SNP minister accused of using trips on taxpayers’ money to promote independence

A SNP minister has been accused of using a series of taxpayer-funded foreign trips to promote independence and tell foreign leaders about the “poor oppressed people of Scotland”.

Angus Robertson styled himself the “foreign secretary of Scotland” and discussed his party’s independence plans during overseas visits. it was claimed during a House of Lords debate.

Lord Offord of Garvel alleged the MSP had used a visit with Katrin Jakobsdottir, the prime minister of Iceland, to bemoan the plight of “the poor people of Scotland” who have been “oppressed” and robbed of their “freedom”.

He told fellow peers: “The constitution is a reserved matter – as the Supreme Court has made very clear – so Scottish Ministers should not raise the issue when meeting foreign governments.”

Within Holyrood, Mr Robertson has been reportedly dubbed ‘Air Miles Angus’, in reference to his high number of trips this year.

Last week Mr Robertson, who serves as the Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture, told business leaders during a SNP conference he planned to champion independence worldwide if a referendum next year was blocked, the Mail on Sunday reported.

While promoting Scottish trade and culture overseas lies within his remit, using his official position to promote the SNP’s drive for independence could constitute an unlawful use of taxpayer’s funds.

His week-long trip to North America last spring is estimated to have cost taxpayers more than £12,000.

In August, he was in Slovenia to speak at a human rights conference.

Two months later, he visited Paris to unveil a plaque to Scottish soldiers with Patricia Miralles, French veterans minister.

Exaggerating titles

Following his meeting with Ms Jakobsdottir he hosted Italian and Spanish diplomats in Edinburgh, while in November he flew to Madrid where he posed for a photo at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

On Sunday,  Labour peer Lord Foulkes claimed Mr Robertson, who had posted a photograph of himself on Twitter after arriving in Berlin, has made a habit of exaggerating his title on trips abroad.

Lord Foulkes, who was in the city himself last week on a European Affairs Committee visit, told the Mail on Sunday: “I was over in Berlin and they [German politicians] said Angus Robertson is coming over next week as the ‘Scottish foreign affairs minister’, which is quite ridiculous.

“The UK Government has to say, “hang on, this is improper”, and find some way of stopping it. Has he been passing himself off as something grander than his actual title? Very much so.

“They [the Germans] made it clear, he says he’s effectively a foreign minister like James Cleverly. He’s abroad almost every week doing this. This pretence that Scotland is a colony is nonsense.”

A spokesman for Mr Robertson said: “The comments in this House of Lords debate inadvertently reveal that the UK Government’s denial of democracy in Scotland is now becoming an issue for them on overseas visits. This is a deeply embarrassing position for them to be in.”