Jackie Baillie

I'm delighted for him that he'll be in the House of Lords, that he'll be a minister in the UK Government.

But when an offer comes from the Prime Minister to go and serve in Government, it's an offer you really can't refuse.

This is about rewarding talent.

John Swinney and the SNP need to stop running scared and come clean about these allegations and back a full financial audit of the accounts.

They have so far dug their heels in on the issue of an inquiry, but they still have a final chance to do the right thing, back the motion and allow the Scottish Parliament to hold an inquiry.

It is without doubt that there are still significant and serious questions to be answered about Peter Murrell’s criminal activity and the SNP culture that enabled it to happen.

The internal workings of the SNP should be considered by them and should be considered by the Electoral Commission, but the reality is there are questions in relation to the length and cost of the police investigation.

If an inquiry is set up, we will of course take part.

The Greens amendment that they moved is literally a smokescreen and a place, if you like, that affords cover for the SNP.

The reality is, this is probably one of the biggest scandals that I have witnessed in Scotland in the Scottish Parliament, and it doesn’t just impact on the SNP, it impacts on all our politicians, because the lack of trust that the public…

This is about, as far as the Government and the SNP are concerned, sweeping things under the carpet, nothing to see here, we have just to trust them.

The SNP must act with urgency to improve maternity and neonatal care in Glasgow and across Scotland.

It is crucial that families get the answers they deserve.

These shocking figures show maternity and neonatal services in Glasgow are under a dangerous amount of pressure.

Scotland deserves answers and I hope on Wednesday MSPs across the chamber will back transparency over cover-up by voting for Scottish Labour’s motion.

If John Swinney has nothing to hide, he should welcome the chance to get answers on this sordid affair – but for some reason he is determined to try and dodge scrutiny.

This is a matter of trust and integrity in politics and public life.

Questions are piling up about the circumstances surrounding Peter Murrell’s crime spree and with public money potentially misused, John Swinney’s ‘nothing to see here’ act is becoming increasingly untenable.

John Swinney has now admitted that it became part of the SNP’s general resources.

If Peter Murrell is now in a position to pay back legal aid, he should do so.

The cheek of a man on his income, with his lifestyle and with a holiday home in Portugal, pleading poverty to exploit a legal aid system his party has hollowed out while in government is not only staggering but is a slap in the face to…

This is a national scandal. Not only has Peter Murrell scammed SNP members, independence supporters, and potentially taxpayers, but now it seems he has scammed the legal aid system.

This damning analysis lays bare the disastrous scale of the crisis in our NHS under the SNP.