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We Think McLeish Lied To The Scottish People Why Henry McLeish Should Stand Down From Parliament Letter To The Press 26th November 2001 FULL TEXT, including the paragraph the Glenrothes Gazette and the East Fife Mail edited out. Sir, As soon as Henry McLeish resigned as First Minister, The Scottish Socialist Party called for him to stand down from The Scottish Parliament. It only seems fair and in the public interest that we explain why the party with arguably the least to gain from a by-election (but also the most to offer in my humble opinion) should demand Mr McLeish's total withdrawal from politics. Henry McLeish gave a number of interviews on 6th November to enable him to make what he called a "full and frank disclosure" regarding sub-lets of his office in Hanover Court. Given the scrutiny under which Mr Mcleish found himself, his failure to mention the sub-let involving Third Age is deeply suspicious and must be accounted for. Mr McLeish's failure to declare this income to the Fees Office is not my concern here, that is a matter for the police now. The Scottish Socialist Party's contention is that it is highly unlikely that Mr McLeish could have forgotten about the Third Age sub-let. This being the case, the only explanation remaining is that Mr McLeish lied to the Scottish People in his media engagements on 6th November and must resign as he can no longer claim to be accountable to his constituents. Third Age latterly employed Lynda Struthers who was to be Mr McLeish's election agent for the 1997 General Election, she is also a former secretary of the Central Fife Constituency Labour Party – a close party colleague therefore. If there were a medical reason for what would have to be cataclysmic lapse in Mr McLeish's memory, there might be a case for Mr McLeish retiring on medical grounds. Since no explanation of this sort has been offered, I think we can assume this not to be the case. This leads us to be of the opinion that in the very nervy interviews that Mr McLeish gave on 6th November, that he was attempting to deceive the Scottish People. Mr McLeish has repeated his assertion that there was no wrong-doing on his part, but has offered no evidence to support this claim. This being the case, Mr McLeish should resign as he cannot possibly represent people he has perhaps lied to. We also have real problems with Mr McLeish receiving his £34,000 First Minister's pension in addition to his £43,000 MSP salary. If Mr McLeish has acted dishonestly, I would hope that any rights he has to claim a parliamentary pension from the taxpayer would be revoked just as they would be by any other employer dealing with a disciplinary matter such as this. In any case to receive £34,000pa (index linked too) after resigning in disgrace from a post held for only a year on top of what is believed to be a £20,000 pa pension from his time as an MP is excessive. How many pensioners in Fife have such a comfortable income? It’s also a long time since state pensioners’ incomes were index linked. And they have worked all their days for it! Yours, |