Any inadvertent error should be corrected “at the earliest opportunity”, and those who deliberately mislead MSPs are “expected to offer their resignation”.
The SNP leader made the comments at last Thursday’s First Minister’s Questions after Andy Burnham announced plans to tweak the mechanism used to calculate the annual rise in the state pension.
From April 2030, the triple lock will change to a double lock, rising every year by inflation or by the 2.5% figure.
Mr Swinney said government figures showed this meant pensions would be £4 billion lower in Scotland by 2050 than they would have been had the triple lock remained in place.
He told MSPs: “We have been taken out of the European Union and we are now going to lose our pensions. Scotland needs to have independence.”
That prompted a letter from Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay, who said it was “not clear” whether the First Minister‘s comment was “misinformation or disinformation”.
In response, Mr Swinney said he had now alerted the independent advisers — who determine if Scotland’s ministerial code has been breached — to the row.
The First Minister said: “In line with the provisions of the Ministerial Code, the Independent Advisers are able to review this issue and to initiate an investigation in order to provide me with further advice to inform my conclusions should they feel it is merited. I have made the Independent Advisers aware of this correspondence.”
Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay arriving for First Minister’s Questions (Image: Jane Barlow/PA Wire)
Mr Findlay said: “Slippery John Swinney misled Scottish pensioners by peddling flagrant misinformation.
“Having been called out, he then doubled down to engage in silly game-playing instead of just doing the right thing and correcting the record.
“Swinney’s brass-necked shenanigans make a mockery of his frequently stated claim about the value he places in personal integrity and truthfulness.
“The fact he’s now been forced to alert the independent advisers looks like he knows he’s in the wrong and is desperately trying to cover his back.
“I hope the advisers reach the obvious conclusion that Swinney did mislead pensioners and force him to set the record straight.”
Speaking to journalists at the post-cabinet briefing on Tuesday, the First Minister’s spokesman accused opposition politicians of trying to make “mischief”.
He insisted that Mr Swinney’s comment was correct.
“I think it was pretty well understood what he was saying, and actually, I think people who are trying to, on the other side, who are trying to make mischief of this, all they’re doing is revealing how desperate they are.”
He said the First Minister was “not feeling desperate about this matter”.
The spokesman added: “I can absolutely assure you, he knows that he is on the right side.
“He stands by his remarks, and I think our opponents are making so much noise about this — because they know how frankly devastating it is for their pro-union campaign because it completely demolishes yet another shibboleth of the Better Together campaign.
“Just like when we were told voting no means we’d stay in the EU, that one has obviously gone to dust as well, and this is exactly the same situation.”
During backbench First Minister’s Questions on Tuesday, Mr Swinney said the changes to the triple lock would “have a detrimental impact on pensioners in Scotland”.
He added: “By applying Scotland’s projected share of the UK’s state pension age population, the Scottish Government estimates pensioners in Scotland could receive around £1.3 billion less per year by 2039/40, rising to around £4 billion by 2049/50, compared to the current triple lock being maintained.”
The First Minister said this was “a real loss of around £2,000 per person per year”.
“What this demonstrates is an erosion of the pension settlement that was promised as a guarantee to individuals in 2014, which is exactly the point I was making in First Minister’s questions on Thursday.
“So this is a very clear example of how the union is detrimental to the interests of pensioners. Pensioners in Scotland are losing out. The future for pensioners is independence.”
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said Scots “rightly expect better from their politicians than this”.
“John Swinney’s taxpayer-funded press officers are spinning so hard they must be dizzy,” she said.
“Instead of accepting that they have pushed out misinformation, the SNP are now doubling down on it and trying to deflect by any means necessary.”