A former government minister has been accused of multiple serious breaches of corporate lobbying rules, the Sunday Mail can reveal.
Tavish Scott is facing a formal complaint to Holyrood’s Ethical Standards Commissioner over his work as CEO of Salmon
Scotland representing the controversial fish farming industry.
We have seen documents out-lining nine incidents where the ex-Lib Dem leader and transport minister allegedly failed to record lobbying, including one in which a Conservative MSP claims he was verbally “attacked”.
The complaints have been lodged by renewable energy entrepreneur Dale Vince’s Green Britain Foundation (GBF) pressure group.
Vince said: “We’re talking about an industry already knee-deep in environmental carnage, now apparently trying to dodge rules that keep our democracy honest.
“The public have a right to know which vested interests are whispering in our politicians’ ears.
“If Salmon Scotland’s been playing fast and loose with lobbying laws, what else are they hiding? This reeks of an industry that thinks it’s above the rules – whether that’s environmental regulations or democratic transparency. It’s time to drag their murky dealings into the light.”
Scotland’s farmed salmon market is estimated to be worth around £1billion a year and it supports thousands of jobs.
Environmentalists have raised concerns the industry is spreading sea lice affecting wild salmon and there has also been accusations of pollution and fish being held in putrid sea pens.
A source said: “Tavish has been a regular visitor to Parliament in connection with his work for Salmon Scotland.
“The industry has been the subject of a lot of
criticism and scrutiny over its ecological credentials and its fair to say Tavish has been getting people’s backs up with his strident defence of the sector.
“He has been throwing his weight about, banging on incessantly about fish when people are just trying to do their jobs – industry needs to be regulated and it’s Parliament’s job to consider these things.”
Scott – who led the Scottish Lib Dems from 2008 to 2011 and was a minister for seven years – holds a parliamentary access pass which he is entitled to as a former MSP.
However, there are strict rules around lobbying and anyone entering Holyrood for this purpose must be signed in as a guest.
There is no evidence Scott has broken rules using the pass.
However, in an angry exchange during a meeting of the Rural and Island Committee on October 2, Tory MSP Edward Mountain accused Scott of “attacking” him in his office.
Mountain alleged that Scott entered his office and confronted him over his questioning of the salmon farming industry.
And he accused the Salmon Scotland chief of threatening: “The issue and your attitude are top of the agenda for the next board meeting. The board are very unhappy with you and are willing to take action against you, unless you retract your comments in the Parliament.”
This meeting was not recorded in the lobbying register and GBF has accused Scott of failing to register a number of other meetings. Scott has denied breaking any rules.
A Salmon Scotland spokesperson said: “None of these meetings involved registered lobbying and several meetings did not even involve any individual where lobbying register rules would apply. Salmon Scotland complies with the lobbying register, and there are at present 166 returns publicly available.”
A raging Scott added: “Dale Vince has a vegan food business and campaigns to ban all types of animal farming so that he can make even more money, making him a hypocrite of the worst kind.We will not be intimated by rich millionaires who choose to waste public resources on vexatious complaints and want 12,000 people who depend on fish farming to lose their jobs.
“Our job is to promote Scotland’s world-renowned salmon and we regularly engage with ministers, MSPs and civil servants to discuss the sector and the contribution our farmers make to the economy and low carbon food production.”
It comes as Rural Affairs Secretary Mairi Gougeon faces a ministerial code probe after she and her French husband Baptiste accepted hospitality from Salmon Scotland to watch France play rugby at Murrayfield in 2022 and this year. Under Scottish Ministerial Code, all hospitality accepted in a ministerial capacity worth more than £140 must be declared. But the £1500 worth of tickets, lunch and drinks at the “hospitality village” received for February’s Six Nations game were not included in Gougeon’s official register of ministerial gifts or MSP interests.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and Scottish Secretary Ian Murray have also been criticised for accepting free hospitality at Liverpool FC from Salmon Scotland in September.
Salmon Scotland represents a 200-farm industry producing 140,000 tons of fish a year worth about £760million. The office of the Ethical Standards Commissioner declined to comment.
TV naturalist Chris Packham has called for an independent probe into the Scottish salmon farming industry. He has accused the government at Holyrood of “riding roughshod” over welfare and environmental issues.
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