SIR Gus O'Donnell, the head of the Civil Service, has been called upon to give assurances that the creation of a new highly paid official at Holyrood will not be allowed to become an "independence tsar" for the SNP Government.
Concerns have been raised by Lord Forsyth, the former Conservative Scottish Secretary, that the Civil Service in Scotland is becoming politicised and used to promote separation from the rest of the UK.
He and other politicians, including the three leaders of the opposition parties at Holyrood, recently aired their fears that Sir Peter Housden, the top civil servant in Scotland, had “gone native” and was actively promoting independence.
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