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Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney has rejected calls for the dismissal of Justice Secretary Angela Constance amid allegations that she misled parliament concerning an inquiry into grooming gangs.
Opposition Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) have accused Constance of misrepresenting Professor Alexis Jay, a UK expert on grooming gangs, by stating that the academic “did not support further inquiries” into child sexual abuse and exploitation.
Motions of no confidence in the minister have been backed by the Conservative, Labour, and Liberal Democrat parties.
While Constance maintains that her account of Professor Jay’s views was accurate, critics argue that recently released emails between the government and the academic demonstrate that parliament was misled.
During First Minister’s Questions, Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay stated that the Justice Secretary had “brazenly misrepresented a leading child abuse expert,” while Labour leader Anas Sarwar alleged a “clear” breach of the ministerial code.
Swinney defended Constance, asserting that her remarks about Professor Jay had been “clarified.”
The controversy arose in September when Constance opposed a Conservative amendment to a victims bill that called for an inquiry into grooming gangs.
The Justice Secretary told MSPs that Professor Jay “shares my view and has put on the record and stated to the media that she does not support further inquiries into child sexual abuse and exploitation.”
However, government-released emails reveal that Professor Jay clarified in September that her comment was made “in the context of the England and Wales Public Inquiry on Child Sexual Abuse, which I chaired.”
She further stated: “It had nothing to do with [the Conservative] amendment, or the position in Scotland, as could be interpreted from your statement.”
The academic indicated her belief that Scottish ministers “should urgently take steps to establish reliable data about the nature and extent of child sexual exploitation by organised networks.”
She also requested a clarification of her position.
The government issued a clarification in meeting notes last month, stating that Professor Jay’s comments were “not related to the debate on the Victims Bill or the position in Scotland.”
Constance has described her remarks about the academic as “accurate.”
During FMQs, Findlay called on Swinney to dismiss Constance and confirmed that his party had submitted a motion of no confidence.
“The Justice Secretary misrepresented an expert, then denied doing so when asked by journalists,” he said.
“She failed to correct the record, and she hasn’t even apologised.”
He told MSPs that the minister had “twisted a statement about England to deny victims an inquiry here in Scotland.”
Sarwar, who has tabled a separate motion of no confidence, accused Swinney of “defending the indefensible.”
He told MSPs that Constance “has had repeated opportunities to apologise and correct the record but has failed to do so.”
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton confirmed that his party would support a no-confidence motion in the Justice Secretary.
He stated: “After misrepresenting a respected expert, Angela Constance should have apologised to Professor Alexis Jay and been straight with Parliament.”
“She didn’t, so this is a mess of her own creation.”
The Scottish Green Party has stated that it will not support a no-confidence vote.
A party statement said “protecting children from sexual abuse and securing justice for victims and survivors is our priority, as it should be for every MSP.”
“The vote does neither of those, so we will not back it. Survivors deserve so much better than this being turned into a party political issue.”
The statement called for Constance to explain what additional steps the Scottish government is taking to safeguard children.
“They could start by publishing the long-delayed guidance for schools to teach children how to stay safe from sexual harms,” it added.
Swinney told parliament that the Justice Secretary had made a “general comment” during the victims bill debate.
He stated that the government was taking forward the “essential work necessary” to decide whether a separate grooming gangs inquiry was required.
The First Minister also told MSPs that he did not want to “hinder” the work of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, which he said may be able to look into grooming gangs in the next phase of its investigation.
He added that his government was working to “improve the lives of individuals who have suffered in the past as a consequence of abuse in the care of the state.”
Following FMQs, Swinney told journalists that he had examined how Constance had used the quote from Professor Jay and had concluded that there had not been a breach of the ministerial code.
Constance told reporters that her focus was on the justice system and to “serve victims.”
She added that she had not offered to resign.
Although a no-confidence vote is non-binding, a minister would be expected to resign if a majority of MSPs supported the motion.
For Constance to lose, Conservative, Labour, and LibDem MSPs would need to convince the Greens to vote with them.
There is no indication so far that the Greens would be willing to do so.
The Scottish government announced last week that there is to be a national review of the evidence on the operation of grooming gangs in Scotland.
It will be carried out by the Care Inspectorate, the Inspectorate of Constabulary and Education, and Healthcare Improvement Scotland—oversight bodies independent of the government.
The work will be overseen by an expert panel led by Professor Jay, who has also been appointed as the new chair of the Scottish government’s national group on child sex abuse.
The expert panel will advise ministers on the outcome of the review, which will inform a future decision on whether or not there should be a judge-led public inquiry.
Earlier this year, the UK government accepted the recommendations of a review for a national inquiry into child sexual exploitation in England and Wales.
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