Sunday Herald
SCOTTISH Conservative leader David McLetchie may have broken electoral law and Holyrood’s code of conduct by using the premises of his legal company to work as an MSP.
The embattled Tory politician, whose taxi invoices are set to be published this week, did not declare the use of his office at Edinburgh-based Tods Murray as a gift or a donation.
But a senior official at the Electoral Commission, the elections watchdog, said the rental value of McLetchie’s stints at the firm could have been a “permissible donation” if he had used the office for political work, which should have been declared. He also said the MSP should “be honest” about the aggregated cost of rent at the plush Queen Street property and urged McLetchie to “total up” the value of his stays.
Scottish Socialist Party leader Colin Fox has complained to the Electoral Commission about McLetchie’s office arrangements, as well as demanding that Holyrood standards commissioner Jim Dyer investigate.
SSP leader Fox will this week write to standards chief Dyer, asking him to investigate. He said: “It is a disgrace that McLetchie billed the taxpayer for cab rides to Tods Murray and I will be asking parliament to investigate whether these trips were for parliamentary business.
“I also want Jim Dyer and the Electoral Commission to look at whether he broke the rules by not declaring this other office. I’m not letting this go.”
