Gray must explain to Holyrood why he was chauffeured to football games – Tories
The Health Secretary must deliver a statement to the Scottish Parliament explaining why he was chauffeured to football games in a ministerial car, the Scottish Tories have said.
Deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said the SNP’s “shoddy excuses” in defence of Neil Gray made the row look like “another Michael Matheson affair”.
Mr Gray is facing criticism after it was reported that he was chauffeured to Hampden to watch three Aberdeen games.
Those include the Aberdeen v Hibernian match for the semi-final of the League Cup and the final against Rangers last year, as well as the semi-final of the Scottish Cup against Celtic this year.
The Scottish Tories urged Mr Gray to explain himself to MSPs, but the SNP described accused the Tories of “faux outrage”.
Ms Hamilton said: “What is it with SNP health secretaries and claiming taxpayer funds to watch the football?
“The SNP’s shoddy excuses are making Neil Gray’s chauffeur scandal look a lot like the Michael Matheson affair.”
Mr Gray took over from Mr Matheson earlier this year following an expenses row.
He repaid the costs after the story broke but later quit in light of a critical report by Holyrood officials which found he breached Parliament’s expenses policy.
Ms Hamilton accused the SNP of “secrecy and hypocrisy” after previously criticising Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Cabinet for accepting freebies.
“The SNP hammered Labour politicians for accepting donations for high-end clothes and all sorts of gifts, yet they don’t say much when it’s one of their own.
“Neil Gray must explain the full facts of what he’s done to the Scottish Parliament and let the public judge for themselves.
“People deserve transparency or they will lose even more trust in SNP politicians.
Earlier on Monday, the Net Zero Secretary had defended her Cabinet colleague, saying he was “doing his job” while attending the games.
Gillian Martin said Mr Gray would not have been allowed to use the car if it was not for official reasons.
She told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “It’s my understanding that Neil Gray was doing his job as the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport.
“It seems to be that he has done visits in line with his Government duties and in line with his responsibilities for sport.
“So he would use a ministerial car to get to somewhere where he was doing a ministerial event and that’s pretty standard.”
Questioned on why the three visits were to watch Aberdeen, the team Mr Gray supports, Ms Martin said: “That’s a question for him”.
“I obviously don’t know anyone’s football preferences,” she said.
“If he goes to see Aberdeen as part of a ministerial visit, then that’s obviously something that he has done and then aligned with the ministerial code.”
Ms Martin, who is in Baku, Azerbaijan, for the Cop29 climate conference, said it was the first time she had heard about issues being raised about ministerial car use.
She added: “The fact of the matter is you wouldn’t get a ministerial car unless there was a ministerial visit attached to that.
“And that’s just the fact. You would not be able to arrange a ministerial car unless it was ministerial business.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “The Scottish Government places great importance on the success of Scottish sporting events.
“Not only do they bring significant economic benefits, but they are also a key driver of improving the health and wellbeing of our citizens.
“As the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, Mr Gray attends a number of sporting events such as golf, football and athletics to support workers and players.
“In the past, he has used such visits to announce and promote a number of initiatives, such as the Changing Rooms Extra Time mental health programme.
“Ministers attending events in a ministerial capacity are entitled to use government transport.
“All travel costs are in accordance with travel and subsistence policies to ensure we deliver the best value for money possible for the Scottish public.”
An SNP spokesman said: “This faux outrage from the Tories would have more credibility were it not for the fact that they themselves have repeatedly attended sporting events in their MSP capacity.
“No doubt they did so because they agree with us that it is very important for elected representatives to support Scotland’s thriving sporting events.”