Ally McCoist joins call for inquiry into tax leaks

“HMRC shouldn’t be above the law,” said McCoist. “Nobody is above the law. You can be angry with one or two things that come out, but if there is a continuous trail of information leaking, you can point the finger and say it potentially is malicious.

“It ain’t a mistake. I’m not accusing anybody, but it might be one or two people with an agenda. Questions have to be asked about where these leaks came from and why.”

McCoist makes a clear distinction between the big tax case and the club’s failure under Craig Whyte’s ownership to pay VAT and PAYE which led to them going into administration in February.

“The big tax case affected the sale of the club,” said McCoist. “There was some absolute nonsense about big tax bills. I remember reading about £118 million. Now I’m no businessman of the year, but if I’m going to buy a business I’m not going to buy one with a potential debt of £118m hanging over it. If that wasn’t the case, there is no doubt in my opinion that the club would not have been sold for £1 to Craig Whyte.”

With Sir David Murray’s chairmanship of the club now seen in a better light due to the finding in his favour by the tax tribunal, McCoist wants Whyte to held to account.

“At the very best, Craig should answer the questions,” said McCoist. “My opinion in the last nine months hasn’t changed because we’ve won the big tax case. I was always aware of the situation why we went into administration. The obvious question is why were we not paying it because it was coming off my wages. I saw my PAYE and National Insurance being paid, so as far as I am concerned I have not done anything wrong and neither have any of the staff but I think as a member of staff you are entitled to ask why it wasn’t paid.”