{"id":800345,"date":"2026-10-12T16:44:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T16:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/800345\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T16:44:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T16:44:10","slug":"john-swinney-will-not-be-investigated-over-pension-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/800345\/","title":{"rendered":"John Swinney will not be investigated over pension comments"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n The SNP<\/a> leader alerted the ethics watchdogs after facing calls to correct the official record over his claim that Scots would \u201close our pensions\u201d because of Andy Burnham<\/a>\u2019s changes to the triple lock.\n<\/p>\n

\n Writing to presiding officer Kenneth Gibson, Mr Swinney said while he had made clear that pensioners would lose out on \u00a32,000 a year, but said opposition MSPs had \u201cfocused on a single sentence\u201d during an exchange at FMQs<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\n He said: \u201cThere have been a number of written requests, including correspondence from MSPs, calling for an investigation by the independent advisers on the ministerial code.\n<\/p>\n

\n Read More:\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cRather than looking at the whole FMQ exchanges, these calls focused on a single sentence where I concluded, \u2018We have been taken out of the European Union and we are now going to lose our pensions\u2019.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cIn line with normal processes, the independent advisers were made aware of these requests.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cThey have now informed me that they have concluded that no investigation is required.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n The First Minister said he welcomed the finding, adding: \u201cI am writing to you to be unambiguously clear that, as I set out, the loss is estimated to be \u00a32,000 in real terms as compared to the triple lock remaining in place.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI hope this is helpful and I now consider this matter closed.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n Scottish Conservative<\/a> leader Russell Findlay<\/a> had accused Mr Swinney of \u201cscaremongering\u201d and said he was \u201cpeddling flagrant misinformation\u201d.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cI hope the advisers reach the obvious conclusion that Swinney did mislead pensioners and force him to set the record straight,\u201d he said last week.\n<\/p>\n

\n The First Minister wrote to Mr Findlay on Monday, saying: \u201cFurther to my letter of October 5, I can advise that my advisers have now considered the matter in full, and concluded that there is nothing to investigate.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cAs I have stated, I am satisfied that there has been no breach of the ministerial code, and therefore consider this issue closed.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n The Prime Minister announced proposals to reform the triple lock on pensions, meaning pensions will not rise by as much as they would have, in order to pay for social care in England.\n<\/p>\n

\n Scotland receives money known as \u201cBarnett consequentials\u201d when England spends in devolved areas.\n<\/p>\n

\n Mr Findlay said: \u201cJohn Swinney<\/a> misled Parliament and he knows it.\n<\/p>\n

\n \u201cHe should set the record straight instead of crowing that he has supposedly not breached the ministerial code.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The SNP leader alerted the ethics watchdogs after facing calls to correct the official record over his claim…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":800346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[84,4176,4174,4175,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-800345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-personal-finance","tag-business","tag-finance","tag-personal-finance","tag-personalfinance","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=800345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/800345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/800346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=800345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=800345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=800345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}