Dear Reader, Perth and Kinross | Conservatives

Dear Reader,

My mailbag over the last two weeks has been full of communications from constituents about
the vaccination programme. It is good to see progress being made on rolling this out to the
over 80s, and shortly to the over 70s. However, there are real concerns that Scotland is
lagging behind England, and we are continually raising question in the Scottish Parliament as
to why this is the case, and to point out the specific issues. If you have any problems with
this, please do contact my office.

The big event in the Parliamentary timetable this past week was the Scottish Government’s
budget, which I replied to as our Finance spokesman. The broad shoulders of the UK
Treasury have delivered the highest budget ever in the history of devolution, with
unprecedented Covid support. Needless to say, the SNP still complain that these sums are
insufficient. While aspects of what they propose are welcome, such as no increase in Income
Tax, we are concerned that not enough is being done to support businesses which are really
suffering from the Covid restrictions at the present time. Budget discussions will continue
over the coming month.

Beyond that, what is taking up most of my parliamentary time is the inquiry into the Alex
Salmond affair. We are due to hear from Mr Salmond himself next week, and the First
Minister Nicola Sturgeon the week after. I am sure these occasions will be extensively
covered in the media, and I will be doing my best to get to the truth of the matter.

With best wishes,

Murdo

                          Slow Vaccine Rollout

Murdo Fraser MSP has called on the SNP Government to address the roll-out of the Covid
vaccine, which he has described as “pitifully slow.”

The Scottish Conservative politician, who represents the Mid Scotland and Fife region, has
had numerous phone calls and emails from constituents, particularly elderly residents, who
are very anxious at not receiving any notification as to when they will get the jag.

Commenting, Mr Fraser said: “I have been contacted by lots of very concerned residents who
want to know why they haven’t received their jag yet, while people in the same age bracket in
England have.

“The roll-out down south is well head of Scotland. It is pitifully slow up here by comparison.”

Mr Fraser continued: “GPs and the British Medical Association Scotland say they could be
delivering the vaccine far more quickly, but the SNP Government are failing to get supplies
where they are needed. Recently, Dr Andrew Buist, a GP in Blairgowrie, who also chairs the
BMA’s Scottish GP Committee, said that the Perthshire surgery had no Covid vaccine at that
time, after some were expected to arrive on Monday.

“He highlighted that there is a problem with the supply of the vaccine to GP surgeries in
Scotland, and how the Blairgowrie practice have only managed to vaccinate 100 out of 600
patients in the top priority group – residents in the over-80 age group.”

Queensferry Crossing Closures

Murdo Fraser MSP has branded yet another closure of the Queensferry Crossing as a
“shambles” and has warned it will happen time and time again if action is not taken by the
SNP Government.

The Scottish Conservative politician was reacting to the latest closure of the Crossing, again
due to the danger of ice falling from bridge cables, which resulted in total chaos for motorists
forced to take a long diversion via the Kincardine Bridge.

Mr Fraser said he received numerous phone calls on the morning of January 21 from
motorists who live in Fife – who are key workers that needed to get to Edinburgh - and were
furious at the Queensferry Crossing having to close again.

Commenting, Mr Fraser, who represents the Mid Scotland and Fife region, said: “I have said
on several occasions that there needs to be a long-term solution to the issue with ice falling
from the bridge cables, such as fitting heated wires on the bridge cables or what is known as
a ‘cable collar’ system, similar to that used on the Alex Fraser Bridge at Greater Vancouver,
Canada.

“The SNP Government have said they have fitted ice sensors to detect ice, but that doesn’t
stop it falling on to vehicles below. And recently, they came up with a suggestion to use the
Forth Road Bridge as an alternative if the Queensferry Crossing closed, but later revealed
that this could only happen outwith peak times.

“Presumably this would have to be set up the night before so why didn’t this happen recently,
as there was a severe weather warning given for much of Central Scotland? We need action

on this as it has become a shambles.”

