Wendy Alexander accused of abusing position over Scotland Bill

WENDY Alexander was last night at loggerheads with the Scottish Government after she signed a letter demanding that John Swinney submitted his model for fiscal independence to her Scotland Bill committee by the close of play yesterday.

The finance secretary declined to provide details of the SNP Government's vision of "full fiscal autonomy" to the committee examining Scotland's constitutional position. An SNP Government source claimed that the former Labour leader's demand was an "abuse of her position as committee convener".

"She is playing partisan politics when what she should be doing is her job of scrutinising the Scotland Bill and how to improve the bill's financial provision," the source said.

A Scottish Parliament spokeswoman said: "It is entirely standard for a Scottish Parliament committee to ask the Scottish Government, or other organisations, to provide written evidence and any clarification before they appear to give oral evidence." Yesterday, Scottish Secretary Michael Moore confirmed that the Scottish Government had not submitted its proposals.

Mr Moore said: "We have got into a situation where perhaps it is suggested that some detailed proposals and modelling were put to either the Treasury or to the Scotland Office. That is not the case."