The accusation of hypocrisy over the funding of Ms Alexander's parliamentary office as leader of the opposition may be a little unfair. It is to nobody's benefit if the opposition is insufficiently resourced to carry out the task of holding the Scottish Executive to account. And the fact that the allowance appears to amount to little more than £22,000 is prima facie evidence supporting Ms Alexander's case.
On the other hand, if at any time over the eight years up to May 2007 the then SNP opposition had had the temerity to raise the issue, the reaction of Scottish Labour would have been swift and brutal. Now that the tables are turned, Ms Alexander cannot expect sympathy and understanding from her political opponents.
Scottish Labour has made its political bed - now it will have to lie in it, at least for a while. Tough, I know, but life's like that.
(In any case, I thought that the review of parliamentary allowances was intended to cut out alleged abuses rather than to provide MSPs with greater access to the public purse.)
1 comment:
What's the Scottish Executive?
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