Sturgeon - Judge and Jury

The First Minister is the sole arbiter, both judge and jury, as to whether other Scottish Ministers have broken the ministerial code - so it’s a nonsense procedure which lacks independence and integrity

— Mark Irvine (@Mark1957) May 30, 2022

I complained to Nicola Sturgeon about the outrageous behaviour of one of her ministers (Christina McKelvie) who made a false and misleading claim on social media during a ScotGov consultation on gender recognition.  

The answer I received was shocking because it is clearly absurd to argue that Scottish Ministers can say whatever they damn well please on social media, so long as they use a personal account.

Yet that is the highly partisan stance of Scotland's First Minister who is judge and jury in her own cause when it comes to breaches of the ministerial code - there is no independent arbiter involved in the process.   

Scottish Ministers - Abusing Social Media (August 05, 2021)

So the First Minister's response to my complaint about Christina McKelvie is that her ministers can say whatever they like on social media - no matter how false, mendacious or misleading - so long as they use a personal rather than an official government account.

Now I fail to see what difference a personal account makes, particularly when the SNP are so fond of complaining about how others behave in public - I can't imagine a UK minister being let off the hook in this way, for example. 

In which case how can Scottish Ministers be given a 'get out of jail free card' when their comments relate directly to government policy and/or official business?

Christina McKelvie's Twitter public comments certainly fall into this category and, to my mind, there is no excuse for a highly paid public servant to be publicly campaigning in such an irresponsible, partisan manner on social media.

I am going to think carefully before deciding what to do next because this is about good government, integrity and leadership - qualities which are all noticeably missing from the First Minister's response. 

  

Scottish Ministers and Social Media (July 30, 2021)

I've written to the First Minister about the behaviour of one of her colleagues, Christina McKelvie, on Twitter.

Seems that Scottish Ministers can't have their cake and eat it at the same time - they must be held accountable for their behaviour on personal social media accounts.

Dear First Minister 

Scottish Government - Christina McKelvie, Minister for Older People and Equalities

I wish to make a formal complaint regarding the conduct of Christina McKelvie, the Scottish Government's Minister for Older People and Equalities, on social media. 

On 15 February 2021 Ms McKelvie published the following false public statement on Twitter:

"Sorry but TWAW (Trans Women Are Women) is actually the law so no false equivalence"

In my view, Ms McKelvie's conduct is a serious breach of the Scottish Government Ministerial Code for the following reasons.

Firstly, the Minister's tweet is completely untrue because the statement that 'Trans Women Are Women' does not, of course, represent the law in Scotland.  

Secondly, the Minister is straying into territory way beyond her own area of responsibility and the Minister ought to have checked her facts with senior Scottish Government law officers before making this untrue and highly misleading public statement.

I realise this statement was made from Christina McKelvie's personal Twitter account, but this simply highlights an obvious problem if individual ministers mistakenly think that they are free to say whatever they like on social media, without being held to account for their actions.

I disagree profoundly that Scottish Ministers can behave in this way and believe it is reasonable to expect a certain level of intelligence and sound judgment from highly paid individuals who ought to know better drawing, as they do, generous salaries worth over £100,000 a year from the public purse. 

In my view, the Ministerial Code applies at all times and Ministers cannot be allowed to simply sidestep the requirements of the code by ensuring that any inappropriate conduct or bad behaviour takes place via their personal Twitter accounts.  

I am happy to discuss my complaint further if you decide to refer this matter to the independent advisers on the Ministerial Code in which case I can be contacted on the following mobile phone number.

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Kind regards

Mark Irvine