LABOUR have complained of a possible breach of the ministerial code after the local SNP branch of a minister with a remit over fracking accepted donations from a drilling company.
Motherwell-based Hydracrat Limited, which lists its principal activity as 'test drilling and boring', has donated £3,750 to Airdrie and Shotts MP Neil Gray, who is the former office manager and protege of Alex Neil. Mr Neil is the cabinet secretary with responsibility for planning and local MSP.
The company has also donated £17,500 to the SNP and its director Bobby Hill gave £6,500 to the Airdrie and Shotts SNP branch ahead of the 2011 elections, in which Mr Neil won the seat from Labour.
Sarah Boyack, Labour's environmental justice spokeswoman, has written to Nicola Sturgeon asking whether Mr Neil will now be excluded from any decisions over applications for test drilling. A current fracking moratorium, which excludes borehole drilling for core sampling, is implemented through the planning process.
The Lothians MSP also questioned whether the ministerial code, which states that those in office should avoid placing themselves under obligation to people or organisations that might try to influence their work, had been breached.
Hydracrat had told online journalism platform The Ferret that it could profit if the moratorium is lifted, with the company well placed to conduct monitoring of groundwater around boreholes.
Ms Boyack said: "People deserve straight answers from the SNP on fracking and test drilling. Campaigning in elections on anti-fracking platform whilst having campaign materials funded by a test drilling company will clearly raise questions about what the SNP’s real policy will be.
"As it stands now, it looks like the issue of fracking has been kicked into the long grass until after the next election by the SNP Government. With loopholes allowing borehole drilling, it looks like this SNP government has loaded the dice to allow industry to prepare for fracking in Scotland.
"There have been allegations that behind the scenes big businesses are getting nods and winks that Scotland was open for business on fracking. It's time we got straight answers.
"Scottish Labour has been clear on fracking – we’ll wait for evidence on the health and environmental impacts and learn about the experience of communities in the rest of the UK, rather than rushing a decision based on US evidence, and we’ll put the power in the hands of local people. Under our plan no fracking will take place in Scotland without the local community affected giving its approval in a referendum."
Mr Gray stood on an anti-fracking platform in the general election and has said the donation came as Hydracrat bosses supported the SNP and in spite of his position on unconventional energy. Mr Hill signed up to the pro-independence Business for Scotland organisation ahead of the independence referendum.
A spokesman for Mr Neil accused Ms Boyack of making "spurious allegations" and hypocrisy, saying that Labour's shadow energy spokesman at a UK level had urged people to back fracking.
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