Swinney dodges question on ending law chief's dual role

JOHN SWINNEY has refused to confirm whether SNP MPs would support a UK Parliament bill giving the Scottish Government powers to split the controversial dual role of the Lord Advocate.

- BY JOHN GLOVER

It comes after Dorothy Bain KC was accused of “misleading” the Scottish Parliament after failing to mention she tipped off the First Minister a year ago about Peter Murrell’s charges.

Scotland’s top prosecutor was hauled back to Holyrood on Wednesday, where she was grilled by MSPs on the latest revelation.

She claimed the information was only provided because the charge was “public”, despite this coming months before it had been made public.

Last week, Ms Bain was forced to insist she wasn’t “corrupt” after denying she handed Mr Swinney a “political advantage”.

Her briefing from March last year meant the total sum of money allegedly embezzled by the former SNP chief executive was provided to Mr Swinney 11 months before some news outlets broke reporting guidelines to detail the indictment.