National & International

Douglas Ross, the Scottish Conservative leader, is embroiled in a ‘job sleaze’ controversy

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The leader of the Scottish Conservatives has reported himself over undeclared earnings while serving as an MP, according to the BBC.

Douglas Ross has apologised for failing to fully record his MSP salary and earnings as a football referee in his register of interests at Westminster.

This included £6,700 for work as a match official for the Scottish Football Association.

He has now referred himself to the parliamentary standards watchdog.

The SNP said the Conservative MSP was “knee-deep in the Tory sleaze scandal”.

In a statement, first reported in The Heraldnewspaper, Mr Ross said all his earnings had now been declared after what he described as an “error on my behalf that shouldn’t have happened”.

He said: “This was an error on my behalf that shouldn’t have happened, and I apologise for not registering these payments on time.

“Since realising my mistake last week, I contacted the Office of the Register of Interests and made them aware of the situation. All payments have now been declared, including those from my MSP salary that are donated to charities.”

The paper says he failed to declare £28,218.57 in outside earnings from his second job as an MSP and third job as a football referee.

The undeclared income included £6,728.57 from 16 football matches in 2021 and 2020, and £21,490 in a top-up salary from his role as an MSP.

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