Swinney stands by Constance in grooming gangs row

John Swinney has dismissed calls to sack Justice Secretary Angela Constance over claims she misled parliament in a row over a grooming gangs inquiry.

Opposition MSPs have accused Constance of misrepresenting UK grooming gangs expert Prof Alexis Jay when she said that the academic "did not support further inquiries" into child sexual abuse and exploitation.

The Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats are backing motions of no confidence in the minister.

While Constance has insisted she gave an accurate account of Prof Jay's views, her critics say newly published emails between the government and the academic show parliament was misled.

At First Minister's Questions, Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay said the justice secretary had "brazenly misrepresented a leading child abuse expert", while Labour leader Anas Sarwar accused her of a "clear" breach of the ministerial code.

Swinney defended Constance and said her comments about Prof Jay had been "clarified".

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

The justice secretary told MSPs, external that Prof Jay "shares my view and has put on the record and stated to the media that she does 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 she believed that Scottish ministers "should urgently take steps to establish reliable data about the nature and extent of child sexual exploitation by organised networks".

She also requested that her position was clarified.

The government issued a clarification in meeting notes, external last month that said Prof Jay's comments were "not related to the debate on the Victims Bill or the position in Scotland".

Constance has described her comments about the academic as "accurate".

At FMQs, Findlay called for Swinney to sack Constance and confirmed his party had lodged a motion of no confidence.

"The justice secretary misrepresented an expert then denied doing so when asked by journalists," he said.

"She failed to correct the record and she's not even apologised."

He told MSPs the minister had "twisted a statement about England to deny victims an inquiry here in Scotland".

Sarwar, who has tabled a separate motion of no confidence, accused Swinney of "defending the indefensible".

He told MSPs that Constance "has had repeated opportunities to apologise and correct the record but has failed to do so".

Scottish LibDem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton confirmed his party would back a no-confidence motion in the justice secretary.

He said: "After misrepresenting a respected expert, Angela Constance should have apologised to Professor Alexis Jay and been straight with Parliament.

"She didn't, so this is a mess of her own creation."

The Scottish Greens have said they will not back a no confidence vote.

A party statement said "protecting children from sexual abuse and securing justice for victims and survivors is our priority, as it should be for every MSP.

"The vote does neither of those, so we will not back it. Survivors deserve so much better than this being turned into a party political issue."

The statement called for the Constance to explain what additional steps the Scotish government is taking to safeguard children.

"They could start by publishing the long-delayed guidance for schools to teach children how to stay safe from sexual harms," it added.

Swinney told parliament that the justice secretary had made a "general comment" during the victims bill debate.

He said the government was taking forward the "essential work necessary" to decide whether a separate grooming gangs inquiry was required.

The first minister also told MSPs he did not want to "hinder" the work of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry, which he said may be able to look into grooming gangs in the next phase of its investigation.

He added that his government was working to "improve the lives of individuals who have suffered in the past as a consequence of abuse in the care of the state".

After FMQs, Swinney told journalists that he had examined how Constance had used the quote from Prof Jay and had decided there had not been a breach of the ministerial code.

Constance told reporters that her focus was on the justice system and to "serve victims".

She added that she had not offered to resign.

Although a no-confidence vote is non-binding, a minister would be expected to step down if a majority of MSPs backed the motion.

For Constance to lose, Conservative, Labour and LibDem MSPs would need to convince the Greens to vote with them.

There is no indication so far that the Greens would be willing to do so.

The Scottish government announced last week that there is to be a national review of the evidence on the operation of grooming gangs in Scotland.

It will be carried out by the Care Inspectorate, the Inspectorate of Constabulary and Education, and Healthcare Improvement Scotland - oversight bodies which are independent of the government.

The work will be overseen by an expert panel led by Prof Jay, who has also been appointed as the new chair of the Scottish government's national group on child sex abuse.

The expert panel advise ministers on the outcome of the review, which will inform a future decision on whether or not there should be a judge-led public inquiry.

Earlier this year, the UK government accepted the recommendations of a review for a national inquiry into child sexual exploitation in England and Wales.