The Scottish Conservative leader, Douglas Ross, has reported himself to the parliamentary standards watchdog after it emerged he did not declare earnings from his second and third jobs while serving as an MP. The Moray MP apologised for failing to register thousands of pounds in undeclared earnings from his additional MSP salary and his work as a part-time football referee.
The Herald newspaper reported that Ross kept quiet about earning £28,218.57 from his MSP salary, as well as £6,728.57 from 16 football matches in 2021 and 2020, and £21,490 in a top-up salary from his role as an MSP. He told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland: “It was a bad error on my behalf. I have obviously done it [declared earnings] throughout the time I have been an MP but there was a period at the end of last year – I have tried to work out why - I missed 16 games. “I don’t know why I did that and I noticed the mistake myself last week. I got in touch with the parliamentary authorities. I worked with them to get the register up to date. I am extremely sorry. “This was a bad error. It was all of my own making and I tried to rectify it as soon as it came to light.” In a statement to the Herald, he added: “All payments have now been declared, including those from my MSP salary that are donated to charities.” The second jobs of MPs have come under scrutiny in recent weeks after the former minister Owen Paterson was found to have broken lobbying rules. The SNP said Ross was “knee-deep in the Tory sleaze scandal” and accused him of “scoring an own goal”. The SNP Westminster deputy leader, Kirsten Oswald, said: “The rule-breaking Scottish Tory leader must shift his attention from maximising his outside earnings and start focusing on his role as an MSP, which is supposed to be a full-time job. “Failing to declare thousands of pounds from multiple side hustles is a clear breach of the rules but the bigger concern is that Mr Ross isn’t doing the day job. He has missed crucial votes, including on Tory universal credit cuts, to rake in extra cash running the line at football matches. It is time to blow the whistle on Tory sleaze. “People in Scotland deserve better than this and Mr Ross must finally decide whether he wants to be an MP, MSP or full-time referee. By desperately clinging on to his Westminster seat, Mr Ross has scored an own goal.”