The Scottish Government must come clean about funding for this year's T in the Park, the Scottish Conservatives said today. The call comes ahead of Fiona Hyslop appearing before a Holyrood committee to explain why the music festival was given £150,000 of public money. The payment was given to event organisers DF Concerts to help the music festival re-locate from its' Kinross venue to Strathallan Castle.
For three months, the Scottish Conservatives have been calling for the full facts to be known about why public money was used to fund a successful and commercially viable festival.
The funding was given to DF Concerts following a meeting between Fiona Hyslop and T in the Park chief executive, Geoff Ellis. That meeting was arranged by Jennifer Dempsie, a former aide to Alex Salmond, and her role has previously prompted accusations of cronyism, given her close connections to the SNP.
Scottish Conservative culture spokeswoman, Liz Smith, said:
"I am sure many people will be paying full attention to the detail of the statements made by Fiona Hyslop when she gives evidence on Tuesday.
"The public deserves to know what correspondence took place between the Cabinet Secretary's office and DF Concerts regarding the award of £150,000 and on what criteria was it granted.
"If the claim is being made that the future of the festival was in doubt if this money was not paid over, then surely there was a business case presented to support that argument.
"People want an answer to this question particularly given the fact that DF Concerts is part of a profit making enterprise.
"T in the Park is a popular commercial festival. The public deserve honesty and transparency on this issue from the SNP."
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