Elementary Watson.

It would appear that crime does eventually pay and that being a member of the House of Lords is one of the few careers where being convicted of a serious crime and doing "bird" doesn;t actually have any impact on your job.

"Lord Watson, the Labour peer who spent eight months in jail for fire-raising, claimed almost £75,000 in tax-free parliamentary expenses after he was freed. The disgraced politician attended the House of Lords 231 times between his release in May 2006 and March this year, but spoke on only 13 occasions, took part in fewer than half the votes and failed to ask a single written question. In the same period he received £29,308 in overnight subsistence, £17,454 in day subsistence, £16,524 for office costs and £11,451 for transport and attendance travel costs.

Nice work if you can get it.

Peer-less.

Mr Smith reads the latest "expense" disclosures for some of the Scottish members of the House of Lords.

"LORD Foulkes, the bombastic Labour peer and MSP, has clocked up £62,509 in tax-free expenses as an "unpaid" member of the House of Lords. The former Scotland Office minister and government loyalist said most of his expenses were down to high travel costs. Although Lord Foulkes of Cumnock is now an MSP, the expenses for the House of Lords are until April 2007; a month before his election to the Scottish Parliament ... Lord Watson, since his early release from jail in May last year for arson, has managed to bill £31,932 in expenses. It is almost three years since the then Labour MSP set alight the curtains at a hotel in Edinburgh ... Since his release, he has voted in just 18 per cent of divisions - lower than average. Also billing a hefty sum in expenses was Lord Elder, formerly known as Murray Elder, former chief of staff to John Smith. He picked up £52,563 in expenses for his 128-day attendance. His voting record of 74 per cent, however, was much higher than most peers. The man in charge of probing the overspend on the new Scottish Parliament - Lord Fraser of Carmyllie - himself managed to spend £49,113. His office costs of £10,209 for 124 days exceeded the daily limit of £69. His fellow Tory peer, Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, attended for just 99 days and claimed £32,957 in expenses. He managed to speak in 53 debates, however, more than most peers. Lord Steel of Aikwood, the former presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament, has cost taxpayers £50,035."

And all tax-free. Good to have sight of the information for a change though.

Free Spirits.

Mr Smith also notes that his favourite Labour MSP peer George Foulkes (well he is the only one left since Mike Watson had to check in at the Saughton HMP B&B) is also up for an award this year in the "Free Spirit" category of the Politician of the Year Awards.

Rather ironic thinks Mr Smith given Lord Foulkes infamous falling down "tired and emotional" in a London street incident of a several years following his leaving a reception organised by the Scotch Whisky Association which lead to him pleading guilty to breach of the peace and assault charges and paying out over £1,000 in fines and costs.

Shouldn't the award be renamed "free spirits"? The awards after all are sponsored by spirits maker DIAGEO.

Mr Smith would also highlight the fact that Lord Foulkes rakes in rather a lot of cash from working as an independent parliamentary consultant which would suggest there are limits on how "free spirited" he can ever be, especially where commercial concerns come to the fore.

Mind the curtains.

There was a time when being convicted of a criminal offence and spending several months in Saughton Prison at Her Majesty's Pleasure would have spelt the end of someone's career in politics, even at the margins. But not it appears if you are former Labour MP, MSP and Labour peer Lord Mike Watson of Invergowrie who once famously set fire to a set of curtains after an event at Prestonfield House Hotel, an offence he admitted in court.

Mr Smith notes in today's Sunday Herald that the "disgraced" peer has apparently made a return to the work of Scottish politics by working as a consultant with Edinburgh public affairs consultancy Caledonia Consulting.

Mr Smith isn't sure whether Caledonia's clients are aware of Lord Watson's wide range of previous experience, but for a consultancy which seeks to advise clients on how best to win friends and influence people, there is the feeling that perhaps they should be taking some advise themselves before offering it to others.