John Swinney expresses confidence in Neil Gray after his apology over misleading Parliament about football match meetings
Edinburgh: So, John Swinney is standing by Neil Gray. This comes after Gray had to apologize to the Scottish Parliament. He messed up when he said there were official summaries of his meetings at football matches.
Gray took some heat for using government cars to attend games for Aberdeen and the Scotland national team. It turns out there’s no record of what he discussed at the 2023 Scottish League Cup Final.
He had to say sorry for giving the impression he was more of a fan than a minister. In Parliament, he admitted he made a mistake about the summaries and that he didn’t follow the rules to correct his statement in time.
Swinney backed him up, saying the main issue hasn’t changed. He noted that Gray just had a slip in one of his answers. When asked if he still trusts Gray, Swinney said, “Yes, of course I do.”
Gray also mentioned he would check on the summaries he promised. He realized he was wrong and apologized for the error. He’s now looking for guidance on how to fix the situation.
He attended nine matches using a government limo, taking family or guests along. He reassured everyone that these weren’t just fun trips and that there were supposed to be records of his meetings.
