Scotland’s justice secretary to face no confidence vote in grooming gangs row

Scotland’s justice secretary Angela Constance has survived a vote of no confidence at Holyrood.

Opposition parties had accused her of misrepresenting the position of a leading expert on grooming gangs, Prof Alexis Jay, and misleading parliament.

However, with the Greens voting with SNP MSPs to protect Constance, the motion was rejected by 67 votes to 57.

The first minister led her defence insisting that she was a “sincere” minister who was getting on with her job.

The issue came to a head rather spectacularly last Thursday, when both the Conservatives and Labour used First Minister’s Questions to attack Constance and urged the first minister to sack her.

Such calls were resisted by John Swinney, who insisted Prof Jay’s views have been clarified.

But his attempts to move the agenda onto discussing the substance of the issue of child sexual exploitation fell flat.

Swinney’s opponents argued that Constance was no longer trusted by survivors of grooming gangs, pointing to a statement issued by one alleged victim, known as Taylor, who described her position as “untenable”.

Taylor’s mother has described how her daughter was abused from the age of 13 while in care.

She said she was given alcohol and drugs, including vodka, crack cocaine and Valium, and that she was gang-raped and trafficked.

The controversy began in September, when Constance opposed a Conservative amendment to a victims bill calling for an inquiry into grooming gangs.

The justice secretary told MSPs that Prof Jay “did not support further inquiries” into child sexual abuse and exploitation.

However, emails released by the government show Prof Jay clarified in September that she made that comment “in the context of the England and Wales Public Inquiry on Child Sexual Abuse, which I chaired”.

She added: “It had nothing to do with [the Conservative] amendment, or the position in Scotland, as could be interpreted from your statement.”

The academic said Scottish ministers should collect “reliable data” about the problem and requested that her position be clarified.

The government issued a clarification in meeting notes last month but not in the Holyrood chamber.

Constance has described her comments about the academic as “accurate” – but opponents claim she is in breach of the ministerial code for failing to correct the record.

Ahead of the vote, Taylor’s mother wrote an open letter to MSPs – she said that seeing Prof Jay’s email led to Taylor “feeling that she can trust no one all because of this government’s inability to be truthful and transparent”.

Introducing the motion to the chamber, Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay said Constance’s conduct was “inexcusable” and said her position no longer tenable.

He added: “We can say that it’s acceptable for ministers to mislead and to cover up or we can say there should be reasonable consequences for doing so. This is about truth, this is about respect, this is about simple decency.”

In response, John Swinney said that the safety and wellbeing of children in Scotland was of “paramount importance” to all members.

He said, to much disagreement from the Tory benches, that Angela Constance was “making a general point” about Prof Jay’s “publicly stated views”.

Swinney said: “I acknowledge that members of parliament and members of the public will draw different conclusions from the words we all use.

“I know, and I would imagine most members know this too, that Angela Constance is a sincere minister who would never address parliament in a way that would in any way mislead parliament or the public.”

Supporting the motion, Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said victims and survivors of grooming gangs had lost confidence in the justice secretary.

He said Constance has had a number of opportunities to correct the record, but had failed to do so, adding: “This has now stopped being an error and become a matter of honesty and transparency.”

Sarwar has written to three independent advisers to the first minister, urging them to investigate whether Constance breached the ministerial code.

Scottish Greens co-leader Ross Greer said he was “profoundly sad” that the matter had come to the point of a no confidence vote – and that some had used the issue for political advantage.

He said: “We could have used this afternoon to put questions to the Scottish government about what additional action they are now taking to deliver justice for those who were failed and to stop the same thing from happening to children in the future.”

Jamie Greene, of the Scottish Lib Dems, said the matter was “as regrettable as it was avoidable”.

He said there had been “ample opportunity” for Constance to take ownership of her error, but said that “junior ministers have been put up to shield the flack”.

Though Constance has survived the no confidence vote, her broader handling of the issue of grooming gangs is also going to come under fierce scrutiny this week.

The row comes against the backdrop of ministers resisting calls for a public inquiry.

They’ve argued the current evidence doesn’t support one.

But alongside her call for clarification, emails from Prof Jay show it’s clear she believes urgent work is needed in this area.

She’s agreed to oversee a national review of grooming gangs in Scotland, and will be questioned by Holyrood’s education committee on Wednesday.

The committee convener Conservative MSP Douglas Ross has been criticised by SNP members over the timing of the invitation, accusing of him of abusing his position for his own political motives.

He says victims need answers as quickly as possible.

The meeting will provide the opposition with the chance to ask Prof Jay about the justice secretary’s representation of her views, but also and perhaps more importantly, about the extent of child abuse and exploitation in Scotland.

Constance herself will also appear before the committee. It’s an opportunity to quiz her directly, and quite how hard a time she receives will depend greatly on what Prof Jay tells MSPs.

Also on Wednesday, the Education Secretary Jenny Gilruth will make a statement setting out further steps the government is taking on tackling child abuse.

Ministers will hope that, by the time MSPs return in the new year, the focus will have moved away from the justice secretary’s future.

But opposition parties may have other ideas.