Back to Scotland, the land of failing upwards. Very recently, Humza Yousaf held the top political job in the country for just over a year – despite the SNP’s former cabinet minister having a record of underdelivering while he held the posts of transport, justice and health secretary. Now the First Minister is John Swinney, a failed nationalist leader who was previously forced to step down after his party performed poorly in elections. Not much has changed there, eh?
Yet it transpires that these are just two examples of many who have received thousands of pounds in resettlement grants over their political careers despite not achieving, um, all that much. Dubbed by the Mail as ‘rewards for failure’, the grants were awarded to SNP figures who stepped down from high-ranking government roles – with many of them forced out of their ministerial jobs. As Mr S wrote last month, disgraced ex-health secretary Michael Matheson was awarded a £12,700 ‘golden goodbye’ after he left his post over his £11,000 iPad scandal, about which he misled both press and public. And it doesn’t stop there.
Deputy party leader Keith Brown was entitled to multiple resettlement payments: one of £11,600 after he was pushed out of his economy secretary job by Nicola Sturgeon in 2018, and another of £12,500 when hapless Humza sacked him from the justice brief last year. Former public health minister Joe Fitzpatrick was due £7,500 in 2020, despite quitting over rising drug deaths, alongside a further £8,500 after quitting as local government minister when Swinney got the top job this year. Crikey.
Yousaf was due £52,300 when he was forced to resign as FM after his rather abrupt dismissal of the Scottish Greens in April, while the SNP’s Dear Leader herself was entitled to just under £65,000 after she decided to resign with no succession plan in 2023. Even Derek Mackay – the former finance secretary that quit after being suspended for sending inappropriate messages to a teenage boy – and Mark McDonald – who sent a text to a woman referencing a sex act – received payouts of £12,000 and £7,200 respectively. Good heavens…
Depending on how long they spent in office, former FMs can receive between 50 to 100 per cent of their salaries under Holyrood’s Pensions Act, while ex-ministers are entitled to grants worth 25 per cent of their ministerial pay. The cash in question is taken from parliament funds and supposedly to help politicians to adjust to the loss of office. Mr S would point out that many of the aforementioned Nats may not have lost their roles in the first place had they, er, simply behaved properly…
After winning just nine seats in the Westminster election, the SNP is looking desperately to 2026 with the hope the party will be able to win back voters in Holyrood’s national poll. But Steerpike reckons that task will become quite a bit harder after taxpayers realise they’ve been paying for Scottish government incompetency…
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