MSPs vote themselves a day off for European election

Published on Wednesday 27 May 2009 21:59

MSPS have given themselves a paid day off to carry out last-minute campaigning for the European elections.

The Scottish Parliament will be closed on Thursday next week for the European election, even though there is no legal reason why it should be. The decision, which was made by all parties at a meeting of the parliament's business bureau, was condemned yesterday.

Mark Wallace, of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "There is no good reason why politicians should have a day off to vote. Everybody else has to fit voting around their work."

The decision means that most of Thursday's business, including First Minister's Questions, has been moved to Wednesday.

Doubts about the decision were aired before it was made. The Liberal Democrat chief whip Mike Rumbles, who was at the meeting that agreed the day off, said: "I did warn the others that, after the Westminster expenses saga, us taking a day off like this would look very bad."