Anger at ‘obscene’ use of limousines by MSPs

The Scottish Parliament’s Deputy Presiding Officer Elaine Smith, an avid socialist, was part of a group of MSPs and civil servants which spent nearly £500 on a return journey between parliament and Glasgow Airport for an official trip to Malawi last year.

The taxpayer-funded limousine ride is among dozens of trips in top-of-the range luxury cars detailed in files released to this newspaper under freedom of information laws.

The files also show how Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick and Miss Smith have regularly used limos to “commute” between their homes and parliament.

Mrs Marwick also used the taxpayer-funded service to travel less than two miles to attend the Edinburgh Military Tattoo.

In total the figures show Holyrood spent £24,031 on chauffeur-driven cars between May 2011 and September last year.

A range of high-end vehicles, all driven by professional chauffeurs, are used as part of the contract.

In February 2015, Deputy Presiding Officer Miss Smith, backbench MSPs Liam McArthur and James Dornan, as well as Holyrood officials, travelled from the Scottish Parliament to Glasgow Airport for a trip to Malawi.

Files show the party’s return limo journey cost a total of £474.50.

Months later, in November, Miss Smith addressed a debate in Holyrood where she spoke of the poverty she witnessed in Malawi.

She said the country faces “immense” challenges with poverty and how many people are “desperately poor economically”.

However, her use of the expensive limo on her return was last night heavily criticised by Eben Wilson, director of campaign group Taxpayer Scotland.

He said: “To take a chauffeur-driven car from Edinburgh to Glasgow Airport then talk about the horrors of the poverty you have witnessed in Malawi just beggar’s belief – I think a lot of people will see that as obscene.”

The majority of limo trips were related to events or functions which the Presiding Officer or her deputies were attending on behalf of the parliament.

However, a total of 19 journeys were between “home and Holyrood” for “parliamentary duties”.

Trips from the Scottish Parliament to her Fife home typically cost around £100 for the Presiding Officer, while her deputy Miss Smith would typically rack up costs of £140 for single journeys between her Lanarkshire home and Edinburgh.

Both MSPs regularly use the train to commute to Holyrood at other times.

A Scottish Parliament spokesman said: “Over her five-year term, the Presiding Officer has typically commuted by train from Fife to parliament.

“On occasion, when required to stay late at Holyrood on official duties, the Presiding Officer will make use of the car service.

“Similarly, Deputy Presiding Officers, when representing the Parliament, or on official duties at unsociable hours, may also make limited use of the car.”