'Hypocrisy' as ministers get time off for World Cup jolly

By MICHAEL BLACKLEY, SCOTTISH DAILY MAIL POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 19:18, 9 June 2026 | Updated: 19:18, 9 June 2026 Two SNP ministers were granted a holiday to attend the World Cup by John Swinney because they bought tickets before they entered Government. The First Minister was accused of hypocrisy after allowing Stephen Flynn and Alison Thewliss time away from their parliamentary and ministerial duties to attend Scotland matches in the United States. He previously attacked Tory MSPs Murdo Fraser and Dean Lockhart for ‘skiving off’ their parliamentary duties when they attended a Rangers match in the Europa League in Seville, Spain, four years ago. The First Minister will attend the Haiti match in Boston in the early hours of Sunday as an official representative of Scotland, while Sport Minister Maree Todd will attend the Brazil match in Miami on June 24. But Mr Flynn and Ms Thewliss are attending in a personal capacity in their own time after being granted leave despite the Scottish parliament not entering its recess period until June 27, days after Scotland’s last group fixture against Brazil. Stephen Flynn has been given time off from his ministerial duties to attend Scotland matches in the United States Alison Thewliss has also been given the green light to attend the World Cup Tory MSP Stephen Kerr said: ‘This is staggering hypocrisy from John Swinney. He previously couldn’t wait to attack other MSPs for doing exactly what he’s now rubber- stamped for two of his ministers.’ Explaining the reasons for granting them leave, the First Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘I think he took the view that obviously these ministers are new in post and they booked this before they took office.’ Mr Swinney’s trip to the US, as a guest of Fifa for the opening Scotland match, is expected to begin on Friday. Asked how the absence of Mr Flynn and Ms Thewliss is different from Mr Fraser and Mr Lockhart in 2022, Mr Swinney’s spokesman said: ‘This is Scotland’s first appearance in the (men’s) World Cup in almost 30 years.’ No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.