By Hamish Mackay
The political future of Scottish Tory leader David McLetchie is in
question in a “disclose and explain” row over £10,000 worth of taxi
bills he has run up at the expense of the Scottish Parliament.
The row began when the Sunday Herald asked for McLetchie’s detailed expenses under the Freedom of Information Act.
In
releasing details of his taxi expenses, parliament officials blacked
out the destinations – citing data protection and security reasons.
Politicians
from other parties and sections of the media promptly speculated that
McLetchie had used taxis to and from the offices of Edinburgh law firm
Tods Murray, which is less than a mile away from the Scottish
Parliament building.
McLetchie was a £30,000-a-year partner in
the law firm until Scottish Daily Record investigations into possible
conflicts of interest earlier this year led him to resign the private
job.
Now Scottish Information Commissioner Kevin Dunion is
examining an appeal against the decision of the parliament authorities
to black out the taxi destinations on security grounds.
A
complaint has also been made to parliamentary standards commissioner Dr
Jim Dyer, asking him to investigate whether McLetchie was guilty of
using taxpayers’ money to travel to and from the law firm.
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