No probe into claims Swinney misled Holyrood

Image source, PA MediaImage caption, John Swinney confirmed he would not be investigated over allegations he misled parliament

The first minister will not be investigated over allegations he breached the ministerial code by misleading parliament during an exchange over pensions.

John Swinney said independent advisers have found no probe is necessary following his claim at first minister's questions that people would "lose their pensions" if the UK government's plan to reform the triple lock went ahead.

Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay had accused Swinney of "scaremongering" over the comments, and urged the first minister to correct the official record.

However, Swinney said he now "considered the matter closed" following the advisers' decision.

Swinney wrote to Presiding Officer Kenneth Gibson to confirm the independent advisers' decision.

He said he had been "unambiguously clear" the loss to pensioners was estimated to be "£2,000 in real terms as compared to the triple lock remaining in place".

Swinney defends claims about Scots 'losing' pensions

Published5 days agoSwinney said opposition MSPs had "focused on a single sentence" during the session on 6 October.

Speaking in the chamber, he said: "We have been taken out of the European Union and we are now going to lose our pensions."

Findlay, among other MSPs, had called for the independent advisers to investigate, describing Swinney's claims as "peddling flagrant misinformation".

The first minister referred himself to the panel of three advisers after those comments, but in his letter to Gibson said it had been determined "no investigation was required".

Image source, PA MediaImage caption, Russell Findlay claimed John Swinney had breached the ministerial code

The triple lock, introduced in 2011, guarantees the UK state pension increases every year in line with whichever is the highest of inflation, average wages, or 2.5%.

In his speech at the Labour party's conference, prime minister Andy Burnham said he would look to "adjust" that calculation after the next general election.

Under his proposals pensions would rise in line with the highest of inflation or 2.5%, with the aim of cutting spending on pensions by £15bn a year by the end of the 2030s.

Findlay said: "John Swinney misled Parliament and he knows it.

"He should set the record straight instead of crowing that he has supposedly not breached the ministerial code."

The independent advisers are effectively the ethics watchdogs for Scottish ministers.

They advise the first minister on whether the ministerial code has been breached and recommend what sanctions can be applied if that is found to have happened.

Previously, they could only launch investigations if referred by the first minister, but that changed in December 2024 after a revised version of the code was published.

The advisers now have the power to start inquiries into rule breaches without the first minister's direction.

The current panel is made up of Claire Loftus, Ireland's former director of public prosecutions, ex-Cabinet Office permanent secretary Sir John Manzoni, and Sir Ernest Ryder, former lord justice of appeal and senior president of tribunals.