MINISTERS have been urged to make a statement to parliament to end the secrecy around a failed £10bn investment deal with China.
LibDem leader Willie Rennie said the government must explain why the high-profile deal with two Chinese firms collapsed just five months after it was struck by Nicola Sturgeon.
The First Minister signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SinoFortone and the state-owned China Railway No3 Engineering Group Co. Ltd (CR3) in March.
Read more: Row as SNP blames opposition for collapse of £10bn China deal
The MoU could have seen £10bn invested in housing, energy and transport in Scotland.
However it quickly proved controversial after The Herald revealed Norway’s state oil fund dropped a £26m stake in CR3’s parent company, CRG, after its ethics council concluded in 2014 that there was an “unacceptable risk that the company is involved in gross corruption”.
Other CRG subsidiaries were also accused by Amnesty International of taking part in illegal forced evictions in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A weekend newspaper report forced SNP ministers to admit the Chinese partners had pulled out in mid-August, but this had been kept quiet almost three months.
The outcry over the deal was dubbed “the Scottish shambles” in the Far East, it was reported.
Read more: Row as SNP blames opposition for collapse of £10bn China deal
Ms Sturgeon is expected to face questions on it at her monthly press conference today.
Mr Rennie, whose parliamentary questioning previously established the Government did not carry out due diligence on CR3, said: “The SNP has a chance to inject some much needed transparency for something that has been clouded in secrecy.”
He also attacked the government for blaming opposition parties for the deal going sour, after a spokesman for Economy Secretary Keith Brown said they should be “ashamed” for chasing cheap headlines.
Mr Rennie said: "If anyone should be ashamed it should be the Scottish Government. Groups such as Amnesty International expressed concerns but the SNP covered their ears and ploughed on regardless. They showed a casual disregard for human rights.”
Tory economy spokesman Dean Lockhart added: “This whole episode has shown the SNP just can’t be trusted with economic matters. We now need a calm assessment of all this to see if a potentially lucrative deal with China can be reached. These things can’t be allowed to fall through because of SNP bungling.”
Read more: Row as SNP blames opposition for collapse of £10bn China deal
A government spokesman said: “We are sorry if the partners consider the MoU to be cancelled and we remain open to working together on projects in the future.”
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