close. The meeting with Fergus Ewing was properly recorded. We will continue to get on with the day job and leave Mr. Murray to his wild claims.”
