A LIBDEM MSP has reportedly spent the last two months in Italy – while part of his North East Scotland constituency was forced back in lockdown.
Mike Rumbles has stressed he has been working remotely, but apologised for missing a Holyrood committee meeting investigating controversial ferry contracts and new farming laws, according to parliamentary records.
Rumbles has been in Italy while an outbreak of coronavirus left his constituents in Aberdeen in a renewed lockdown, according to the Sunday Mail.
Aberdeen restaurants and pubs were closed on August 5 while travel restrictions were put in place after a local outbreak of Covid-19 cases in the city, before being lifted by the Scottish Government last Thursday.
After the newspaper contacted Rumbles through his party, he said: “Like so many other MSPs, I have been working remotely every day replying to constituents’ problems, liaising with Parliamentary staff, lodging Parliamentary questions and voting on each day we have had remote voting.
“In other words, I have continued to perform my Parliamentary duties remotely every single day since Parliament went into recess.
“While remote working is not by any means perfect, it is something we have all had to get used to.”
Rumbles has been able to vote on Holyrood business through remote voting measures introduced as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.
But his Holyrood opponents have criticised his actions, with Scottish Greens MSP John Finnie hitting out at his “staggeringly poor judgement”.
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