Former secretary of state for Scotland​ Lord Jack claimed the Scottish Government’s preparations for recycling scheme were “farcical” and a “comedy of errors”.

G​iving evidence at a compensation claim in the Court of Session, Lord (formerly Alister) Jack said the process had been rushed with little account taken of the obligation to meet UK internal market rules.

Waste management company Biffa is making a multi-million pound claim against Scottish ministers for the investment it made as the collecting agent for the deposit return scheme which was pulled by the then Circularity minister Lorna Slater following a dispute with the UK government.

Ms Slater, who began her own evidence yesterday, has blamed UK ministers for not enabling the scheme to go ahead.

The DRS would have added a 20p deposit to all single-use drinks containers — plastic, metal, or glass — refundable upon return. It was due to go live in August 2023 but suffered a series of delays.

It was finally pulled after the UK government said it breached the Internal Market Act (IMA), a piece of post-Brexit legislation designed to prevent internal trade barriers within the UK, and to restrict the legislative powers of the devolved administrations in economic policy.

Lord Jack, who took the decision to veto the scheme, told the court: “It was a comedy of errors. Farcical. The whole thing was farcical.”

He said preparatory work should have been done earlier and accused Holyrood ministers of “pointing a gun to our heads” through their desire to implement the scheme. The Scottish government had failed to align its proposals with the IMA, he said.

He told the court of that there had been widespread concern among businesses, with more than 1,000 contacting him and one drinks producer threatening to withdraw its products from Scotland because of the complexity and cost of the scheme.

A letter sent in May 2023 by Ms Slater “misled” recipients by failing to explain that the scheme’s future was uncertain due to the dispute with the UK government, he claimed. He added that it was “irresponsible” not to tell companies about the risks involved.

Lord Jack denied that his decision was “political” but was based on legal factors.

Ms Slater began her evidence by telling Biffa’s lawyer, Roddy Dunlop KC, that she had not expected the scheme to be obstructed by the IMA and she was confident” that it would qualify for an exclusion.

She will continue giving evidence on Tuesday when the hearing before Lord Sandison, resumes.