Neil Gray under fire over 'using ministerial car to visit the pub'

The National

13-06-2025

Gray has previously faced heavy criticism for having been chauffeured in a ministerial car to attend major Aberdeen cup matches at Hampden Park.
The Health Secretary was gifted VIP seats on three occasions to watch the Dons play Hibernian, Rangers and Celtic in the League Cup and Scottish Cup.
The Scottish Government said he was attending the games as a guest of the Scottish Football Association to discuss 'essential' business which related to his ministerial brief.
Gray, who is an Aberdeen fan, declared the football trips as official business as they occurred across his time wellbeing economy, fair work and energy secretary.
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However, The Daily Mail has now reported that Gray also used the taxpayer-funded car to travel to the Brig O'Don pub in Aberdeen before heading to the city's Pittodrie Stadium in May 2024.
The trip was logged as a visit to a 'personal address, Aberdeen', despite Gray not having a personal address in the city.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: 'This is an administration error. Mr Gray travelled from government business to a restaurant for a personal engagement before returning to government business.'
They further said the trip was 'in line with the rules around Government Car Service GCS use'.
The Scottish Tories and Scottish Labour said Gray had questions to answer.
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said 'The decision to take a taxpayer-funded car to the pub is questionable enough – but the fact it was hidden from the public reeks of a cover-up.
'Neil Gray must come clean about exactly what happened here and explain why exactly this trip to the pub was legitimate government business.'
And Scots Tory depute leader Rachael Hamilton said: '[Gray] needs to explain why he and his team originally claimed that his ministerial limo took him to a home address rather than to a restaurant for socialising.
'Given the scandal the misuse of his government car caused, the Health Secretary ought to have double checked every journey to make sure that his account was factually correct, so this inaccuracy is hard to fathom.'
In January, Gray apologised for what he called an "inadvertent error" in his statements to parliament about the documentation of meetings at football matches he attended.
The SNP minister was accused of potentially misleading the Scottish Parliament by saying that minutes were taken at all the meetings in football stadiums.
Following a Freedom of Information request, the Sunday Post newspaper was told by the government there was no note produced of the meeting at the 2023 League Cup Final at Hampden Park, where Rangers defeated Aberdeen.
In November, Gray said it is legitimate for ministers to attend sporting events and he will continue to do so.