Scotland’s health secretary has rubbished claims he tried to buy Oasis tickets during a panel discussion on Alzheimer’s disease at the SNP conference.
Neil Gray branded the report “total nonsense”, explaining he made a joke and was instead “fully focused on chairing and contributing” to the session.
However, those behind the Sunday Mail article are standing by the coverage and have highlighted how in the past the party has denied stories which later turned out to be true.
The newspaper claimed Mr Gray looked up from his phone following a speech from the University of Glasgow’s Terry Quinn on how medical advances were giving new hope in the fight against dementia, and said: “I’m in the queue to buy Oasis tickets… on multiple devices.
“Hope is very important… that I get these tickets.”
Then referring to one of the band’s songs, he reportedly added he was “Half The World Away”.
Mr Gray pictured last week. Pic: PA
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie branded the alleged incident at the fringe event in Edinburgh on Saturday as “shameful”.
Mr Gray, the MSP for Airdrie and Shotts, eventually took to X on Sunday evening to refute the claims.
He posted: “Just to confirm this is total nonsense. In intros to a fringe session I was chairing another panellist jokingly referred to Oasis tickets.
“I said like so many I was in the queue, but felt Half The World Away from getting any. People laughed and we went into the serious business.
“I wasn’t trying to buy tickets in the meeting. I was fully focused on chairing and contributing to what was an inspiring session on brain health research and how Scotland, by the experts’ own words, is leading the world.
“The contributions from the audience and the panel were in-depth, insightful and inspiring.
“It was a pleasure being part of – with family experience of Alzheimer’s and dementia, it is too important an issue for me to do anything otherwise.”
When asked by an X user if he had managed to snap up tickets to the Oasis reunion tour, Mr Gray replied: “Nope.”
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In response to Mr Gray’s post, John Ferguson, the Sunday Mail’s political editor, stood by his story.
He added: “I specifically asked your press office later if you were claiming not to have really been buying tickets and the response was ‘no’.”
Lorna Hughes, the newspaper’s editor, added: “Not this again… do we really have to go through the long and not insignificant list of Sunday Mail stories the party denied but turned out to be true.”
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Last year, the SNP denied a Sunday Mail report that the party’s membership had dropped by 30,000 since 2021.
Murray Foote – the SNP’s then head of communications – described it as “drivel”.
The figures later turned out to be true, which led to Mr Foote’s resignation.
Peter Murrell, the husband of former first minister Nicola Sturgeon, shouldered the blame for the misleading responses to the media and quit as the party’s chief executive.
Mr Foote has since returned to the SNP as Mr Murrell’s replacement.
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Meanwhile, Mr Gray was appointed cabinet secretary for health and social care following the Michael Matheson scandal.
Mr Matheson stepped down amid a row over an £11,000 iPad data roaming bill.
The Falkirk West MSP had initially billed taxpayers before U-turning, claiming the device had only been used for parliamentary work during a family holiday to Morocco.
It later emerged his teenage sons had been using the work iPad as a hotspot to stream football while on the vacation.
When questioned by journalists days after he knew the truth, Mr Matheson continued to deny the iPad was used for personal use until he made a statement to Holyrood.
He was later suspended from the Scottish parliament for breaching the MSP code of conduct.
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