McConnell leaves Holyrood questions unanswered

Jack McConnell’s excuse that he has forgotten the details of what he knew about the spiralling cost of the Holyrood Building were rubbished today (Thursday) by Shadow Finance Minister Mr Fergus Ewing MSP as he posed questions that may now remain unanswered after the decision not to call the First Minister.

In his evidence:

* Jack McConnell claims not to know anything about “risk allowances” despite the fact that they were specifically mentioned in the brief given to him by Barbara Doig on 26th May.

* He claims to have insisted that all costs were in the public domain, and that it was right that for instance landscaping costs be identified separately. However, he neglects to mention that he knew the landscaping costs were up to 10 million pounds and stayed silent when Donald Dewar did not convey this to Parliament on 17th June.

* He says that the costs information in the Doig memo was the basis on which the decision to proceed was taken, yet the budget figure he had been given on 19 May was 112 - 117 million pounds, 10 million pounds higher than the figure given to Parliament.

Commenting, Mr Ewing said:

“Jack McConnell knew that there were ‘risk allowances’. He knew that landscaping may cost up to 10 million pounds. He knew there were ‘contingencies’. He knew there were specific risks - he even discussed them with Donald Dewar and the civil service on several occasions. But Parliament was not told about any of these things. The question he has not answered, is why?

“Only two men can answer this question fully - one is sadly no longer with us. The other is Jack McConnell. At the start of this inquiry he pledged that ‘no questions must remain unanswered’. Why has he therefore declined to insist on giving his evidence orally to the inquiry like other witnesses?

“In my view the decision of the inquiry is inexplicable and a profound misjudgement. It can still be corrected but if it is not, history will, I suspect, judge Lord Fraser harshly.”