On Expenses.

Mr Smith seems to recall that we have had similar cases before of MSPs not using homes they already own in Edinburgh and instead claiming accommodation costs on Holyrood's allowances. Surely this isn't the way the Holyrood expenses system was supposed to work by compensating MSPs for expenditure they didn't have to incur in the first place?

"A WEALTHY Tory MSP has denied rearranging his half-a-million pound property portfolio in a bid to cash in on the Holyrood expenses system. John Lamont has made a plea to parliament for overnight expenses in Edinburgh despite owning a flat in the capital. He cannot claim for staying in his £177,000 Edinburgh pad because he bought it before he was elected last year. "