HOLYROOD Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick has strongly reprimanded ministers after it emerged a Labour question about the £500,000 cost of their Ryder Cup trip had been ignored for weeks.
The details only came to light when a planted question from an SNP backbencher was answered, it has emerged.
She called this failure to be "prompt and even-handed" in answering Opposition questions "unacceptable and discourteous" and invited the Government to reflect on her criticism.
Mark Griffin, Labour list MSP for Central Scotland, first raised detailed questions about the cost of sending ministers and an army of officials to the US eight weeks ago and was fobbed off with a holding answer. Six weeks later local SNP rival Clare Adamson then asked a softer, more general question on the issue, which was answered. As a result Mr Griffin was simply sent a reply cross-referring to the answer to his opponent's question.
He said: "I am glad the Presiding Officer has stood up to this abuse of power by the SNP Government. They clearly didn't want the truth about the costs of Alex Salmond's half-a-million- pound trip to the Ryder Cup to get out.
"Disgracefully they ignored my question on the exorbitant costs and instead answered a much softer one from their own side. The Government was trying to hide the truth about Mr Salmond's trip to the golf.
"After the dressing down they got from the Presiding Officer I hope they have learned the lesson and will start answering questions truthfully."
Ms Marwick, who twice ordered Labour back- benchers not to applaud her remarks, said: "For a member to have to wait nearly eight weeks for an answer to a parliamentary question and then simply be referred to an answer given to a question lodged six weeks after his original question is not acceptable."
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