Scottish Parliament needs to hold SNP ministers to account for misleading MSPs – Brian Wilson

It comes as no surprise that SNP ministers have been misleading Holyrood and the country for years with wildly inflated figures about the role of renewable energy.

Nicola Sturgeon should explain to MSPs why figures about Scotland's share of Europe's wind energy were wrong (Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Truth never stands in the way of a separatist narrative. So lines peddled repeatedly have been that Scotland (a) has virtually all our power supplied from renewables and (b) has 25 per cent of all the wind resources in Europe.

The latter was arrived at by removing Scandinavia from the map which seems a bit harsh. The actual figure is around five per cent as ministers and civil servants have known for years, and as recently confirmed via a Freedom of Information request.

While that claim was brazen bravura, the other had a more sinister purpose – to deny the unwelcome reality of huge inter-dependence for energy security with the rest of Britain.

Nicola Sturgeon was finally called out for her use of the false claim and the Holyrood record has had to be corrected. Not unreasonably, the Tory MSP Stephen Kerr raised a point of order asking for Ms Sturgeon to come before Parliament to explain.

The answer from the Presiding Officer beggared belief: “The decision on whether or not to seek to make such a statement is a matter for the member concerned.” Fat chance of that!

It means a minister who misleads Holyrood can quietly change the record when caught red-handed but with no obligation to answer to MSPs, however serious the deception. In terms of parliamentary accountability, that is farcical.