Taxi Driver Online

Former Scottish Conservative leader David McLetchie has paid back almost £300 of Holyrood travel expenses which he had claimed "in error".
The expenses were paid between July 1999 and September last year for 24 journeys, most of them by taxi.

Eleven of the claims were for trips to Mr McLetchie's dentist in Edinburgh, Holyrood officials said.

Mr McLetchie stepped down as Tory leader on 31 October after controversy surrounding the misclaimed expenses.

I take full responsibility for the errors and mistakes made in relation to these claims

David McLetchie MSP
Former Conservative leader

The publication of the details followed an exhaustive scrutiny of his claims going back six years.

They included £44.37 return mileage between Edinburgh and Perth in August 2001 for a party conference, the same sum for the same journey for a candidate policy conference in February 2003, and a £17.20 rail journey from Edinburgh to Glasgow for a party conference in March 2003.

The remaining 21 journeys were all taxi trips in Edinburgh.

Four trips made in 2002 and 2004, including one from Mr McLetchie's home to Edinburgh Airport, were described as "personal".

In a letter to Presiding Officer George Reid, Mr McLetchie said: "I take full responsibility for the errors and mistakes made in relation to these claims and express my sincere apologies both to the parliament and the wider Scottish public."

In response, the presiding officer said: "I am grateful for the considerable time that you have spent with parliamentary staff going through your travel expenses line by line."

He said officials had confirmed the £293.74 had now been repaid "and we are content that the matter rests there".

Mr Reid went on: "I recognise that the spate of enquiries about expenses over a long period of time has placed you under considerable strain.

"I very much hope that this settlement will allow you to move on and again play a full part in the business of our parliament."

Would a taxi driver who had been caught in receipt of too much tax credits than he was due, but then paid it back claiming it to be an administrative error, have been praised ?

Would the following comments have been used by the Inland Revenue ?

"I am grateful for the considerable time that you have spent ...... going through your travel expenses line by line"

".... we are content that the matter rests there"

"I recognise that the spate of enquiries about expenses over a long period of time has placed you under considerable strain"

"I very much hope that this settlement will allow you to move on and again play a full part in the business of ......"

But doesn't it show the stupidity (and greed) of some politicians, when they are prepared to put their jobs on the line for a few hundred quid.

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IDFIMH