          Crown Office Corruption Must Be
                    Uncovered

We need answers from Crown Office on the Rangers scandal
Last week my fellow Scotsman columnist Kenny MacAskill MP again highlighted the scandal
involving the Crown Office prosecution of individuals associated with Rangers Football Club.
He suggested that the malicious prosecution of the club’s administrators might require the
resignation of the Lord Advocate, James Wolffe.

The latest twist in this sorry saga came last week, when David Grier, an executive with the
administrators Duff and Phelps, and a negotiator in Craig Whyte’s takeover of the club,
doubled his claim against the Lord Advocate over the failed case, now seeking £5 million
damages rather than £2 million as previously. Grier is also claiming £9 million from Police
Scotland.

This follows reports last week that David Whitehouse and Paul Clark, also of Duff and
Phelps, had now been paid some £24 million from the Crown Office, representing £21 million
in damages and £3 million in reimbursement of legal costs. This is in addition to a separate
compensation sum paid by Police Scotland, which is estimated to be in the region of £20
million.

There are two more individuals whose cases are ongoing – Charles Green and Imran Ahmed
- also involved in litigation for eye-watering sums.

The background to this is the purchase by Craig Whyte of Rangers from Sir David Murray in
May 2011, for the sum of £1. All five individuals involved in the case were subject to what the
Lord Advocate has now admitted was a “malicious prosecution” and a breach of their human
rights.

The whole case is, frankly, staggering. It is inevitable that in any criminal justice system there
are individuals who are prosecuted who are innocent, and end up being acquitted of the
crimes of which they are charged. However, where sufficient evidence exists, prosecutors
have a duty to take action against those who they have a legitimate reason to believe have
broken the law, and ultimately it is up to the courts to determine the guilt or innocence of the
accused.

But that is not what happened in this case. These five men were entirely innocent of the
charges brought against them, and Scotland’s chief prosecutor has admitted in open court
that these charges were brought maliciously. This is, as far as I can determine,
unprecedented in Scottish legal history.

A malicious prosecution of innocent individuals is something we might expect from a third
world dictatorship with no respect for the rule of law. But this is not North Korea or Zimbabwe.
That it could have happened in Scotland in the 21st century is simply outrageous, and raises
the most serious questions about the conduct of the Crown Office.

None of this would have been uncovered had it not been for the tenacity of Whitehouse and
Clark and their colleagues. They took the Crown Office and Police Scotland to court in a civil
action, which both public bodies conceded. They were fortunate in having the private means
to pursue an extremely expensive court action against taxpayer-funded public bodies to
achieve this result; other individuals without the necessary resources simply would not have
had that opportunity.

Here we have a group of innocent men who faced prison, and financial ruin, for offences of
which they were entirely innocent. Moreover, the costs to the public purse for this fiasco have
already run into the tens of millions of pounds, and the total cost is now unlikely to be less
than £50 million, and could well be much more than that.

When we see so much pressure on the public finances generally, it is simply unbelievable
that such vast sums of public money could be squandered in this fashion. With businesses
and individuals currently desperate for support because of the impact of the Covid-19
pandemic, and unable to receive pay-outs from the Scottish Government, they will rightly be
asking why vital funds have been thrown away in this manner, when they could be put to so
much better use. There will also be many in the police service, looking at crumbling buildings
and failing equipment, asking who is responsible for these sums being lost.

Fundamentally, that is the question we need to get answers to. I believe that the current Lord
Advocate is a decent and honourable man. The prosecution of these individuals, all of whom
were connected with Rangers Football Club, predates his appointment as Lord Advocate. It
was his predecessor in office, Frank Mulholland, now a High Court judge, who was
Scotland’s chief prosecutor at the time. But it is James Wolffe as the current holder of the
office of Lord Advocate who has the responsibility to account to Parliament, and the Scottish
people, for what has gone wrong.

