Sarwar appeals to SNP and Green MSPs ahead of no confidence vote in Constance

A vote of no confidence in Scotland’s Justice Secretary would see MSPs “reject the culture of cover-up” in the SNP administration, Labour’s Anas Sarwar said.

He spoke out ahead of an expected vote of no confidence in Angela Constance on Tuesday.

Both Labour and the Scottish Conservatives put forward motions of no confidence in her amid accusations that she misrepresented an expert of child sexual abuse, and misled the Scottish Parliament.

Labour, the Tories and the Liberal Democrats – who have also said they will vote against Ms Constance – between them have 54 MSPs.

With the SNP having 60 MSPs at Holyrood – and with the seven Green MSPs having made clear they will not support the motion – that means Ms Constance should survive.

However, in a letter sent to SNP and Green MSPs, Mr Sarwar said that backing the Justice Secretary would be “sending a clear signal that lying is tolerated in the highest ranks of government and abiding by the ministerial code is now optional”.

He told the Greens and SNP members that, if they voted in support of Ms Constance, they would “be telling the victims that have lost confidence in her that you are more concerned with politics than with justice”.

Mr Sarwar said: “Angela Constance cannot remain in post having lied to the public and lost the confidence of survivors.”

He added: “This vote is a chance to reject the culture of cover-up this Government has presided over and put the national interest ahead of the party interest.”

The vote comes after documents made public by the Scottish Government, last week, revealed that Professor Alexis Jay, an expert who chaired a national inquiry into child sexual abuse, had contacted Ms Constance in September urging the Justice Secretary to clarify remarks she had made at Holyrood.

Facing calls for an inquiry to be established into grooming gangs in Scotland, Ms Constance had insisted then that Prof Jay agreed with her that such a probe was not needed.

However, the expert insisted afterwards that her comments had had “nothing to do” with the situation in Scotland.

After the issue was raised at First Minister’s Questions on Thursday, John Swinney insisted he had full confidence in his Justice Secretary.

He added that Ms Constance had been “making a general comment” on the situation when she made the remarks.

Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes also defended the Justice Secretary, saying on Friday: “The Angela Constance that I know and have worked with for many years is caring, she’s credible and she’s competent and, over the last few years in particular, she has done a huge amount of complex work in the justice system, putting victims at its very heart.”

With the correspondence between the Justice Secretary and Prof Jay having now been published, Ms Forbes added that she understood the expert to be “content with the process”.

However, Mr Sarwar said that Ms Constance had misled Parliament “on perhaps one of the most serious issues in her brief” and had then “repeatedly refused to correct the record”.

The Scottish Labour leader added: “It is a clear and indefensible breach of the ministerial code, made all the more appalling by the incredibly serious subject matter.

“If the Cabinet Secretary cannot be trusted to tell the truth on an issue as grave as child protection, then she cannot be trusted to do her job.

“Survivors of these heinous crimes need to have confidence that the issue is being handled with the necessary care and thought.

“The bare minimum they deserve is a Justice Secretary they can trust to tell the truth.

“Indeed, we all deserve a Justice Secretary who we can have confidence in and who can tackle the significant challenges facing our justice system.”

Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said: “The Justice Secretary misled Parliament and the country by twisting the views of Professor Jay and then ignoring repeated calls to correct the record – all to sustain the SNP’s Government’s illogical efforts to block a Scottish grooming gangs inquiry.”

As a result, she said: “Angela Constance’s position is untenable.

“Because she lacks the integrity to resign and John Swinney lacks the backbone to sack her, it falls to MSPs to do the right thing and make the First Minister see sense.”

The Tory insisted Ms Constance’s actions “mean she has lost the trust of victims”, adding that “that alone is reason for her to go”.

But a Scottish Greens spokesperson said that survivors of abuse “deserve so much better than this being turned into a party political issue”.

The spokesperson 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.

“A far better use of Parliament’s time would be for the Justice Secretary to answer questions and make a statement announcing 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.”