NATIONALIST MSPs have been accused of abusing their role on a key Holyrood committee to shield the Scottish Government from potential embarrassment over health budgets.
SNP MSPs used their majority on the Health Committee to block one of Scotland's most respected public- spending experts, former auditor general Robert Black, from giving evidence on NHS budgets.
During a private session of the Health Committee yesterday, they voted down calls for Mr Black to take part in their annual inquiry into health spending. The move, which angered opposition MSPs, came two weeks after a leaked report revealed NHS Scotland is facing a funding shortfall of £400m to £450m in the next two financial years.
It prompted fresh claims that SNP MSPs are using their majority on Holyrood's committees to protect the Nationalist administration from potential criticism.
Labour MSP Hugh Henry - who is not a member of the Health Committee - said: "I find it astonishing they would not want to listen to a man with such experience. They must fear he will say something about the state of the health service they do not want to be heard.
"Someone with that kind of standing would be taken seriously."
An SNP spokesman said: "It is Hugh Henry who is trying to politicise the committee system with this petty partisan attack.
"The committee reached a democratic decision and plans to take evidence from a range of experts as part of the usual budget scrutiny process."
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