IT was going to be the scandal that dogged the SNP throughout the recent General Election campaign, and BBC Scotland and the anti-independence press – which is to say all of it except this newspaper – were gearing themselves up for weeks of Swinney must answer style headlines, and who knew, maybe Police Scotland could have been persuaded to pitch a murder tent on some SNP MSP's lawn.

It was alleged that SNP MSPs used stamps bought with public money to aid its General Election campaign, which is against the rules of the Scottish Parliament.

The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) launched an inquiry last month after WhatsApp messages among senior staff working for SNP MSPs came to light appearing to suggest that stamps paid for by MSPs' expenses were being used to aid the party's campaigning ahead of the Westminster General Election on July 4.

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The SPCB investigation found that all those under scrutiny cooperated fully with the investigation and on Wednesday said that it had found no evidence to suggest that any stamps had been misused. A spokesperson for the SPCB said in a statement: “Following a thorough investigation, officials have found no evidence that stamps were used inappropriately. Therefore, no further action is required.”

The SNP group said: “We welcome the decision by the cross-party MSPs on the Parliamentary Corporate Body that there was no evidence of any misuse of parliamentary resources and that no further action should be taken.

“It is extremely disappointing that obviously light-hearted comments were deliberately taken out of context in an attempt to smear individuals and cause damage during an election campaign.”

Never mind, there will be another ferry story along shortly.

Meanwhile, Anas Sarwar – who has been so invisible of late that he's achieved mythical status, like a duplicitous version of the Loch Ness Monster – has finally come out of hiding. The mythical leader of the equally mythical “Scottish Labour Party” has decided at long last to put the rumours to rest and to prove that he does in fact exist, which is more than can be said for his “party”.

Sarwar held a press conference today. Interestingly enough, reporters from this newspaper were not invited, and The National was not informed in advance that the event was going to take place, as is standard practice.

The press office of political parties typically informs media outlets in advance when a press conference is due to take place so that the media organisation can ensure that a reporter is able to attend and will not be tied up with other duties.

This was Sarwar's first press conference since the General Election, after the Commons voted to retain the two-child cap on benefits and Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that she is scrapping the universal Winter Fuel Payment for all pensioners.

She also announced the cancellation of a number of capital expenditure projects, such as road improvements and new hospitals. There are also reports that the next budget will contain tax rises despite Labour's pre-election promise that there would be none.

These measures are being introduced to tackle a £22 billion shortfall in public finances, although when John Swinney and Stephen Flynn warned during the election campaign of a multi-billion black hole in public finances, Labour accused them of scaremongering.

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During a Scottish leaders' debate on BBC Scotland prior to the election when he was questioned about the shortfall in public finances, Sarwar said: “Read my lips. No austerity under Labour.”

Refusing to lift the abhorrent two-child benefit cap on the grounds of cost, slashing payments to pensioners on low incomes, and axing vital infrastructure projects sure looks like austerity to me.

The failure of Sarwar's staff to inform The National of this press event comes despite the fact that he personally promised the editor of this newspaper that he would ensure that The National was included in Labour's press releases. Was he lying? It couldn't be that he's hiding from scrutiny and tough questions now, could it?

He's quite happy to deal with BBC Scotland or the Labour supporting Daily Record, whose former Westminster editor Torcuil Crichton is now a Labour MP. He knows that they won't press him on difficult issues like the two-child benefit cap, which he insisted he's opposed to.

None of this comes as any great surprise. It is very much typical of the arrogant and entitled behaviour of the Labour Party in Scotland, which doesn't do press scrutiny.

Many years ago, when I had fully functioning limbs but still as little hair as I currently do, I was one of the editorial staff on Newsnet Scotland, the pro-independence digital news and current affairs outlet which was at the vanguard of Scotland's nascent pro-independence media.

This was back during Alex Salmond's first – minority – government. All the pro-independence parties were happy to include Newsnet Scotland in their press releases, the Lib Dems included Newsnet Scotland too.

After some initial back and forth, even the Scottish Tories would occasionally send us some press releases, but despite numerous and repeated attempts the press office of the Labour Party in Scotland refused to respond to any of our emails or calls.

The Labour Party in Scotland expects the media to report favourably on it, and given the revolving door between the anti-independence Scottish media and the Labour Party, that is exactly what happens.

BBC Scotland's recent “look over there” attitude to the failure of Labour MPs from Scotland to vote against the two child benefit cap is very much part of a long established pattern.