Scotland’s education secretary has offered a ”full and unreserved” apology for giving the wrong information on college funding.
Mike Russell admitted the error ”should not have happened”, but just hours later a collection of Tayside trade union leaders said they had ”no confidence” in him.
Mr Russell’s apology to Holyrood on Tuesday came five days after First Minister Alex Salmond was also forced to say sorry for quoting the wrong figures on college budgets.
Mr Russell said: ”Let me make clear again my apology is full and unreserved” before adding the incorrect figure, which he quoted in a letter to an MSP in June, ”should not have happened.”
Labour education spokesman Hugh Henry accused the Education Secretary of having misled Parliament on the issue of college funding ”not once but twice”.
Mr Henry said the Scottish Ministerial Code states ministers should resign if they have knowingly misled Parliament, as he demanded: ”Why has Mike Russell not offered his resignation?”
Meanwhile, union representatives at Dundee and Angus colleges have called on Mr Russell to resign.
They say they have ”lost confidence” in Mr Russell’s dealings with the further education sector and warn the proposed merger of the two colleges will be detrimental to students.
Representatives from unions representing staff at the two colleges issued an open letter calling for the Scottish Government minister to quit just an hour after it was announced the merger would officially take place on November 1 next year.
The new college, which does not yet have a name, will cater for around 35,000 students from across Tayside.
But the merger has angered unions who claim it is being driven by the need to cut costs rather than what is best for students.
The letter, signed by Unison representative Dougie Deans, Doug Reilly from the EIS, Yvonne Cargill from EIS-FELA and Nick Steff from GMB, said the cuts will lead to further job losses and greater cuts in the future.