John Swinney accused of hiding behind Salmond complainers in freedom of information row

First Minister John Swinney was accused of hiding behind complainers in the Alex Salmond case in the row over the publication of government papers.

Information Commissioner David Hamilton gave the SNP administration until today to disclose internal communications and legal advice relating to the James Hamilton review.

The independent probe cleared former first minister Nicola Sturgeon of breaching standards rules over meetings and calls she had with Salmond, who was her predecessor, after he was accused of harassment.

The accusations eventually led to a criminal trial in which Salmond was acquitted of all charges.

The information commissioner’s order follows a long-running request for documentation from a member of the public.

He said the government's failure to comply would see him refer the matter to the Court of Session.

At First Minister’s Questions, Swinney said the government will respond to the commissioner “as soon as practically possible”, adding: “I do not expect this will take much longer.

“The courts have made it clear the identities of those who complain in relation to allegations of sexual assault must have their identities protected, and there are no circumstances in which I will do anything that risks breaking those court orders. I cannot release information which would breach those court orders and amount to a contempt of court.”

Independent MSP Fergus Ewing said James Hamilton had “expressed his severe reservations with the redactions that he was required to make” in his report, and that both he and the information commissioner are “individuals of the highest repute and integrity” who would not invite Swinney “to do anything that was illegal”.

Ewing said: “My question is this: isn't the first minister using the excuse of jigsaw identification as a human shield as a pretext for declining to release information – because the real reason is it will cause extreme embarrassment to several people who are in the Scottish Government now, and previously were in that trusted position?”

Swinney told the chamber: “My duty as first minister at all times is to obey the law. And Mr Ewing is inviting me to be cavalier with the orders that have been passed by a court in this country. And I want to be crystal clear with parliament, I will do not one bit of it.”

The comments came after Labour’s Katy Clark challenged the government to “release all of the Salmond files” and back her proposed reforms to freedom of information (FoI) rules.

Swinney said the government has handled close to 90 FoI requests and reviews relating to the James Hamilton investigation and is, more broadly, responding to 96 per cent of information requests on time “against a backdrop of rising request numbers”. He said full disclosure in the case at hand “would breach court orders”.

Tory Murdo Fraser asked: “I wonder if the first minister appreciates what a bad look it is for his government to be spending huge sums of taxpayers’ money contesting ruling from the independent information commissioner.

“David Hamilton is an experienced and respected professional who has spent his entire career in Scotland's justice system. Does the first minister really think he would be asking the Scottish Government to do something that would be unlawful?”

Swinney said: “I will ensure that the government acts within the law, and that's exactly what I'm doing.”