Scotland’s independence minister Jamie Hepburn has said spending on prospective papers setting out the case for Scottish separation from the UK was a “minute proportion” of the overall Government budget.
Mr Hepburn spoke to BBC Scotland’s The Nine on Thursday evening after the launch of the latest paper making the case for Scotland to leave the UK.
The document proposed an independent Scotland would adopt a similar system for citizenship as Ireland, allowing people born elsewhere to apply to become Scottish citizens if they have a Scottish parent.
I don't think there is anything unusual or worrying about having civil servants working to the agenda of a democratically elected government— Jamie Hepburn
He said: “Let’s remind everyone of course that in 2021 there was a Scottish Parliament election and the SNP stood on a platform of advancing the case for independence, providing the people of Scotland with the information they require to make an informed decision, so that’s work we’re getting on with.
“This latest paper lays out the way in which people will be citizens of an independent Scotland or could acquire citizenship of an independent Scotland.”
Mr Hepburn was asked about comments by the head of the UK civil service, Simon Case, who said having civil servants working to break up the UK would be “unusual and worrying”.
The minister responded: “I don’t think there is anything unusual or worrying about having civil servants working to the agenda of a democratically elected government.”
Mr Hepburn, who was recently appointed to the role by First Minister Humza Yousaf, said spending on the papers was around £16,000 each which represented a “minute proportion” of the Scottish Government budget.
He also said there were around 20 civil servants working on the papers but his department would be able to “draw upon the resources of the entirety of the civil service”.
He was asked about EU membership and insisted that Scotland would be “welcomed back with open arms”.
Donald Cameron, Scottish Conservative MSP, said: “I think most people across Scotland will be horrified that at this point in time, Humza Yousaf is focusing on another paper touting independence.
“Most people in Scotland would be horrified at a waste of taxpayers money and a waste of civil servants’ time when of course he should be concentrating on everyday issues that affect people in their lives.”
