Leaked footage reveals top Scottish Government official boasting part of his ... trends now
Scotland's top civil servant has been urged to launch a probe after a senior Scottish Government official said part of his job was 'breaking up' the UK.
A leaked video shows Ken Thomson, the Scottish Government's director-general of strategy and external affairs, telling colleagues his title helps open doors in Whitehall.
In the footage of an internal civil service event, Mr Thomson then describes how fellow officials later find that 'what I'm actually there to talk about is breaking up the Kingdom'.
A leaked video shows Ken Thomson saying part of his job was 'breaking up' the UK
A senior Scottish Conservative MSP has called for JP Marks, the Scottish Government's permanent Secretary, to launch an investigation into the 'breach of the requirement for civil servants to be politically impartial'.
The video emerged just days after it was revealed the head of the UK civil service is reassessing whether ministers can continue to use Scottish Government staff and resources to promote the case for independence.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also faces the threat of a legal challenge seeking to stop her using public money and civil service time on independence.
It comes in the wake of last week's Supreme Court ruling that the Scottish Government cannot hold a referendum without UK Government consent because the constitution is reserved to Westminster.
Mr Thomson, a senior civil servant, is the Scottish Government's director-general of strategy and external affairs
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is also facing the threat of a legal challenge seeking to stop her using public money and civil service time on independence
Donald Cameron, constitution spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives, said: 'This outburst is unacceptable, and I will be writing to the permanent secretary to see if he agrees with me that it represents a breach of the requirement for civil servants to be politically impartial.
'We all know that the nationalists' strategy amounts to nothing other than breaking up the UK, but civil servants should not be boasting that it's their job.
'Given the court's ruling, it's unacceptable for taxpayers' money and civil servants' time to be spent like this.
'When there are serious questions about the SNP persisting with projects that may well be outwith the Scottish Government's lawful competence, this is another example of their focus being on their own constitutional obsession.
'It's the wrong priority at the worst possible time, when Scots want and expect the SNP to focus on pressing issues, such as the cost-of-living crisis and Scotland's crumbling NHS.
