The SNP’s Jenny Gilruth was accused of a “sackable offence” over claims she delayed rail upgrades to please her Fife constituents when she was transport chief.
During a fiery First Minister’s Questions, Ms Gilruth faced allegations she stepped in at the last minute to stop vital works scheduled to begin on Boxing Day.
Scottish Conservative chief Douglas Ross claimed she had meddled to give local voters “preferential treatment” by ensuring they could still travel by rail over the festive period.
The rail work, which would have caused eight days of disruption from Boxing Day last year, was part of a plan to electrify the line between Edinburgh’s Haymarket station and Dalmeny, West Lothian.
The Tory leader warned Ms Gilruth may have breached the Holyrood ministerial code, and claimed delays to planned upgrades had since cost the taxpayer at least £1 million.
In response, First Minister Humza Yousaf claimed any accusations new education chief Ms Gilruth broke guidelines would be probed, before then defending her anyway.
He told MSPs: “These timetable changes happen regularly.
“In terms of when they happened when Jenny Gilruth was transport minister, it was done for the correct reasons, certainly from the investigation I have done this morning.”
The SNP leader added: “I don’t believe the way Douglas Ross has characterised that situation to be correct.”
But Mr Ross insisted Ms Gilruth appeared to have made a “political decision for her own benefit” by halting the decarbonisation works.
The Tory leader claimed it was clear delaying upgrades until after the New Year would cause more disruption, since the railways are typically quieter over the festive period.
Mr Ross alleged civil servants had expressed concerns over Ms Gilruth’s involvement and claimed it may have even sparked the resignation of a top ScotRail official.
Chris Gibb stepped down from his post running Scottish Rail Holdings – the company set up to manage ScotRail – at the end of last year.
It was rumoured he had left his senior job prematurely due to frustrations over political interference.
‘Truly awful decision’
Mr Ross said cancelling the upgrades had been “a truly awful decision that will cause taxpayers millions and lead to greater disruption”.
He added: “Five months on the essential works that Jenny Gilruth delayed have still not happened.
“This looks like a clear-cut sackable offence. This needs an urgent investigation now.”
Mr Yousaf insisted Ms Gilruth was not “content” all necessary measures had been taken to “minimise inconvenience” while the works went ahead, hence the delay.
ScotRail was taken into public ownership under the SNP last April, when Ms Gilruth still held the transport brief.
Last October the Fife MSP said she was frustrated about the length of her own train commute during her party’s conference.
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