Taxpayers shell out £5k for Swinney's speech

SCOTTISH taxpayers were billed £5,000 so John Swinney could make a “party political speech”.

- By Douglas Dickie

The First Minister addressed the Royal Society of Edinburgh last year when he called on opposition parties to back his budget.

During the speech he called on critics not to indulge in “opposition for opposition’s sake” and back the Nats’ spending plans.

He told those present: “We can choose to be mired in party politics. Or we can choose to put first and foremost our duty to the people we represent.”