MSP James Dornan urged to apologise over athletics pay claim

A NATIONALIST MSP is being urged to apologise over 'inaccurate' claims that Scotland's national athletics body does not pay staff a living wage.

MSP James Dornan has been urged to apologise over atheltics body claim. Picture: Andrew Cowan/Scottish Parliament

The head of Scottish Athletic has now written to Glasgow MSP James Dornan demanding an explanation for the outburst earlier this week. The Tories are now accusing the SNP of an Olympics publicity stunt.

Mr Dornan issued a press release calling on Scottish Athletics  to “embrace” the living wage and ensure all its staff are paid fairly.

“It would be a fantastic Olympic legacy for athletics in Scotland to join the growing numbers of employers adopting the Scottish living wage,” he said.

It has now emerged that Scottish Athletics already pays all its staff more than the living wage. Its chief executive has also written to Mr Dornan demanding to know why he hadn’t checked this with the organisation.

Tory sport spokesman Brian Whittle demanded an apology, adding: “This SNP MSP has tried to publicly shame Scottish Athletics with a claim that is wholly inaccurate.”

A spokesman for the SNP said: “James is delighted that Scottish Athletics agree with him on the importance of paying fair wages in sport.”

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