Ochil MSP's position becomes more untenable as each hour passes

28 April 2008

Gordon Banks, MP for Ochil & South Perthshire, has again re-itterated his calls for Ochil MSP, Keith Brown to resign his seat due to the financial scandal that has engulfed the SNP MSP.

During last year's Scottish Parliamentary Election, the Ochil MSP and Chair of the Standards Committee claimed it would not be 'morally right' to take a £15,000 redundancy payment after leaving Clackmannanshire Council.  Yet one year on it has been uncovered that the MSP has taken the payment and tried to hide that fact from the public.

Mr Banks said - "Things are getting worse by the hour for Mr Brown and his position is becoming increasingly untenable.  Putting aside for a second that Mr Brown deceived the people of Ochil, he is also the Chairman of the Standards Committee at the Scottish Parliament but has failed to declare this redundancy payment.  The SNP have embarked on crusades against Tony Blair and Wendy Alexander for alleged impropriety yet their own Chairman for Standards at the Parliament has already been exposed as saying one thing and doing another.  People who get themselves into positions like this need good memories and Mr Brown has proven that all his words during the election campaign were as shallow as his morals."

"He should be more familiar with the rules than most yet he has deliberately chosen not to declare this money - this is clear deception from a man who knows he has done wrong.  He was quick to try and convince the people of Ochil that he was a man of integrity during the election but these same morals seem to have deserted him recently.  The people of Ochil deserve better and the Parliament needs a Standards Committee Chairman that actually has some standards."

"At the moment, Mr Brown is cutting a Father Ted like figure around Parliament trying to defend the indefensible.  He claims this money is resting in his bank account but I think the people of Ochil know better and hope that Mr Brown is banished to a far flung island just like Father Ted."