Tories demand Constance either quit or be sacked as Scotland’s Justice Secretary

Tories have demanded Angela Constance either resign as Scotland’s Justice Secretary or be sacked, as they accused her of both misleading Holyrood and misrepresenting an expert on grooming gangs.

Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay and fellow Tory MSP Douglas Ross hit out after it emerged that Professor Alexis Jay had told Ms Constance back in September that she would “appreciate” her position “being clarified”.

Insisting the matter was a test of leadership for First Minister John Swinney, Tories said those remarks showed the Justice Secretary had misled Parliament  when she had claimed previously the independent expert did not support the establishment of an inquiry into grooming gangs in Scotland.

Mr Findlay said the Scottish Government had been “shamed” into releasing correspondence between Prof Jay, who led the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham in Rotherham in 2014, and Ms Constance.

Adding that this “confirms that the Cabinet Secretary misrepresented Professor Jay”, the Scottish Tory leader demanded to know if the Justice Secretary had offered her resignation.

Mr Ross, meanwhile, said: “Ministers have not been truthful, they have had to be dragged to this chamber to provide information they have been sitting on, not just for weeks, but for months.”

He added: “This goes right to the very top, to John Swinney.

“And this is now a test of his leadership.”

The Tory argued that the newly released papers “make very clear” that Ms Constance “misled Parliament”.

The correspondence, released by the Scottish Government on Wednesday evening, confirmed the Justice Secretary had correctly quoted the expert as saying “people should just get on with it” when it comes to acting to tackle child sexual exploitation.

Ms Constance had used these comments as she rejected Tory calls for the Victims, Witnesses and Justice Reform Bill to be amended to require a Scottish inquiry into grooming gangs be held.

But Prof Jay made clear to the the Justice Secretary that she had “expressed no views” on the Conservative amendment that had sought to force an inquiry.

Ms Don-Innes confirmed to MSPs the expert’s quote was from January this year and was “not made in relation to the amendment of the Victims Bill”.

The minister continued: “Ms Constance did not state that Professor Jay was speaking directly about the amendment, she made a general point on Professor Jay’s views on calls for inquiries and that she also wanted to get on with the work needed to protect our children.

“And, given the seriousness of the issue at hand, I think that should be all of our focus.”

Mr Ross, however, said the correspondence showed that “it is clear that the Justice Secretary did not tell the truth to this chamber”.

He added: “In black and white it is clear that Professor Alexis Jay wanted that correction to be made.”

With Ms Constance not present in Holyrood’s chamber, Mr Ross demanded: “Where is the Justice Secretary, why is she not here?”

With Ms Don-Innes answering questions on the matter from MSPs, he then asked: “Does the minister believe, as I think most people will now, that the Justice Secretary’s position is untenable – she should resign tonight or be sacked.”

Ms Don-Innes insisted it was time to “draw a line” under what had happened and “focus on the serious work ahead in relation to this most important issue”.

The Scottish Government, last week, announced Prof Jay will lead a national review of evidence on the operation of grooming gangs in Scotland – with this work then to be used when considering if there should be a judge-led public inquiry.