Health secretary Neil Gray has been told to explain why he used a tax-payer funded chauffeur for trips to watch his favourite football team play.
Dons fan Neil Gray used government limos on a string of visits to Hampden Park and Pittodrie to watch Aberdeen play – claiming he was on official business.
Four of his five visits to football grounds using government cars in the last 12 months have coincided with games being played by Aberdeen.
The SNP minister – who was born in Orkney – has been whisked in and out of the national stadium four times in the last year.
The Scottish Conservatives have demanded a Holyrood statement over the issue.
Trips to Hampden Park
On November 4, Aberdeen played Hibernian at Hampden in the semi-finals of the League Cup, winning 1-0.
Mr Gray, who was then the wellbeing economy secretary, was a guest of the SFA, registering it as a ministerial engagement to discuss “social impact investment in sport”.
The MSP returned to Hampden Park to discuss the same issue on November 19, coinciding with Scotland’s game against Norway in the Euro qualifiers.
Aberdeen were back on December 17 for the final against Rangers, losing the game 1-0 – and so was the minister, claiming to be holding talks on the same subject for a third time.
Mr Gray changed roles in February this year, becoming health secretary after his predecessor Michael Matheson quit after an expenses row.
His new role included responsibility for sport, and in April he was back at Hampden Park to watch Aberdeen play Celtic in the Scottish cup semi-finals.
The visit, which included tax-payer funded travel between his personal address and Hampden Park, was registered merely as an engagement on “sport”.
His latest visit to watch the Dons on government business came in May this year, with Mr Gray present at Pittodrie as his team won 5-1 against Livingston.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said sport had come under Mr Gray’s remit as both health and wellbeing economy secretary.
But questions have been raised about the nature of business given four of the five engagements at football matches coincided with games played by his favourite side.
And it comes after the SNP criticised Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer after it emerged he had accepted gifts and hospitality worth £100,000 since becoming Labour leader, including a string of Arsenal tickets.
Government jollies on ‘flimsy’ pretences
The SNP branded him “out of touch” and demanded an investigation into the freebies under the Ministerial Code.
Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton MSP said Mr Gray must explain the “full facts”.
She said: “What is it with SNP health secretaries and claiming taxpayer funds to watch the football?
“The SNP’s shoddy excuses are making Neil Gray’s chauffeur scandal look a lot like the Michael Matheson affair.
“The thing that really bothers the public is the SNP’s secrecy and hypocrisy.
“Nationalist politicians are the first to cry foul but the last to accept they’ve done anything wrong.
“The SNP hammered Labour politicians for accepting donations for high-end clothes and all sorts of gifts, yet they don’t say much when it’s one of their own.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Ministers are invited to a range of engagements and attend select events in an official capacity, details of which we publish proactively.
“This is an essential part of government business that allows ministers to engage and build relationships with key stakeholders and to help promote Scotland as a place to visit, work and invest in.
“All travel costs are in accordance with travel and subsistence policies to ensure we deliver the best value for money possible for the Scottish public.”
Conversation