25 April 2003
Scotland's First Minister Jack McConnell has announced an independent inquiry into the soaring cost of the new Holyrood Scottish Parliament building in an apparent attempt to head off election campaign criticism.
A source of interparty controversy, the new Parliament, originally costed at £40m, now looks set to absorb some £400m of Scottish funding.
McConnell made his pledge in a letter to former Scottish National Party MSP Margo MacDonald, who is standing as an independent candidate for Lothian after being deselected.
'We have regularly discussed the concern amongst ordinary Scots that clear answers about process and responsibility might never be available,' McConnell told MacDonald. 'I consider that we need to act early in the new Parliament to learn from what has happened.
'There must be a full public investigation into the process from beginning to end, although I would want the investigation to be carried out by a respected neutral figure, without the expense of a major legal public inquiry.'
MacDonald said she was delighted that McConnell 'had done the right thing'.
But both SNP leader John Swinney and Scottish Conservative leader David McLetchie weighed in to criticise McConnell for not intervening earlier. 'He was responsible for signing the cheques yet did nothing to stop the spiralling costs,' said McLetchie.
There have already been two independent inquiries into the cost of the project.
PFapr2003
