First minister 'obstructed' auditors

Local party auditors have investigated the accounts

First Minister Jack McConnell has been accused of obstructing inquiries into the Labour Party's accounts in his constituency.

Voluntary auditors have submitted a dossier of complaints to local party officials in Motherwell and Wishaw.

The claims come despite Labour's Scottish general secretary Lesley Quinn conducting an investigation which found that Mr McConnell and local MP Frank Roy did nothing wrong.

It also said they had both complied with the local audit process.

Jack McConnell: Obstructive

The constituency auditors, Hugh Mulholland and Sarah Taylor, disagree and have submitted detailed complaints to local party bosses.

They claim Mr McConnell promised receipts and explanations for expenditure -- then failed to deliver.

They also said he was unwilling to divulge information and talk of "a culture of secrecy".

Mr McConnell and Mr Roy's action - and inaction - "obstructed" the legitimate efforts to carry out the task delegated to them, they said.

"With greater co-operation and a commitment to openness and transparency by all concerned, matters would not have descended into this morass," the auditors said.

This, I hope, is the last final attempt by bitter and twisted people to justify the damage they have done to the first minister and the Labour Party over the past two months

Finance Minister Andy Kerr

Finance Minister Andy Kerr said the latest claims were "non-issues".

He said: "They are not real auditors, they are political opponents.

"They are non-financial, non-experienced, non-professionally qualified auditors who look after local books.

Mr Kerr added that two independent professional auditors had cleared Mr McConnell and Mr Roy of the allegations.

"This, I hope, is the last final attempt by bitter and twisted people to justify the damage they have done to the first minister and the Labour Party over the past two months."

A Labour Party spokesman said all the allegations raised by the auditors were already in the public domain and had been addressed by the party.

He added: "In the course of his audit the local auditor asked questions of the first minister and the first minister answered them to the best of his knowledge."