The former First Minister of Scotland has been branded an ‘utter fraud’ after failing to declare thousands of pounds worth of TV appearances during the General Election.
Nicola Sturgeon has been urged to apologise for breaching parliamentary rules after taking home the extra cash she made from appearing as a pundit on ITV during the General Election. The broadcaster had paid her £25k which the ex-First Minister had been late to declare, despite sitting as an MSP.
Opponents have blasted what she is calling a ‘misunderstanding’, accusing her of not stating some of the benefits associated with her TV appearances. Ms Sturgeon made a whopping £3,000 per hour on election night, to discuss politics and analysis of her party the Scottish National Party.
The former First Minister also received the payment through her limited company, meaning paying income tax could be avoided.
However, controversy surrounds this as while the party was under her leadership, the SNP called on Ruth Davdison, former Scottish Conservative leader, to step down after she was paid £7,500 for doing the same thing back in 2019.
The SNP also led calls for Douglas Ross to quit as an MP after he was late to declare thousands of pounds in earnings as a football referee but the party has now been silent on the scandal surrounding Ms Sturgeon.
According to parliamentary rules for Members of Scottish Parliament, they have 30 days to register the benefit or payment to the authorities after receiving it.
The Sunday Mail reports that she was late to register her hotel and travel arrangements worth £3,200 which were provided during the show. Ms Sturgeon had the accommodation and car travel between June 30 and July 5 yet only registered them on October 7, more than two months after receiving them.
Insisting it was a ‘misunderstanding’, she has now attempted to rectify the situation almost immediately after it came to light.
Scottish Labour deputy leader Jackie Baillie said: “Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP scolded other politicians for using TV appearances to pick up pay cheques, yet it seems that these scruples can be forgotten when the price is right.
“The former First Minister seems to have also forgotten she is a serving MSP — she now owes it to her constituents to make clear whether she intends to play a part in this Parliament or not.”
Scottish Conservative MSP Annie Wells said: “This appears to be a breach of the rules by Nicola Sturgeon.
“Given she has sat in Parliament since it opened, she should have been aware of them. She should clearly apologise for this late declaration. Having received a huge sum for appearing on TV, the least she should have done is to have kept her house in order.”
A spokeswoman for Ms Sturgeon has responded to the situation and said that there had been a “misunderstanding” but that no rules were broken.
“Due to an initial misunderstanding of the requirements in relation to the expenses for the appearance, these were registered slightly late but within the provisions of the Code of Conduct on late registrations. When Nicola realised the error herself, she took immediate steps to update the register,” they said.
