Bullying claim made against Jenny Gilruth 'baseless', says John Swinney

Claims of bullying by Deputy First Minister Jenny Gilruth have been dismissed by John Swinney as "baseless".

His response comes after a report by the Scottish Sun on Sunday that said Gilruth had written an email "naming and shaming" Scottish Government officials she didn't like and wanted to get rid of.

The report added that Gilruth, who was made finance secretary in May, sent an email detailing which civil servants she was unhappy with and why, which was mistakenly sent to everyone in the department.  

The newspaper quoted an unnamed source who called Gilruth a "bully", and said staff were "terrified" of her.  

However, the Scottish Government has denied that an email like this was ever sent, and that decisions on staffing are not made by ministers.  

The first minister told the BBC there was "no basis" to the accusations and that "there was no email issued by deputy first minister or her office".

He added: "There is no basis for these claims, so there is nowhere for this story to go."