THE head of the civil service has been asked to investigate data breaches within the UK Government after the personal concerns of an MSP’s constituent were leaked to a Tory MP.

The individual, who has not been named, approached SNP Clackmannanshire and Dunblane MSP Keith Brown with concerns over Brexit.

The man, whose business relies on EU migrant workers, agreed to have Brown write to the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) about what delaying Brexit will mean for his business.

But instead of writing back to Brown, a member of staff at the Whitehall department told Luke Graham MP’s office about the man’s fears in a data protection breach.

The breach emerged when a member of the Ochil and South Perthshire MP’s staff called Brown’s office.

The constituent had not contacted the Tory MP, who says he did not handle personal data about the man.

Now a senior civil servant has apologised for the leak, saying the “unauthorised disclosure of information” had been made by a member of staff and Graham’s team has been told to delete all material related to the case.

But Brown has now written to Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill, head of the civil service, asking for a probe into how widespread such practices are across Westminster departments. Brown said: “This is a deeply concerning incident which should never have occurred.

“Constituents raise concerns with their MSPs in complete confidence. It is unacceptable for strict data protection rules to be cast aside for political gain – which appears to have been the motivation here.

“While I welcome the findings of the Permanent Secretary to the Brexit department that an unauthorised disclosure did indeed take place, the case raises more questions than it answers. Just how widespread are these practices? Are Tory ministers regularly divulging confidential information to Tory MPs for political expediency?

“And why are Tory MPs getting priority over SNP members raising legitimate concerns on behalf of their constituents? Are UK minister operating a dual speed system which treats MSPs as second class?”

Clare Moriarty, Permanent Secretary to DExEU, said “appropriate action has been taken” in line with DExEU security, data protection and disciplinary policies and managers will “consider whether there are wider lessons that can be learned”.

However, Graham said: “I was informed that there was a constituent issue that may have not been responded to, but received no personal constituent data. My office called Keith Brown’s office to confirm details about the issue and ask if his office would give further details about the case so we could support. My office has a strong record of working with all levels of Government to resolve constituent issues/concerns and my team and I will continue to do so.

“It is also standard practice to include the local MP in any correspondence referencing that MP’s office. I received no such correspondence from Mr Brown or his team.”