The Scotland Office has indicated that it is willing to change the law to let the Holyrood election inquiry see the thousands of ballot papers which were spoiled on May 3.

Concerns have been raised that the inquiry, under the leadership of the Canadian election expert Ron Gould, may be toothless because it has no statutory powers to order the release of the 142,000 discarded ballots.

But The Herald has learned that the Scotland Office would be willing to introduce a piece of secondary legislation at Westminster which would allow the spoiled papers to be made available.

A spokesman for the Scotland Office said: "It's not for the Scotland Office to comment on the form the independent review should take.

"We have repeatedly stated we will co-operate with the review and will deal thoroughly with any requests as and when they emerge."

Meanwhile, a lawyer who attempted to raise a court action against the result of the election in the Glasgow regional list today says only the very rich are able to pursue such a case under the current legal set-up.

Mike Dailly, principal solicitor at Govan Law Centre, believes either the Greens or Tommy Sheridan's Solidarity could have gained an extra seat in the city but for the confusion which surrounded the ballot papers.

Under the Representation of the People Act, a candidate or voter is able to challenge the result of a parliamentary election by petitioning the Court of Session within 21 days - a deadline that expired last week.

Writing in The Herald today, however, Mr Dailly describes that right as "illusionary" because the Legal Aid board will not provide financial assistance for such cases.

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