Dear oh dear. First the SNP’s health secretary attempted to use the public purse to cover his phone bill costs. Now, in a separate matter, the Scottish government’s tourism and trade minister has come under fire for lumping a similarly large bill on taxpayers.
Richard Lochhead’s three-day trip to California resulted in a rather hefty expenses bill of £11,750. Responding to a freedom of information request, the Scottish government helpfully broke down how this money was spent. £8,000 plane tickets, £800 accommodation and just under £450 on extra ‘travel and subsistence’ costs illustrate a rather enjoyable stay. But the real zinger was the revelation that Lochhead racked up costs of £2,500 on ‘chauffeur car travel’. Alright for some!
The purpose of the visit was to ‘tap into the US space economy’ — though Lochhead reportedly spent just, er, 15 minutes delivering his speech on space. The Scottish government defended Lochhead’s trip to the Golden State, saying: ‘The trade minister undertook 17 engagements with industry experts…to discuss investment in Scotland.’. But Lochhead’s lavish LA jaunt was not received well by the CEO of Scotland’s own spaceport, Frank Strang, who seemed rather miffed by the whole thing. Strang fumed: ‘Lochhead’s office is 34 minutes from our office in Grantown-on-Spey, but we have never met him. He goes to LA and meets one of our clients, but he hasn’t been to our spaceport.’ Awkward…
It’s not the first time officials have demonstrated a relaxed approach to spending Scottish taxpayer’s cash. It emerged last year that, between 2019 and 2022, the public purse was regularly ransacked for swanky away days, where civil servants ran up costs of £33,000 playing laser tag, crazy golf and even made time for a trip to the Zoo. No wonder the Scottish government never gets anything done…
First Minister Humza Yousaf announced a crackdown on ‘jollies’ in January, but today’s revelations have seen the Scottish Tories blast the Scottish government for living in ‘La-La land’ and being out of touch on public spending during a cost-of-living crisis. And Mr S would suspect taxpayers aren’t far from reaching the end of their tether either. Never mind the space economy, SNP politicians should focus first on getting their own heads out of the clouds.
Comments