Scottish Tory leader defends Alister Jack over election bets, one of which won him £100
Douglas Ross has defended Alister Jack for placing bets on the timing of the general election, saying the Scottish Secretary had “no prior knowledge” of the date.
The outgoing Scottish Tory leader said he had spoken to Mr Jack about the bets but his colleague was not among the 15 Tories being investigated by the Gambling Commission.
Mr Ross said the Mr Jack had made it “very clear” that he had had no influence over Rishi Sunak’s surprise decision to call a July election.
Speaking after First Minister’s Questions before Holyrood’s summer recess, he also dismissed a question over whether Mr Jack should be awarded a peerage, which is expected to be confirmed after the election.
Mr Jack has admitted placing three bets on the date of the election, making him the first Cabinet minister to be embroiled in the scandal.
But he has denied breaking betting rules, saying the wagers were placed in March and April. Mr Sunak did not announce an election until May 22.
The bet he placed in April was successful. The former Dumfries and Galloway MP wagered £20 at 5-1 that the election would be called between July and September.
Mr Ross said the period in which Mr Jack placed his bets was not being investigated by the Gambling Commission and his actions were not part of the inquiry.
He said the Scottish Secretary had been “very clear he had no prior knowledge”, adding: “Alister has been an outstanding Secretary of State for Scotland and I think people across the country can see the benefit we have had by having such an outstanding individual in that office in the UK Government.”
Mr Jack was nominated for a peerage in Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list but ruled out triggering a by-election by accepting it.
However, he has stood down as an MP and it is expected he will join the Lords after the election.
Mr Ross rejected a question over whether his election bets had placed this in jeopardy, saying that there was no offer of a peerage on the table for Mr Jack at present.
But John Swinney, the First Minister, said: “There’s no way he should be going to the House of Lords, absolutely no way.
“Because he has taken information he has gleaned from around the Cabinet table and then gone off to the bookies.
“It is just so totally and utterly unethical, an individual that can do that is unfit to be a lawmaker in the United Kingdom.”
Mr Ross also confirmed that First Minister’s Questions was the last time he would cross-examine Mr Swinney as Scottish Tory leader.
He said he would tender his resignation after the general election, with his successor expected to be in place by the time Holyrood reconvenes in September.
Mr Ross challenged Mr Swinney on the SNP’s record of record NHS waiting lists and rising drug and alcohol deaths, combined with lower life expectancy and Scotland falling down international education rankings.
But Mr Swinney said there could be a “lagged effect from decades ago of urban planning, policy decisions and the 1980s, economic changes” which had then “translated into people’s alcohol deaths a decade or two decades later”.
The First Minister said: “I simply put that evidence to Parliament because we have to understand the consequences of the devastation wreaked on our country by the policies of Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government.”
Mr Ross accused Mr Swinney of “blaming the failures here in Scotland now to a period before I was even born and apparently it has nothing to do with the 17 years the SNP have been in charge here in Scotland”.
