Justice secretary’s grooming gang comments probed for code breach

Scotland’s justice secretary Angela Constance is to be investigated over whether she breached the ministerial code in her remarks about a grooming gangs expert.

Constance has recently been accused of misrepresenting Prof Alexis Jay’s position on public inquiries into child sexual abuse and exploitation, and of misleading parliament as a result.

The SNP minister told parliament Prof Jay did not support further inquiries, though Prof Jay later clarified her remarks did not refer to inquiries in Scotland.

Constance survived a vote of no confidence at Holyrood last week after opponents alleged she had breached the code by failing to correct the record.

The Scottish government’s independent advisers…