Last week I lodged a series of Written Parliamentary Questions in the Scottish Parliament
asking what sums had now been paid out in connection with this affair, and seeking other
information. It is vital that there is full public transparency over these matters, and I will be
doing all I can to uncover every last detail of the truth.

It may well be that there was criminal behaviour on the part of individuals in the Crown Office
which needs to be investigated. In that case, the old question from the Roman poet Juvenal
comes to mind: “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?”: who will guard the guards themselves? If
the prosecution service in Scotland is found to be corrupt, who will then have the task of
prosecuting them?

Whether the behaviour of the Crown Office was simply incompetence, or went as far as
corruption, is something that we need to know in time. Either way, this is an appalling episode
in Scottish legal history, and its repercussions are likely to be with us for many years to come.

           Boohoo Taking Over Debenhams

Murdo Fraser has expressed his concerns for Perth staff who work at Debenhams following
Boohoo taking them over.

Boohoo has announced that although they will take over Debenham’s website and brand,
they won’t be keeping their shops, meaning employees in Perth look set to be made
redundant.
The 242-year-old Debenhams chain is already in the process of closing down, following
administrators failing to secure a rescue deal for the retail business.
Commenting, Scottish Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser, who represents the Mid Scotland
and Fife region, said: “This is a disappointing outcome for the Perth staff who worked at the
Debenhams store. It will be a very anxious for time for them and their families.
“The loss of Debenhams in Perth’s High Street will be greatly felt and sadly, it is an indication
of the changing trends in shopping, where more and more customers are shopping online.”
Boohoo bought Debenhams for £55 million but will not take on any of the firm’s remaining
118 High Street stores or its staff.

       Broadband, Broadband, Broadband

Murdo Fraser is calling for action to address the problem of poor broadband across Perth and
Kinross.

The Scottish Conservative MSP, who represents the Mid Scotland and Fife region, states that
it is an issue that is constantly raised by constituents, with some residents who live in rural
areas receiving very slow speed of broadband, or none at all in some cases.

Commenting, Mr Fraser said: “Complaints about poor broadband or not having access to
broadband is still one of the main issues from constituents. The reasons for it not being
addressed tend to form a pattern – residents are told they can’t get broadband but may
qualify for a community voucher scheme, or if they can get it they are often presented with a
massive cost to have it installed.

“Now, more than ever, when many households in Perth and Kinross will have families where
both parents are working from home and children doing online school work, there is great
demand for fast, reliable broadband. To have some areas of the region not being able to do
so in this day and age is frankly shocking.”

Mr Fraser continued: “Matters have not been helped by the SNP Government’s flagship R100
broadband roll-out programme which has been beset by delays and a legal wrangle. Nicola
Sturgeon promised in the SNP’s 2016 manifesto to deliver 100% superfast broadband to all
of Scotland by the end of the Parliament session this year but that obviously isn’t going to
happen now.”

                            Betfred Cup Final

Murdo Fraser is calling on either BBC Scotland or STV to screen this year’s Betfred Cup
Final, which will feature St Johnstone.

The game will take place at Hampden Park, Glasgow, on February 28, when the Saints will
face Livingston in an attempt to win more silverware following them lifting the Scottish Cup
back in 2014.
It’s understood that the Betfred Cup Final will be screened on the Premier Sports channel,
which is paid by subscription.

Commenting, Scottish Conservative MSP Murdo Fraser, who represents the Mid Scotland
and Fife region, said: “It is great news that St Johnstone have reached another cup final – a
real boost for the city, especially during these very difficult times.

“I would support a call for the cup final to be shown on one of the terrestrial channels – that

way more people could watch it. It may well be that supporters still can’t attend football
matches when the cup final comes around, so it makes sense to screen it on the likes of
either BBC Scotland or STV.

“Broadcasting the game on a channel where you have to pay will probably put many Saints
fans off and seems unfair to a lot of supporters who will be desperate to watch their team.”

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