Tories accuse Gilruth of breaching ministerial rules over rail works

The Conservatives have accused Jenny Gilruth of breaching the ministerial code by delaying rail works in order to benefit her constituents while she was transport minister.

However, Humza Yousaf said the Tories were “throwing mud” and maintained her decisions were made to benefit the whole rail network.

The row centres on proposed line electrification work between Edinburgh Haymarket and Dalmeny in West Lothian, which would have caused eight days of disruption from Boxing Day last year.

Ms Gilruth, who represents Mid Fife and Glenrothes as an MSP and is now Education Secretary, asked for the works to be postponed.

The Tories say officials told the Government this would lead to an extra £1 million in cost and cause disruption to 9,000 passengers a day due to the work taking place at non-holiday times.

The work has still not been carried out.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross raised the issue at First Minister’s Questions, saying Ms Gilruth “appears to have forced a change in order to give preferential treatment to her constituents at a higher cost to taxpayers and far more disruption to passengers”.

The First Minister said Mr Ross was making “very serious accusations indeed” and there would be an “appropriate investigation”.

However, he said the situation was not as Mr Ross described, saying the decision was made for the “correct reasons” in order to benefit the “entire network”.

Mr Ross held up pages of emails received under freedom of information rules.

ScotRail officials told the Government the changes would lead to “greater cost, with more customers disrupted or inconvenienced with the revised access plan”, he said.

Mr Yousaf said the works would have led to disruption further afield than Fife and Ms Gilruth had said she wanted more done to avoid more delays on the rail network over the festive period.

Mr Ross said: “She should not even have been involved in this decision, she should have recused herself because of the clear potential for a conflict of interest.”

He suggested the “political interference” forced Chris Gibb to resign as chief executive of ScotRail Holdings.

Ms Gilruth’s decision led to a poorer service, he said, and “looks like a clear breach of the ministerial code”.

Mr Yousaf said: “What (Mr Ross) is hoping to do, because he is undoubtedly desperate, is throwing as much mud as possible and hoping that some of it sticks.”

The First Minister said Mr Ross was being “selective” in his reading of the emails.

He said it was “pretty clear” that Ms Gilruth made the decision to minimise disruption for passengers across the network.

The Scottish Conservative leader later said he had written to the First Minister to formally request an investigation.

Mr Ross said he was “concerned that the First Minister has already pre-judged the outcome of the investigation he’s agreed to hold”.