SCOTLAND'S top civil servant has been reported to his Whitehall boss after being accused of failing to remain politically impartial and being a follower of First Minister Alex Salmond.

All three of Scotland’s main opposition party leaders have written to the head of the civil service, Sir Gus O’Donnell, complaining of partisan behaviour by Permanent Secretary Sir Peter Housden after comments on an internal Scottish Government website were leaked.

Labour leader Iain Gray said he “broke the cardinal rule of the civil service and gone native”; Tory boss Annabel Goldie said she was “taken aback” by his enthusiasm for the SNP’s independence plans; and LibDem leader Willie Rennie accused him of a “drift from impartiality”.

In an update to civil servants following Finance Secretary John Swinney’s spending review, Sir Peter praised Scottish ministers’ “vision, skill and energy” and their “ambitious and exciting programme”.

After the SNP’s election victory in May he wrote: “This will be a remarkable period in Scotland’s history as we embark on a journey toward constitutional reform with the near-term strengthening of the Scotland Bill and a referendum in the second half of the parliament. It is remarkable how the terms of this debate have changed irrevocably in just three weeks.”

Sir Peter also urged staff to read an opinion piece by a politics professor which argued the SNP no longer had a “conceptual” problem with persuading voters to support independence.

Mr Gray said: “The politicisation of the civil service has been a major concern ever since Alex Salmond became First Minister, but these briefings by Sir Peter Housden are remarkable evidence the Permanent Secretary is now engaged on a political project which doesn’t have the majority support of the Scottish people. He is duty bound to maintain political impartiality, but in these briefings he has crossed that line.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said they had a clear commitment to pursue constitutional change and independence.

“As was made clear by Sir Gus O’Donnell, it is consistent with the principles of the Civil Service Code that civil servants in Scotland should support ministers in developing that policy.”