BORIS Johnson’s new special adviser on Scotland claimed £6000 in expenses despite only speaking six times in the House of Lords last year.
Mark McInnes stepped down as the director of the Scottish Conservatives after 20 years to take on the new adviser role, where he is expected to play a key role in countering the independence movement and “strengthening the Union”.
The peer is already a constitutional adviser to Scottish Secretary Alister Jack, and McInnes will soon advise the Westminster government on all things Scotland and the Union.
And now, the Daily Record reports that Lord McInnes of Kilwinning claimed £5994 between April and November for his work in the Lords. During that period of time he made only six speeches.
READ MORE: Tory peer Mark McInnes to become Number 10 Scotland adviser – who is he?
The amount in daily fees that peers could claim were temporarily cut in half, due to working arrangements during the pandemic, with the maximum reduced from £323 a day to £162.
In the Lords, the majority of peers do not receive a salary, but can claim an allowance to meet costs incurred attending Westminster.
McInnes made one speech in April 2020, registered two days of attendance and charged the taxpayer £324.
A month later he attended for three days and made one speech on Syria. He charged £486.
In June he attended the Lords 10 times, didn’t speak once and logged £1620 in expenses.
While in July he spoke twice - about East Africa and then churches reopening - at a cost of £972 to the taxpayer.
The House of Lords does not sit in August, but in September McInnes made one speech then charged £972.
The new adviser was given an £810 allowance for attending for 10 days in October, and in November he charged the same amount for attending 12 times - but he didn’t speak once.
Between December and February, the latest available figures for financial support, McInnes attended a number of times but did not claim expenses.
An SNP spokesman said: “While the Tories are cutting Universal Credit to hard-pressed working families in Scotland – and hacking back the foreign aid on which the world’s poorest depend – McInnes is claiming £300 a day in Lords allowances without contributing anything at all for weeks at a time.
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“Banking six grand for the sum total of six utterances is extremely lucrative for what McInness apparently treats as an occasional hobby.
“The Lords itself is an insult to democracy. There are only six Scots Tory MPs because the Tory brand is so toxic in Scotland that most of their candidates would not be elected to the local bowling club committee.
“Instead, the Tories bolster their ranks with placemen and women like McInnes – soon to be joined by Baroness Ruth Davidson – so they can impose their views on how Scotland is governed without ever answering to the electorate at the ballot box.
“It is yet another reason why Scotland will have the right to choose a better, fairer future as an independent country."
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