Opposition parties consider vote of no-confidence in Lord Advocate

James Wolffe QC

The move comes after the Scottish government refused to publish legal advice given to it by Mr Wolffe on the judicial review of its investigation into complaints against former first minister, Alex Salmond.

Scottish Conservative spokesman Murdo Fraser said the situation had “become an absolute farce”.

He said: “The committee and the Parliament should explore every option to force the government to release the legal advice that resulted in the loss of £500,000 of taxpayers’ money.

“Whoever is blocking the release of this advice – whether it’s the First Minister or the Lord Advocate – should explain to the public why they think these documents should remain secret and the government should go without scrutiny.

“This committee was set up in January 2019 and has been calling for evidence repeatedly throughout the course of the last nine months.”

Scottish Labour’s deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “It is becoming apparent that there may be competing interests in the government unable to decide between themselves whether to publish this material or not.”

A Scottish government spokesperson said: “The Deputy First Minister has clearly set out in his letter to the committee the detailed consideration that the government is giving to this issue and also the extensive steps that are being taken to secure the release of further documentation.”