SNP DISMISS LABOUR'S "CONFUSED" STANDARDS REFERRAL OVER LUNCHES

SNP DISMISS LABOUR'S "CONFUSED" STANDARDS REFERRAL OVER LUNCHES

Commenting on the letter from a member of the Labour Party to the Standards Commissioner Stuart Allan regarding the lunches issue - which was already publicised by Labour yesterday - an SNP spokesperson said:

"This letter from a Labour Party member is an extension of Labour's confusion on the issue. The Parliament's Corporate Body has already been asked by Mr Salmond to provide a ruling on the use of the restaurant, because they are the body responsible for parliamentary resources.

"In any event, by definition since no lunches have taken place, it is impossible to argue that anything has been misused. This confused complaint is hardly helped by getting Mr Salmond's Holyrood constituency wrong.

"For Labour to play politics with this issue given their record of 'Lobbygate', Red Rose dinners and their three MPs being criminally charged over expenses is the height of hypocrisy. The lunches were planned for the parliament restaurant, which is a public space where journalists and all passholders can book a table, so the notion of private access is by definition absurd.

"The issue is the need to get proper rules for the use of the restaurant, including urgent clarification that charity-based events can continue to take place, and that is exactly what Mr Salmond has asked the parliament's Corporate Body for."