A SENIOR Scottish Conservative MSP made a “mistake” in posting false information about Scottish Government spending on an independence referendum, according to his party.
Stephen Kerr, MSP for the Central Scotland region and chief whip at Holyrood, suggested on Twitter that the Scottish Government has set aside £350 million for indyref2 planning.
READ MORE: Westminster poll predicts SNP to win every seat in Scotland at General Election
He posted the claim in a tweet showing a decrease in the percentage of Scotland’s primary pupils achieved expected levels for reading, writing, listening and talking, literacy and numeracy – implying that money is being spent in the wrong areas.
However, the £350m cited by Kerr has not been allocated to preparing for a referendum. Some £349.5m was given to Constitution, External Affairs and Culture Secretary Angus Robertson in last week’s Budget, and indyref planning is a part of his brief.
The Budget was not explicit in its allocation of indyref2 planning funding to Robertson, stating solely: “We will continue to demonstrate our commitment to EU values, our alignment with EU policy priorities, and make the necessary preparations for a Scottish referendum and subsequently for re-joining the EU as an independent member state.”
READ MORE: UK's response to Afghanistan crisis criticised as Taliban brand those who helped 'dogs'
Of the £350m allocated to Robertson’s department, £176.6m will go to culture and events, £30.6m to external affairs, £55.9m to Historic Environment Scotland, £63.3m to the National Records of Scotland and £23.1m for Covid-19 funding.
Asked if Kerr would be correcting his claim about independence planning, a spokesperson for the Scottish Conservatives told The National: “This was a mistake and the tweet has now been deleted.”
A spokesperson for the SNP told The National that Kerr is "consistently wrong".
"From the moment he arrived at Holyrood he has tried to import the worst elements of the bullying and boorish behaviour of his Westminster Tory colleagues," they said.
“While he desperately tries to create grievance based on false information, the contrast between the Scottish Government and the UK Tory government at Westminster could not be more stark.
READ MORE: FMQs: Stephen Kerr scolded for shouting at Nicola Sturgeon in the Chamber
“While the First Minister previously paused all government work on independence to focus entirely on covid, we know because of a damning national Audit Office that the Tories sacrificed pandemic planning to concentrate on their Brexit obsession – a decision that will have cost lives to have been lost unnecessarily. That is unforgivable.
“Stephen Kerr would be better advised to expend some effort in telling his party bosses to get a grip and fully protect businesses and people against omicron rather than embarrassing himself with tweets he has to hastily delete.”
The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel