John Swinney’s Scotland World Cup trip cost taxpayers almost £100,000
Data published by the Scottish Government under freedom-of-information legislation shows almost £100,000 was spent for Swinney and Scottish Government officials to visit Boston on June 11 and a trip to Kentucky three days later, along with another visit to Miami by sports minister Maree Todd for the team’s final group stage tie against Brazil.
While Swinney flew business class with his senior officials, Sports Minister Maree Todd and other officials flew on far cheaper economy-class flights.
Swinney has argued his government aimed to "minimise" costs, which also included hotels and expenses and came to £98,442.
The flights alone for Swinney and his private secretary John Webster came to £17,893 each, while business class tickets for his special adviser Colin McAllister were £9,864.
It was £11,800 for economy-class flights for several officials who were Swinney, and £10,000 to hire a car for the trip. It cost Todd and four of her officials £5,485 to fly to Miami for Scotland’s final game.
Hitting out at the use of public funds, Tory MSP Stephen Kerr said: “Nobody begrudged SNP ministers joining the Tartan Army to cheer on Scotland men’s team at their first World Cup appearance in nearly three decades, but in typical SNP fashion costs were never kept under control.
“Swinney and his ministerial colleague were clearly happy to escape all the challenges facing them back home, but they should have met these significant costs out of their own pocket.
“That would have been the right thing to do given they are forcing Scots to pay more but get less on a daily basis.”
Defending the costs, Swinney said there was “an intense pressure on the time involved” that caused the costs to be higher, insisting the government tried to keep them to a minimum.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “International travel allows Ministers to promote Scotland, build relationships and boost investment.
“The Scotland’s men’s team qualifying for the World Cup for the first time since 1998 was a unique opportunity to position and promote Scotland’s interests through a major global event.”
World Affairs Correspondent
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