Tory leader’s own goal as he fails to declare £15k in outside earnings
DOUGLAS Ross has apologised for breaking House of Commons rules after failing to declare more than £15,000 in outside earnings.
The Scots Tory leader did not register that, on top of his MP’s salary, he also earned money as an MSP and as a football referee.
Yesterday, after the breaches came to light, he said he was ‘extremely sorry’ and had referred himself to the Standards Commissioner at Westminster.
He also admitted the ongoing sleaze row that has engulfed his party has been ‘extremely difficult’ and had damaged trust in politics.
Mr Ross returned to Holyrood in May’s elections – but is also a top-level referee and continues to sit in Westminster as MP for Moray.
His entry in the Commons’ Register of Interests should show all his outside earnings.
However, he failed to record officiating at 16 football matches between
‘I missed 16 games. I don’t know why I did that’
October last year and January 2021, during which he earned almost £7,000.
The Register also does not show his MSP earnings, which would be £21,000 a year – although he has been back as an MSP for only five months – and which he gives to charity.
The breaches are the latest development in the second jobs scandal engulfing Westminster. Sir Geoffrey Cox sparked fury for earning hundreds of thousands of pounds, working as a lawyer in the British Virgin Islands, a Caribbean tax haven.
And the Government caused outrage by attempting to stop the suspension of former Minister Owen Paterson – who had received £500,000 from companies he lobbied on behalf of – only to U-turn at the last minute.
Mr Ross yesterday said he took full responsibility for the mistake.
He said: ‘It was a bad error on my behalf. I’ve obviously done it throughout the time I’ve been an MP.
‘There was a period at the end of last year – I’ve tried to work out why – I missed 16 games. I don’t know why I did that. I noticed the mistake myself last week.
‘I got in touch with the parliamentary authorities 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’ve tried to rectify it as soon as it came to light. To show how serious I think this is, I’ve referred myself to the Standards Commissioner.
‘I contacted Kathryn Stone, the commissioner, yesterday to ask her to investigate.’
Last night, the SNP said it was ‘time to blow the whistle on Tory sleaze’ and urged Mr Ross to focus solely on his job at Holyrood.
Mr Ross admitted the series of sleaze scandals had damaged both his party and trust in politics as a whole, with a UK poll yesterday showing a shock six-point lead for Labour. However, he insisted there was a still a place for MPs and MSPs to have second jobs – as long as they are not paid to lobby for outside interests.
The Scots Tory leader said: ‘Should we have, for example, no GPs in parliament, sitting on the health committee? Should we have no lawyers to have their input into what parliament is deciding for our judicial system? I think it’s good we have those outside interests that shape the laws that we then pass.’
Although he forgot to register some refereeing earnings, Mr Ross mistakenly believed he did not need to register his income as an MSP because he ‘wasn’t benefiting from that’.
SNP deputy leader Kirsten Oswald said last night: ‘Triple-jobbing Douglas Ross is knee-deep in the Tory sleaze scandal. The rulebreaking 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.’