Now Neil Gray, who is no stranger to controversy over travel to the football, defends John Swinney's World Cup jolly

By MICHAEL BLACKLEY, SCOTTISH DAILY MAIL POLITICAL EDITOR Published: 19:19, 20 August 2026 | Updated: 19:24, 20 August 2026 An SNP minister who was embroiled in a football travel scandal has claimed that John Swinney’s £100,000 World Cup trip was a good use of taxpayers’ money. Justice Secretary Neil Gray, who faced widespread criticism for using the taxpayer-funded ministerial limousine to attend a series of football matches involving his favourite team, defended the huge costs racked up by the First Minister, his Sport Minister and an entourage of officials. He also claimed it was ‘proportionate’ for Mr Swinney and his two top aides to travel business class at a cost of nearly £50,000. Mr Swinney also defended the costs, which he said were down to ‘intense pressure’ on flights to the US for the World Cup. But critics condemned the SNP for trying to defend ‘junketeering’. Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay said: ‘John Swinney flew business class on his PR jolly to the World Cup with his flight alone costing taxpayers £18,000 - an eye watering sum beyond the reaches of many ordinary Scots who graft, scrimp and save to enjoy a modest family holiday. ‘He also decided to take an entourage of eight staff to the USA and spent almost £100,000 in total with £8,000 of that just on car hire. ‘To defend this clear abuse of taxpayers’ money, Mr Swinney must be having a laugh in sending out an SNP minister who’s best known for his abuse of taxpayer-funded limos. Neil Gray claimed it was ‘proportionate’ for John Swinney and his two top aides to travel business class at a cost of nearly £50,000  The Justice Secretary defended the cost of the First Minister attending the World Cup ‘SNP politicians love to pretend they understand about cost of living pressures but Swinney’s shabby junketeering exposes them as utter hypocrites who have zero respect for Scottish taxpayers.’ Mr Swinney travelled to Boston from June 11-14, then onto Kentucky over June 14-15, before returning to Scotland. His own flights, which were business class, cost £17,893.  Two of his close aides also travelled business class, with £17,893 also spent on the flights of his private secretary John Webster and £9,864 on his special adviser and chief of staff Colin McAllister. The rest of the First Minister’s delegation, which included communications staff, a content manager, a visits and events official and members of the Scottish Government’s US office, travelled economy class, with the total cost of flights at £57,441.  A further £14,082 was spent on hotels, including £1,072 for Mr Swinney, £930 for Mr Webster and £1,210 for Mr McAllister, as well as £10,095 on car hire. Ms Todd was in Miami from June 22-25 with four officials.  All their travel was economy class and cost a total of £5,485, while £2,810 was spent on hotels, £5,458 on car hire and £550 on expenses. The overall cost of Mr Swinney and Ms Todd’s trip was £98,442. Asked on BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast if the costs were a reasonable use of taxpayers’ money, Mr Gray – who faced calls to quit when he was health secretary for repeatedly using the ministerial limousine to attend football matches – said: ‘Yes, because we can see around the world the impact that Scotland’s participation in the world cup has had, from the Tartan Army to our soft power reach and the ability of us to make significant international connections. ‘It was right that the First Minister and his team were there to participate and to be part of that, and I know certainly from my own experience that the impact that the Tartan Army, that our presence in America had, has had significant goodwill come from it and we are going to see significant impact as a result.’ Pressed on whether the business class travel was necessary, he said: ‘That, I think, is right. ‘These are busy trips for ministers and it is right that they are able to arrive fresh, they are able to arrive in a way that means they are able to participate and do their work immediately. So I think that’s a proportionate use, yes.’ Asked about the costs yesterday, Mr Swinney said: ‘Obviously, when flights have got to be booked, when there’s intense pressure on the time involved, then the costs are likely to be higher.’ He added: ‘We tried to minimise those costs.’