The Record brings you its regular 5pm round-up of the day’s best Scottish politics stories.
John Swinney accused of secret budget crackdown to fill £5bn black hole amid super-hospital plans
John Swinney is facing demands to “come clean” on plans for a new super-hospital amid fears it could be delayed as part of secret post-election budget cuts.
The Sunday Mail revealed a business case for a replacement Monklands Hospital in Lanarkshire submitted five months ago was not approved by ministers as expected before the Scottish Parliament dissolved this month.
They also learned the cost of the development has rocketed from £700million to £1.34billion at a time when Scotland is facing a £5billion budget black hole.
Sources have said a major funding announcement had been expected in February but instead the health board has been met with silence.
Read the full story here.
Labour candidate spends five hours at hospital for crucial op cancelled at last minute
An MSP candidate has demanded the next Scottish Government prioritises rebuilding the NHS after a crucial operation was cancelled due to staff shortages.
Monica Lennon was minutes from being taken into theatre to have an ovarian cyst removed after spending five hours at Wishaw General Hospital on Thursday.
But the Labour candidate for Rutherglen and Cambuslang in May’s Holyrood election was then told she would need to go home because there wasn’t enough staff to safely operate.
Lennon said: “To be sitting in a hospital gown for hours, minutes away from being taken into theatre, only to be told your operation is cancelled is a deeply shocking and emotionally draining experience.
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Perjury claims at Alex Salmond’s trial still under investigation by Crown Office
Perjury claims at Alex Salmond’s trial continue to be investigated by Crown prosecutors five years after a complaint was initiated.
The allegations were made after the former first minister’s 2020 trial, when he was cleared of 14 charges of sexual assault.
Salmond’s lawyers wrote to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in March 2021 setting out a number of concerns and an advocate and senior prosecutor were assigned to the case. The probe is still active.
Ex-SNP justice secretary Kenny MacAskill said: “There was great concern over some of the evidence heard at trial and I know Alex’s lawyers wrote in detail to the Crown Office on a number of points. An investigation was launched in the wake of that correspondence but inexplicably five years later the matter has not been concluded.”
Read the full story here.
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