LABOUR has called on Holyrood's Presiding Officer to launch an urgent inquiry into whether Alex Salmond and Education Secretary Michael Russell deliberately misled MSPs over college funding.
The unprecedented move follows growing concern over the effectiveness of the parliament's committees, the normal forum for investigations into ministerial conduct.
Stewart Maxwell, the SNP convener of the education committee, last week ruled out a probe into Mr Russell's role in the departure of Kirk Ramsay as chairman of Stow College.
The SNP-dominated European Committee then ruled out an inquiry into an independent Scotland's membership of the EU, despite an ongoing row over the issue.
Labour's bid to bypass the committee system, by appealing directly to the Presiding Officer, comes after Mr Salmond and Mr Russell were forced to apologise to MSPs for wrongly claiming college funding rose this year.
Hugh Henry, Labour's education spokesman, said: "We need a thorough review of Parliamentary procedure to make sure accurate and honest information is provided to MSPs. But we have an immediate problem of crisis of confidence, probably the greatest challenge to the credibility of the Scottish Parliament since it was established in 1999.
"We need to know whether our First Minister and his Education Secretary knowingly misled Parliament. MSPs have no way of getting to the bottom of this sorry tale. We need the Presiding Officer to stand up for the integrity of the Scottish Parliament."
He called on Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick and deputies John Scott and Elaine Smith to hold a public inquiry into the circumstances behind the error, made by Mr Russell in June then coming to light when it was repeated by Mr Salmond at First Minister's Questions last week.
Mr Henry added: "This is a Parliament in crisis, where it appears the First Minister and his colleagues can make dishonest claims and then brush them aside when they are caught. Either these men deliberately misled the Scottish Parliament or for six months they believed that spending on colleges was increasing when their own officials told them otherwise. What is worse: deliberate lies or staggering incompetence?"
An SNP spokesman said: "This just looks like yet more sour grapes and moaning from a Labour party that is endlessly negative."
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