Scotland gender row: Failure to release full Isla Bryson review report follows familiar transparency pattern
This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on items purchased through this article, but that does not affect our editorial judgement.
First, there were calls for full transparency over a contentious issue made at First Minister’s Questions by opposition politicians. Obligingly, Nicola Sturgeon committed to full transparency, telling Douglas Ross that “I am therefore not sure how anybody can suggest that there will not be full transparency around the review”.
Then the fudge. The commitment made was in fact for the “findings of the report” to be published, not the full report undertaken by the Scottish Prison Service (SPS).
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdAnd then the confirmation when, at 4:30pm, effectively the last-gasp moment before the Scottish Parliament rose for its February recess, justice secretary Keith Brown wrote to the criminal justice committee outlining the findings.
The SPS, the letters said, did not believe it was appropriate to publish the full report due to data privacy concerns involving both Bryson and members of staff. What was published was then described as a “whitewash” by the Scottish Conservative community safety spokesperson Russell Findlay, which offered no clarity around the central issues.
In classic Scottish Government fashion, not only were the recommendations clouded in jargon, but the findings of the report offered little in the way of new information.
The logic behind withholding the report is also questionable. Personal information is protected by data protection legislation, but ultimately there are times when the legitimate interests of the public trump those of the individual.
It is hard to see how this is not one of those cases, though the SPS will likely disagree. In any case, the Government’s favourite game of heavily redacting the report could have been played, but the likelihood is that would have fuelled cover-up accusations.
The public are therefore left in a familiar, unsatisfactory position. Ministers know what happened, the prison service knows what happened, but MSPs and everyone else is left to fill in the blanks.
This is not full transparency with any reasonable definition of the word. Controlling the narrative continues to be the SNP’s favourite tactic.
On GFG Alliance, the Alex Salmond Inquiry, and the ferries fiasco, the Government has retained information and instead spun like their jobs depend on it, which, in the Bryson case, they probably do.
Want to hear more from The Scotsman's politics team? Check out the latest episode of our political podcast, The Steamie.
It's available wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.