A GREENS government minister has been accused of having "misled" Holyrood after it emerged ministers were told of an inaccurate statistic months before she told MSPs that the government was made aware.
Lorna Slater told MSPs that ministers were informed of the inaccurate figure that Scotland holds 25 per cent of Europe's wind energy potential on November 8.
But SNP Net Zero Secretary Michael Matheson has thrown doubt on this assurance after telling the Scottish Affairs Committee that he became aware of the inaccuracy "sometime back in September".
Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross has accused Mr Matheson of having "muddied the waters even further".
He added: “His answer raises serious questions as to whether Lorna Slater misled the Scottish Parliament when she claimed she only became aware it was inaccurate in November, given the SNP Net Zero secretary said he was aware two months prior.
“We also know that former MSP Paul Wheelhouse was made aware of concerns over this data before he lost his seat in the 2021 election.
“SNP-Green ministers peddled this dodgy data consistently but nobody is being upfront about when they knew it was inaccurate, which will deeply trouble the public.
“Lorna Slater must guarantee she did not mislead the Scottish Parliament in November, given the latest questionable response from Michael Matheson.”
Sam Taylor from the These Islands think tank that revealed the figure was wrong, said that "misleading parliament is a serious matter".
He added: "Lorna Slater cannot pretend to have been unaware - several points of order were raised over this issue and now the cabinet secretary in her own department has confirmed that Ms Slater gave an inaccurate statement to parliament.
"Ms Slater should make a correction as a matter of urgency and explain to parliament why it has taken so long to admit the truth."
Scottish LibDems leader, Alex Cole-Hamilton, said: "Scottish ministers knew that this figure was always false but rather than apologise and correct the record they sent out Lorna Slater to vigorously defend it.
"She should explain to parliament whether she was mislead by her SNP superiors or whether she was a willing accomplice in their deception.
"For Scottish renewables to flourish, people need to have confidence in government facts and figures. Ministers should apologise for misleading the public for so long."
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Ministers became aware of the report by These Islands on 8 November.
"We are now working to produce an updated figure for Scotland’s offshore wind potential, which will be published in due course.”
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