Point of odour!
Ex-MSP wins £4,000 payout after claiming VARNISH smell from a parliament table ‘ruined her health’
A FORMER MSP has won a payout from the Scottish parliament – after claiming her health was severely affected by fumes from a freshly lacquered table.
Elaine Smith, the ex-Deputy Presiding Officer, took Holyrood chiefs to court to demand compensation for breathing difficulties she insists were triggered by chemicals in a parliamentary committee room.
The Labour politician, who now struggles to walk uphill or climb stairs, said the lacquer caused lasting damage to her health and forced her to retire from politics.
After launching a legal case, she has now agreed a settlement with parliament chiefs believed to be about £4,000.
Last night, the 58-year-old said: ‘It’s not about the money; it’s a matter of principle.
‘Plenty of MSPs – myself included – have given speeches about the importance of health and safety at work but when it happened at the parliament, they didn’t want to admit they were wrong.
‘It is vital that lessons are learned. There’s a duty of care, not just to politicians but to officials and employees and members of the public who come along. I’d also like an apology for what happened to me. I’m still waiting for that.’
One of the original crop of MSPs elected when Holyrood was set up in 1999, Mrs Smith served as Deputy Presiding Officer between 2011 and 2016, before standing down at the last election in May this year.
Her legal battle began in 2016 when she chaired the inaugural meeting of the cross-party group on chronic pain.
Mrs Smith, who already had asthma, recalled: ‘We went into Committee Room 4, and there was a really strong smell of what I thought at first was paint. The ventilation is poor in there.
‘After 15 or so minutes, I became quite unwell – coughing and difficulty breathing – and I had to give up and hand over the chair. Outside the room, I was sick.
‘I had a bad night and my GP gave me steroids. For a week, I couldn’t breathe properly and developed mouth ulcers.
‘It turned out that the table had been relacquered and the chemicals had irritated my lungs.
‘There were a couple of others in the room, members of the public, who were affected, but their symptoms only lasted a few months.
‘It took two months to get a GP assessment. I was off work quite a lot and needed to see a respiratory specialist, but the parliament procrastinated. After a year, I was put on to a stronger inhaler, which I still use. I find it difficult to walk up stairs.
‘I told my local party in 2018 I wasn’t going to stand for election again. I could no longer give 100 per cent due to my health.
‘I’ve had a series of chest infections and then whooping cough over the Covid period, and it took six months to shake that off.
‘In 2018, I spoke to my trade union, Unite, and it was put in the hands of their lawyers.
‘Because of my underlying health issues – asthma and a thyroid problem – proving a case with no real precedent would be difficult. It would go on for months. I couldn’t expect the union to cover the costs or more public money spent on lawyers and court hearings.’
Mrs Smith is now awaiting the settlement with the Scottish parliamentary corporate body to be rubber-stamped by the All Scotland Personal Injury Court.
Holyrood officials insist that there has been no admission of liability as part of the deal. A parliament spokesman said: ‘The case was settled for a minimal sum last month at the pursuer’s request.’