Row splits Holyrood committee as Douglas Ross 'abuses chair position'

HALF of the MSPs on the Scottish Parliament’s education committee have accused Douglas Ross of “abusing his position” as convener.

It came just moments after the former Scottish Tory leader issued a statement to the media through the Scottish Parliament communications office saying that Justice Secretary Angela Constance and Professor Alexis Jay would give evidence to his committee next week.

When Constance rejected calls for an inquiry into grooming gangs in September, she told MSPs that Jay – who led the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham in 2014 – had agreed with her that such a probe was not needed.

But emails made public by the Scottish Government on Wednesday revealed that Jay – who led the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Roth