Scottish Labour have been accused of “ridiculous smears” as the row over the knighthood of Stagecoach tycoon Sir Brian Souter continues.
It emerged over the weekend that the Scottish Government nominated Mr Souter for the honour shortly before he donated £500,000 to the SNP.
The administration insists ministers had no role in the process, saying it was overseen by an independent “honours group” of civil servants.
But that was rejected by the Labour Party, who called for an investigation into whether the First Minister’s official spokesman Kevin Pringle may have breached the code of conduct for government advisers.
Mr Pringle had told reporters in June ministers were not involved in the process in “any way, shape, or form.”
Labour leader Iain Gray said, “There is disparity between the First Minister’s spokesman’s original version of events and what has since been confirmed by the Westminster cabinet office and it needs to be investigated.”
SNP MP Angus MacNeil said, “Labour ministers admit they made nominations for honours so they should tell us who they nominated before it’s revealed under freedom of information.
“Second, instead of sending out ridiculous smears, if Labour has evidence that Scottish Government ministers sought a nomination for anyone since 2007 then they should put that evidence in the public domain.”