TAXPAYERS are having to fork out again more money to bail out this cancerous Tory government. This time it’s to cover the tracks of the Home Secretary Priti Patel.
A six-figure award settlement was agreed between that government and ex-civil servant Sir Philip Rutnam, who was forced to resign his top job due to alleged bullying from Patel. I say alleged because it was never allowed to get to court. It is no real secret that rumours are rife about Priti Patel’s mean attitude towards the staff in her department.
Another affected person, Sir Alex Allan, who also resigned his position, had reported that Patel had often shouted and sworn at individuals, causing upset, adding that she, Patel, may have “unintentionally broken the ministerial code”.
READ MORE: UK Government settles with Home Office boss who accused Priti Patel of bullying
Well that’s okay then! Fork out a few hundred thousand pounds to keep things away from the courts and they get away with breaking rules similar to those that may have dire consequences for the First Minister of Scotland. She has been accused of breaking the ministerial code here over confusion about dates of two meetings and whether they were to do with government business or SNP party business. There are other issues here, connected to legal advice.
The Scottish Tory MSPs had already decided Nicola Sturgeon was guilty on all counts of breaking the ministerial code even before she had the chance to provide her side of the Alex Salmond saga. And after that took place she was still guilty of the crime and incredibly asked, nay told, to resign even before the investigating committee have yet reached any conclusions.
In this month of March, the Tory knives are out to once again attempt to get rid of the First Minister, the independence movement and mebby the SNP altogether. So what happened? Overnight, the SNP gained another 5000 new members, indicating 5000 more votes for the SNP in the coming election.
Somehow, something has backfired. The whole sorry saga we have been exposed to has helped to increase the SNP membership by this substantial number. Should this have happened? Why did it happen? Who knows, but once again Nicola Sturgeon has made a substantive and positive impression on the Scottish population. How did this happen? Again, who knows, but who cares so long as the Tory party keep on acting as our membership recruiting team.
Alan Magnus-Bennett
Fife
THE £512,000 paid to Alex Salmond to cover his legal fees incurred challenging the Scottish Government’s flawed investigation is rightly considered to be a scandalous waste of public money. Yesterday you reported Sir Philip Rutnam recieved a six-figure sum, said to be £340,000 plus £30,000 costs, to drop his employment tribunal case. Yesterday The Guardian said: “The pay-off means Patel and Boris will no longer face the possibility of giving evidence before a public tribunal.” Yet today the story was no longer on the headlines of their website. Compare this to the press coverage of Nicola Sturgeon’s eight-hour public grilling before the Holyrood committee.
Ruth Davidson has repeatedly called for the First Minister’s resignation for breaking the ministerial code before the inquiry has reached its conclusion. Yet she ignores her party leader’s support for his Home Secretary despite her being already found guilty of breaking the code.
Alex Salmond has also claimed Nicola Sturgeon has broken the code. Is it not likely that his own alleged (non-criminal but nevertheless inappropriate) behaviour towards women is also a breach of the same code? Double standards indeed!
Ian Futter
Aberdeen
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