09 June 2000
The Labour convener of the finance committee, Mike Watson, said he found the chancellor's response 'disappointing'. He added: 'More surprising and unacceptable is that we have not been allowed access to [Treasury] civil servants.'
MSPs are currently conducting an inquiry into whether Scotland loses out as a result of the way EU structural funds are distributed. In a letter to Watson, the chancellor said that Scottish secretary John Reid would be giving evidence before the Scottish Affairs Committee at Westminster later this month.
Andrew Wilson, finance spokesman for the Scottish National Party, said: 'London ministers can't get away with talking big on devolution and then acting towards Scotland in as secretive and contemptuous a manner as the Tories did.'
PFjun2000
