Now it gets interesting – an email obviously received from Intertek, possibly chasing up the consultation response. A response drafted to RL (Richard Lochhead we presume). The agreed press line – essentially, the Scottish Government weren’t consulted – SNH & SEPA are dealing with it. Interestingly, given that we know that the Scottish Government were consulted, via Marine Scotland, it would appear that whoever has written this has LIED to Richard Lochhead who was at the time Environment Secretary. There is no co-incidence that Ian Blackford asked the UK government whether Marine Scotland had been consulted THE DAY BEFORE in the UK parliament. Mr Blackford was told by Robert Goodwill that “Marine Scotland was consulted on 10 December, and on 8 February, when the consultation ended, it had not responded. When it was asked whether it intended to respond, the answer was no.” Mr Blackford may well have sought clarification from Richard Lochhead – Richard Lochhead then sought clarification from Marine Scotland and this is the LIE they were told. It would certainly get our politicians off the hook on the count of misleading parliament if they can’t get a straight answer themselves.This really reads like an episode of “Yes Minister”. Who is really running the country and why do unelected officials think they can bend the truth like this? Easy – because there is no accountability – the names are all redacted – and what hope is there for member of the public trying to find out the truth?