‘That’s a lie!’ SNP chief in fiery Commons exchange over union polling row

Ian Blackford told off by Speaker in heated scenes

The SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford has called for an independent investigation into the UK government’s use of Covid polling – accusing ministers of misusing public money for “political purposes”.

Last week, The Herald newspaper reported last that a £560,000 Covid research contract with a public affairs firm Public First had been extended to cover research on “attitudes to the UK union”.

In heated scenes in the Commons, Mr Blackford accused a minister of lying, and also claimed the truth and the UK government were “distant strangers”.

Cabinet Office minister Julia Lopez denied the government had used the pandemic polling for political purposes – before Mr Blackford could be heard to shout: “That’s a lie! That’s a lie!”

The SNP MP was told off by Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle after Mr Blackford said Boris Johnson had been sacked twice “for lying”.

Asking an urgent question on the government’s use of emergency Covid contracts, Mr Blackford said: “No matter how hard they might try to sweep this under the carpet this scandal isn’t going away.”

Mr Blackford said he had written to the UK cabinet secretary, urging him to launch an independent investigation into “this blatant misuse of public money for political purposes”.

The SNP’s Westminster chief added: “If the UK government has nothing to hide, will the minster join me in supporting this investigation by the cabinet secretary and will she co-operate with it?

“The truth and this government are distant strangers, and that comes as no surprise when we remember the prime minister’s been sacked not once but twice for lying.”

The SNP MP’s remarks about Mr Johnson led to an intervention from the Speaker, who asked Mr Blackford to withdraw his remarks. “I’m sure you would like to think about the language,” said Sir Lindsay.

Cabinet minister Michael Gove has previously denied allegations of a misuse of public funds on opinion polling. “We don’t use taxpayer funds for party political polling,” he said on visit to Scotland on Monday.

Mr Gove’s deputy Ms Lopez told MPs on Tuesday that the polling exercise had merely been used to monitor “the impact of Covid in areas across the UK”.

She added: “This contract did not relate to constitutional campaigning, and any suggestion the government carries out party political research is entirely false.”

The minister was also challenged by Plaid Cymru on the contract given to Public First. Liz Saville Roberts, Westminster leader of Plaid Cymru, said: “Let’s call this out for what it is – a gross misuse of public money.”

Ms Lopez replied: “We do not use public money for political campaign purposes.”