Scottish Parliament votes against probing Donald Trump finances

The SNP minister said any decision to seek an Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO) to allow detectives to explore how the former President was able to buy up golf courses must be for law enforcement. 

He was speaking in Holyrood on Wednesday as MSPs debated a Green Party motion demanding ministers go to the Court of Session to seek an investigation. 

That call was ultimately defeated, with SNP and Tory MSPs voting against.

READ MORE: Greens hit back after Eric Trump calls Patrick Harvie a 'national embarrassment'

Opening the debate, Patrick Harvie said there were questions over how the former President purchased his golf clubs in Balmedie in Aberdeenshire, and the flagship Turnberry in Ayrshire. 

Accounts filed with Companies House show that Trump’s courses  have run up losses of £55m and owe around £157m to US-based limited liability companies and trusts in the tycoon’s name.

Harvie told MSPs: “This is a story that goes back a long way, in previous chapters we saw two successive first ministers, Jack McConnell and Alex Salmond, actively courting the business interest of Donald Trump, despite knowing already what kind of character he was. 

He added: “Even before Trump's candidacy or presidency he was known around the world to be an untrustworthy, dishonest, racist, conspiracy theorist. This was never someone that we should have wanted to associate Scotland's good name with.” 

The Green MSP said legal advice obtained by campaign group Avaaz, showed that it was within the Scottish Government's power to apply for a UWO.

The orders aren't criminal procedures, rather just accounting investigations carried out by the Civil Recovery Unit (CRU).

Though if Trump's firm was unable to show where the money came from the Crown could then confiscate the properties under the Proceeds of Crime Act

“When it comes to individual criminal prosecutions it would be completely wrong for ministers to decide who should be prosecuted and who not,” Harvie said. “What we're talking about here is not a prosecution, what we're talking about here is merely going to court and asking for information to be provided.”

He said it was a “matter of political responsibility for the government.” 

Yousaf said he wouldn’t defend the ex-President, saying he was “exactly the type of person who would be the target” of Trump’s “racist and divisive policies if I was living in America.”

“However we rightly have a separation of the political and law enforcement,” he said.

“Just because I do not like someone, or indeed simply because something might be to my political advantage, I should not exercise any power that allows me to instigate an investigation or indeed law enforcement processes against such individuals.

“I would not do such a thing to somebody I like, that must also apply equally to those I do not like, and Donald Trump is at the top of that list. That would be an abuse of power, fundamentally, undermining our entire justice system.”

He said for the CRU to independently undertake an investigatory role it could not be subject to any form of political interference.

“To have a system of civil recovery under [the Proceeds of Crime Act] which could be influenced in individual cases by how well connected the person holding the assets is to government minister, or how disliked they are by a particular government, is not one which a society which respects and seeks to uphold the rule of law should aspire to.”

Tory MSP Liam Kerr hit out at the Greens for calling the debate: “We are in the middle of a pandemic that has taken a terrible toll on the people of Scotland Parliament needs to be 100% focused on our economic recovery and rebuilding Scotland, from this pandemic and we should be working together as I look forward to doing in the national interest to manage this crisis and rebuild our country.”

On Tuesday night, Eric Trump accused Harvie of being “nothing more than a national embarrassment with his pathetic antics that only serve himself and his political agenda.”

He also claimed the firm has “invested hundreds of millions of dollars into the Scottish economy” and “created thousands of jobs”.

Companies House records show neither has paid a penny in UK corporation tax, and together, employ 625 staff.

Speaking after the debate, Harvie said: “Given the legal advice clearly shows that it is for the First Minister and her government to seek an unexplained wealth order as a civil action, it’s very disappointing to see ministers pass the buck like this.

“Unfortunately, today's debate confirmed the Scottish Government remains unwilling to investigate Trump’s golf courses. 

“Scotland cannot be a country where anyone with the money can buy whatever land and property they want, no questions asked, and the Scottish Greens will continue to challenge vested interests that protect people like Trump rather than our communities.”

Scottish Labour MSP Colin Smyth said there were "clearly grounds for carrying out further investigations" of how Trump acquired Turnberry.

He said: “Trump has been an absentee owner of Turnberry since he bought it. And with financial losses year on year, the Trump Organisation has been as successful at running the resort as Trump was at being President.  

“However, we should not lose sight of the livelihoods of the workforce at the Turnberry resort, and the importance of it to the local economy. The staff deserve to work under a new and credible owner who could give them some long-term job security and who does not have so many questions surrounding their finances."