Fergus Ewing: Scottish government cabinet minister faces fresh bullying claims
Written by News on 20/02/2020
Sky News has learned that a Scottish government cabinet minister is facing fresh allegations of bullying.
Fergus Ewing, Scotland’s cabinet secretary for rural economy and tourism, is the subject of a complaint made by civil servants based in Edinburgh.
Sky News understands that a number of employees, based in Marine Scotland at the Scottish government’s Victoria Quay building, made complaints of bullying behaviour by the minister late last year.
Details were passed to senior managers within the Scottish government who have spent several months trying to resolve the issue informally.
The Scottish government’s complaints procedure allows for an escalation of the process, which would involve a formal complaint as a next step.
Ultimately, Mr Ewing’s future may be a decision for First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.
The Scottish government’s ministerial code, which asserts that “bullying… will not be tolerated”, states that “The First Minister is… the ultimate judge of the standards of behaviour expected of a Minister and of the appropriate consequences of a breach of those standards.”
It is the second time in recent years that 62-year-old Mr Ewing has faced complaints of bullying.
In 2018, he issued an apology following a bullying allegation made by a government official, and said in a statement that he could be “forthright” in the way he represented his views.
When asked by Sky News about the current allegations, Mr Ewing replied: “No comment. I have no comment.”
This week, Ms Sturgeon enhanced Mr Ewing’s role in government by adding tourism to his ministerial portfolio in a cabinet reshuffle.
The reshuffle was prompted by the resignation of Scotland’s finance secretary Derek Mackay earlier this month.
He stepped down, and was suspended from the SNP, following newspaper revelations that he sent hundreds of social media messages, unsolicited, to a 16-year-old boy.
Sky News asked the Scottish government about the current bullying complaint against Mr Ewing.
A spokesperson said: “Harassment or abuse of any form is completely unacceptable, and will not be tolerated in the Scottish government.
“We do not discuss internal staffing matters or comment on the existence or otherwise of complaints.”
Mr Ewing is the MSP for Inverness and Nairn and was first elected to the Scottish parliament when it opened in 1999. He is the son of the former SNP president Winnie Ewing.
(c) Sky News 2020: Fergus Ewing: Scottish government cabinet minister faces fresh bullying claims
