War of words breaks out over block to formation of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee

Last night, the Liberal Democrats denounced the “petty bickerings” of both the Nationalists and the Tories with Wendy Chamberlain, their MP for North East Fife, expressing "frustration and disappointment" at the stalemate.

The saga goes back several weeks when the re-formation of committees began after the General Election. Usually, they are formed in proportion to the constituencies won at the election, meaning that the Conservatives, who secured an 80-seat majority, would have the most seats on all of them.

However, the SNP pointed out how, in recent years, to reflect the election result in Scotland, the SNP had received more seats on the Scottish committee and was disappointed when this did not happen again after the December poll.

The ruling Conservative Party proposed that it should have most of the committee members, five - one more than it had before the 2019 election - with the SNP having three, Labour two and the Liberal Democrats one.

The Nationalists opposed the proposal “on principle” – given they had won 80 per cent of Scottish MPs – and, consequently, before the Easter recess blocked the parliamentary motion establishing the committee.

However, in light of the coronavirus outbreak and the urgent need to scrutinise both governments’ actions in relation to it, this newspaper revealed last week that the SNP had “very reluctantly” dropped its opposition to the formation of the committee.

Pete Wishart, the Nationalist Chairman of the committee, told The Herald that through the “usual channels” ie the party whips an agreement had been reached to push a new motion through the House as it resumed on Tuesday but, at the last minute, the Government blocked it.

“They withdrew it without an explanation. We are a little bit mystified. They seem to be punishing us for objecting. But you can’t play games in the middle of a pandemic. People are dying,” declared Mr Wishart, who insisted it was imperative that MPs could scrutinise ministers at such a very important time.

He said it had been suggested a new motion to re-form the committee would not come until electronic voting was introduced. But this could be months away. “We are in limbo,” added the Perth MP, who pointed out that the Scottish committee was the only one not to have been formed.

There had been plans to call Matt Hancock, the UK Health Secretary, and Jeane Freeman, the Scottish Health Secretary, to give evidence to the committee but this prospect now looks months away.

However, a source close to Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Commons Leader, said: "It's a pity the SNP objected to the formation of the Scottish Affairs Committee when the motion was brought to the House before recess.

"It is unfortunate that as a result there has been a delay to getting its work under way. It had originally been intended the motion to establish the committee would be debated this week; however, that was not possible owing to the necessary changes to business. It remains the Government's intention to bring back the motion as soon as practicable."

Another Government insider told The Herald that the Tories had offered to give up one of their seats on the committee to the SNP but still it had objected to its re-formation. “If anyone is playing games with this, it’s the SNP,” he added.

Ms Chamberlain claimed the dispute between the SNP and the Conservatives was borne out of a lack of trust.

She declared: “These petty bickerings are preventing us making progress. We are in the middle of a pandemic and MPs across the political spectrum must put their disagreements to one side so we can get on with our job."

The backbencher added: "It's a huge privilege to have been nominated for this committee and I want to get on with the job. I urge other members to put aside their differences and focus on what matters. The Government must break this deadlock and bring back the motion."