MacAskill facing Holyrood showdown

Published on Saturday 30 May 2009 23:30

Kenny MacAskill was last night facing fresh moves to remove him from office while the convicted murderer John Burt Brown remained on the run from Castle Huntly open prison, writes Tom Peterkin.

Scotland on Sunday understands that there is a growing feeling within Labour that the party should revisit the possibility of forcing a motion of no confidence in the justice secretary at Holyrood.

Senior figures within Labour privately believe that the option should be looked at following the events of last week, which saw Alex Salmond fail to reveal to parliament that Brown had absconded.

Last night one senior Labour MSP said: "This has gone beyond a joke. The onus is on Salmond and if he fails to act to get rid of him, it will put the parties in a difficult position. If nothing is done I think it would be right to return to the issue of a vote of no confidence.

"But one thing is for sure, Kenny MacAskill should go and Salmond should make him go

then come back into the parliament to apologise for misleading parliament."

Salmond has stood by his justice secretary, but has come in for criticism himself after he did not mention that Brown was missing when quizzed on the open prison system at First Minister's Questions last Thursday.

Another senior Labour MSP said: "In terms of a vote of no confidence – that type of momentum is starting to gather."

Before it was revealed that Brown absconded there had already been much speculation that opposition parties would agree to force a no-confidence motion, but back then a firm proposal failed to materialise.

But the fact that Brown is now at large so soon after the outcry that greeted the escape of armed robber Brian "the Hawk" Martin

from the same prison has led to a no-confidence motion being discussed once more.

In another move, Scottish Labour is to investigate why it was decided to wait 24 hours before informing the public about the missing prisoner. Salmond and MacAskill knew on Wednesday afternoon that Brown had failed to return to Castle Huntly outside Dundee. His disappearance was not made public until 4pm the following day after First Minister's Questions, when Tayside Police appealed for information.

Labour shadow secretary for justice, Richard Baker, has said he will use the Freedom of Information Act to find out if the delay was influenced by politicians or civil servants. The SNP said the release of information was an "operational matter" entirely in the hands of police.

"Kenny MacAskill needs to make it absolutely clear that there has been no attempt to cover up," Baker said.It appears odd that when a dangerous murderer went on the run that the public were not informed for over 24 hours. I intend to clear up this matter by finding out what contact went on between the Scottish Government, ministers, the Scottish Prison Service and Tayside Police.

"Alex Salmond failed to mention the escape to the Scottish Parliament at First Minister's Question Time. The public need to be assured that the decision not to inform the public was in no way politically motivated."

A spokesman for MacAskill criticised Baker for "questioning the procedures of the police in the recovery of absconded prisoners".