THE Scottish Secretary has been accused of not taking his role "seriously" after making what he called a "flippant remark" about the Welsh Secretary during a key committee meeting.

Alister Jack appeared before the Scottish Affairs Committee for the first time today and was asked about his department's spending on social media by SNP MP Deidre Brock.

The MP for Edinburgh North and Leith asked Jack why the Scotland Office spends a "significant amount" on social media while the Welsh Office spends nothing.

Jack replied: “They’re less ambitious than us for the Union, obviously. We take it very seriously and we want to promote the good work that we do. There’s a lot of things – whether it’s type 31 Frigates in Rosyth, £211m for Scottish farmers, the COP26 coming to Glasgow … we want people to know about the good things that this government is doing for the United Kingdom and for Scotland.”

Brock responded: “You’re seriously saying that the Secretary of State for Wales is less ambitious for his area than you are?”

Here's the Scottish Secretary saying he's more committed to the UK than the Welsh Secretary then saying he shouldn't be taken seriously. This is him answering questions about his work to the Scottish Affairs Committee but he doesn't take it seriously... #MotherOfParliaments pic.twitter.com/WwNPXDKfof — Deidre Brock MP (@DeidreBrock) October 16, 2019

Contradicting himself, the Scottish Secretary quickly said: “That was a flippant remark, I wouldn’t take it too seriously. As to what he does and how he chooses to do it that’s a matter for him – all I’m saying is we take it very seriously promoting the UK Government in Scotland.”

Brock later took to Twitter to criticise Jack over the encounter.

She posted: "Here's the Scottish Secretary saying he's more committed to the UK than the Welsh Secretary then saying he shouldn't be taken seriously.

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"This is him answering questions about his work to the Scottish Affairs Committee but he doesn't take it seriously... #MotherOfParliaments"

During his appearance before the committee, Jack also announced a "package of proposals" for devolution reform would be published before the end of the year.