Orcadian politician embroiled in ‘chauffeur scandal’ claims

An Orcadian politician has been accused by his opponents of “using taxpayers money” to attend a football match.

Health secretary Neil Gray faces allegations that he was chauffeured to Hampden Park for matches featuring the team he supports, Aberdeen, on the public purse.

The Scottish Government has refuted that its official transport has been misused. It has stressed that Mr Gray is entitled to use ministerial transport when attending them in an official capacity.

This comes after the Scottish Conservatives demanded a statement from Mr Gray, who originally hails from Burray. Their deputy leader, Rachael Hamilton, has compared the situation to the “Michael Matheson affair” in which a minister racked up a five-figure bill for internet data on his parliamentary iPad.

Branding this a “chauffeur scandal”, Ms Hamilton has said the health secretary should be “using taxpayers’ money to reduced NHS waiting lists, not cut the cost of following his football team.”  

The Scottish Conservatives have shared further claims that SNP politicians used ministerial cars to attend sports games, including rural secretary Mairi Gougeon, community safety minister Siobhian Brown and employment minister Tom Arthur.

Responding to the allegations, on Monday evening, a Scottish Government spokesman said: “As the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport, Mr Gray attends a number of sporting events such as golf, football and athletics to support workers and players.

“In the past he has used such visits to announce and promote a number of initiatives, such as the Changing Rooms Extra Time mental health programme.

“Ministers attending events in a ministerial capacity are entitled to use government transport. All travel costs are in accordance with travel and subsistence policies to ensure we deliver the best value for money possible for the Scottish public.”