Caught! Westminster sleaze watchdog investigates three jobs Douglas Ross
Douglas Ross is to be investigated by a Westminster sleaze watchdog after failing to declare income from his second and third jobs.
The MP for Moray was assistant referee at four weekend Celtic fixtures in Glasgow over four months as the SFA handed out appointments to assist the leader of the Scottish Tories.
Last November Ross was on the line at Hampden for Celtic’s Scottish Cup semi-final win over Aberdeen. He claimed back expenses of £48.99 for parking and £43 for train travel but forgot to register his £445 match fee from the SFA.
The Herald recently exposed the fact that Ross hadn’t been declaring his football income or MSP salary to Westminster, now he has to explain himself to the Parliamentary Standanards committee with Jacob Rees Mogg also caught out.
Sky News reports:
Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg and Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross are both being investigated by Westminster’s sleaze watchdog.
Kathryn Stone, the parliamentary commissioner for standards, is now looking into allegations against the pair of Tory MPs, according to an updated register of her current investigations.
It means there have now been three investigations launched by Ms Stone in the wake of Westminster’s recent sleaze row, which was prompted by the Owen Paterson lobbying scandal.
Both Mr Rees-Mogg and Mr Ross are listed as being under investigation over the registration of interests related to employment and earnings.
Last month, Labour demanded Mr Rees-Mogg be probed over claims he failed to properly declare £6m in loans from one of his companies.
Meanwhile, Mr Ross recently reported himself to Ms Stone over previously undeclared earnings.
The Moray MP, who sits in both the House of Commons and the Scottish Parliament, failed to register payments for his salary as an MSP and his work as a football match official.
He was late in declaring payments worth £6,728.57 received for 16 football games. And he also failed to declare five months of his MSP salary, amounting to £8,607.
Your thoughts on Douglas Ross
Ross hasn’t been waving his flags or shouting red card since January when he suffered a hamstring injury.