Nicola Sturgeon was forced to back her Justice Secretary after she was accused of presiding over some of the worst months in the history of policing.
The First Minister confirmed Michael Matheson has her “full confidence” after HM Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMICS) this week reported several weaknesses in police call handling.
Mr Matheson had previously insisted there were “no systemic failings in the call-handling process” following the death of John Yuill and Lamara Bell, who lay undiscovered on the M9 for three days, despite a sighting of their car being reported to police.
Ms Sturgeon said a link between the deaths and police call handling has yet to be identified by the Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (Pirc), insisting HMICS only addressed the wider issues.
Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale said: “The day after Lamara Bell died, the Justice Minister Michael Matheson was on the television telling us that there were ‘no systemic failings in the call handling process’. We now know that this simply wasn’t true.”
She added: “The Justice Secretary is bang to rights on police failings. He can’t lay the blame anywhere else.
“So can I ask the First Minister: does she still have full confidence in her Justice Minister?”
Ms Sturgeon said: “Yes, I do.”
She added that her Government commissioned the HMICS report “to make sure we were identifying, so we can learn from any lessons” about police call handling and confirmed all 30 recommendations will be implemented.