JOHN Swinney has become the most senior minister to be drawn into the cronyism row over T in the Park, after it emerged he met the organisers at the request of a former SNP aide.
The deputy first minister and finance secretary met DF Concerts' chief executive in his constituency office at the behest of a former SNP government adviser.
Jennifer Dempsie, the former adviser to Alex Salmond who was working for DF Concerts as a short-term project manager, also attended the meeting In Blairgowrie on March 27.
The Herald has previously revealed how Ms Dempsie brokered meetings between Geoff Ellis, chief executive of DF Concerts, and Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop and Transport Minister Derek Mackay.
After Mr Ellis warned her of unexpected financial pressures, Ms Hyslop approved a £150,000 “ad hoc state aid” package to help T in the Park relocate from Fife to Perthshire this summer.
The payment prompted claims of cronyism given Ms Dempsie’s SNP contacts - she is also the partner of SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson and hopes to be an SNP MSP in May - and the fact DF Concerts had a pre-tax profit of £4.5 million last year.
The government said Mr Swinney met Mr Ellis and Ms Dempsie in his role as the MSP for Perthshire North, which adjoins the seat in which T in the Park is held, not as a minister.
The SNP said the meeting was to discuss the economic benefits and potential traffic impact of the festival, and highlighted it was the “first year T in the Park was held in its new location” at Strathallan.
However T in the Park only moved 13 miles inside the same constituency this year, meaning Mr Swinney has been the MSP next-door continually since 1999.
He was also the only MSP from the seven adjoining constituencies to meet DF Concerts.
Keith Brown, Rod Campbell and Bruce Crawford of the SNP, Alex Rowley and Cara Hilton of Labour, and Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick all say they had no such meeting.
Opposition parties questioned Ms Dempsie’s repeated high-level access.
Deputy Labour leader Alex Rowley said: “The decision to award £150,000 of taxpayer cash to a successful private business was always one the public would rightly question. Now we are seeing yet another meeting between a big business and an SNP Cabinet Minister set up by a former SNP adviser.
"As the man in charge of Scotland's budget, it would be extraordinary if the issue of state aid did not crop up in a meeting between T in the Park and Mr Swinney. It is now time for full disclosure from the SNP about what has happened here, and the extent to which former government spin doctors opened doors for big business to receive public money."
Scottish LibDem leader Willie Rennie added: “This opens up further questions around access to SNP government ministers. Businesses need assurances that ministers undertake engagements in a fair and transparent way.”
Roseanna Cunningham, as the MSP for the festival’s home constituency of Perthshire South and Kinross-shire, also met DF Concerts in the spring, as did Conservative Mid-Scotland and Fife list MSP Liz Smith and Labour culture spokeswoman Claire Baker.
An SNP spokeswoman said: “T in the Park took place in the neighbouring constituency to John Swinney and, as a major event, would obviously bring potential transport impacts as well as economic benefits to his constituency of Perthshire North. This was the only issue discussed."
A government spokesman said: “The only ministerial meetings in relation to the relocation of T in the Park were held by Mr Mackay and Ms Hyslop, and funding issues were only discussed with Ms Hyslop.
"John Swinney and Roseanna Cunningham met DF Concerts in their capacity as constituency MSPs. The Scottish Government has no information on these meetings.”
A spokesman for DF Concerts said: “As a business, we have taken several meetings at which we discussed Scotland’s biggest music festival and the challenges of moving site – both financial and operational - with a large number of people, including some politicians of various parties.”
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