JO Swinson, the favourite to become the new Liberal Democrat leader has refused to back down after being accused by the SNP of using "fake figures" to make "false and patronising" claims about children in Glasgow.

Ms Swinson, the MP for East Dunbartonshire and the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, cause concern when she claimed on Question Time that just four per cent of young children in Glasgow Govan go to university.  But in one of the towns in her constitutency, 80 per cent went on to university.

As the row over her comments erupted, it emerged that the Liberal Democrat deputy leader was relying on the 2016 Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) produced by the Scottish Government and seen by the Herald which states that the percentage of 17-21 year olds "entering full time higher education" ranged between 0% and 4%.    

However a further analysis of the same SIMD figures showed across East Dunbartonshire around 13.2% typically move onto full time higher education.   Barloch saw 34% move on while on the other end of the scale, Hillhead had 2%.

On Twitter, Ms Sturgeon, the MSP Glasgow Southside MSP which covers the Govan area, later said she was "wrong about the aspiration and achievements of young people" there.

She added: Work to be done, but real progress is being made on widening access to university."

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She referred to figures that showed that she said showed that the percentage of university entrants from deprived communities across Scotland "is now at a record high".

She linked to a Scottish Funding Council report says that in talking about the widening access to higher eduction, which includes colleges, there was a "record increase" in entrants from our most deprived areas.

The number of students from Scotland’s 20% most deprived areas celebrating their first degree rose in 2017-18 - up over 3% on the previous year.

Ms Swinson responded to the First Minister on Twitter saying that the 4% figure came from Scottish Government stats and added: "Education gap was meant to be your top priority...."

In a statement produced after the show, the SNP said it "has called on Jo Swinson to issue a full retraction for using fake figures to make 'false and patronising' claims about children in Glasgow."

The SNP pointed to the Glasgow City Council-produced school leaver destination return that showed that 22.8 per cent of students at Govan High School went on to higher education and 94% went on to positive destinations which also included further education and employment.

Local SNP MP for Glasgow South West, Chris Stephens, said:“Jo Swinson must issue a full retraction for using fake figures to make false and patronising claims about children in Glasgow.

“It’s no wonder that the Liberal Democrats have such a bad reputation for misleading people, when their deputy leader is willing to make bogus claims on national television to deflect from her own appalling record propping up the Tories in government.

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“Improving attainment is a priority for the SNP government, which has abolished tuition fees, protected the Education Maintenance Allowance, and invested hundreds of millions in tackling the attainment gap and widening access to education. That’s why people are putting their trust in the SNP to take Scotland forward.”

Ms Swinson later refused to retract her comments: “It is a fact that many more young people in Bearsden go to university than go from Govan. The Scottish Government’s own statistics bear that out. Closing the attainment gap is supposed to be the SNP’s priority. They should be ashamed.

“Barriers in the system are preventing young people from having equal opportunities in life, regardless of their postcode. “This journey starts with early education and it is the best investment government can make to transform a child’s life chances.”

The row surrounds comments Ms Swinson made on the BBC flagship political discussion programme about education inequality.

She said: "I represent a very middle class affluent constituency and in one of the towns, 80 per cent of young children go to university. Five or six miles down the road in Glasgow Govan, it's four per cent.

"That's not because of tuition fees because we don't have them in Scotland. That's because of the lack of investment or aspiration of young people that don't even grow up thinking that this is an option for them.

"And that's where we need to focus that early years intervention. We really want to tackle that inequality."

Glasgow City Council’s director of education, Maureen McKenna, said the most recently available figures showed that 13% of pupils leaving Govan High School went on to university, while 24% went on to higher education.

The Herald: