Scotland’s justice secretary has survived a vote of no confidence amid claims she misrepresented a leading expert on grooming gangs and therefore misled parliament.
MSP Angela Constance has ignored calls to stand down and has First Minister John Swinney’s full backing in the wake of comments she made about Professor Alexis Jay.
Mr Swinney led her defence, describing her as a “sincere minister” who was “getting on with the job of making Scotland safer”.
Both Scottish Labour and the Scottish Conservatives lodged motions of no confidence, with a debate held at Holyrood on Tuesday afternoon.
Scottish Labour, the Scottish Tories and the Scottish Liberal Democrats joined forces to vote against Ms Constance, but the motion failed due to the backing of the SNP and Scottish Greens.
First Minister John Swinney backs Justice Secretary Angela Constance amid threat of no confidence vote in grooming gangs row
Scarlett was 14 – groomed and trafficked in Manchester to be raped by dozens of men
Prey: Giving a voice to the survivors of grooming gangs
MSP Russell Findlay, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said: “Shameless SNP and Green MSPs put partisan politics before truth and integrity, to the understandable fury of grooming gang victims.
“To any reasonable person, Angela Constance’s position is untenable. She misled parliament by misrepresenting Professor Jay, tried to cover it up and then publicly lied after being caught.
“She twisted Professor Jay’s words to reject our calls for a Scottish grooming gangs inquiry and then failed to correct the record.
“It’s an open-and-shut case of a ministerial code breach for which she should lose her job.”
The row revolves around a comment made by Ms Constance as MSPs debated the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform (Scotland) Bill in September.
Amid a failed Scottish Conservative amendment for a public inquiry to be established into grooming gangs in Scotland, Ms Constance insisted Professor Jay agreed with her that such a probe was not needed.
However, emails made public by the Scottish government last week revealed the professor – who led the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham in 2014 – later contacted Ms Constance to say she would “appreciate” her position “being clarified”.
Professor Jay added that her comments quoted by Ms Constance had “nothing to do” with the situation in Scotland.
Read more: Scottish government orders review of grooming gangs evidence
Follow our channel and never miss an update
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said he supported the motion as “victims and survivors of grooming gangs and child sexual exploitation have lost confidence in this justice secretary”.
He added: “The justice secretary misrepresented Professor Jay’s views in order to find an excuse not to have an inquiry into grooming gangs.
“Victims and survivors should be able to rely on their justice system, and their government, to tell the truth, to act with integrity and to put them first.
“On this, the justice secretary has failed.”
👉 Listen to Sky News Daily on your podcast app 👈
During First Minister’s Questions last week, Mr Swinney claimed Ms Constance “was making a general comment” on the situation as he gave his justice secretary his full backing.
He reiterated his support for Ms Constance during the debate, saying: “The cabinet secretary in the debate in September did not state that Professor Jay was speaking directly about the amendment.
“She made a general point drawing on the publicly stated views of Professor Jay.
“But I acknowledge that members of parliament and members of the public will draw different conclusions from the words we all use.”
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
Mr Swinney described Ms Constance as a “sincere minister who would never address parliament in a way that would in any way mislead parliament or the public”.
The first minister added: “She’s never shied away from asking tough questions about our approach to justice.
“Nor has she ever avoided tackling some of the biggest issues that we face.
“For these reasons, Angela Constance has my full confidence as justice secretary.
“She’s getting on with the job of making Scotland safer, and I urge members to enable her to continue doing that by rejecting this motion today.”
The motion was defeated by 57 votes to 67, with one abstention
