 | 'Today Glasgow Nationalist MSP Sandra White, who along with other SNP members has called for the Lords to be replaced with an elected body, said Lord Watson's attitude could sound the death knell for the Lords.She said: "I'm disgusted someone who has served a jail term for endangering people's lives can just walk back into this archaic system.' John McCann in the Evening Times, 16 th June 2006. |  |
SHAMED ex-MSP Mike Watson has been accused of "disgusting greed" for returning to the House of Lords less than a month after his release from jail.
Lord Watson resigned as Glasgow Cathcart MSP after his drunken fire attack at Edinburgh's Prestonfield Hotel in 2004.
But he held on to his title of Lord Watson of Invergowrie, which entitled him to return to the Houses of Parliament.
Lord Watson was released from jail on May 23 after serving half of a 16-month sentence for wilful fire-raising.
And yesterday he resumed his £320-a-day job at Parliament - provoking calls for the whole peerage system to be abolished.
Lord Watson was accompanied by fellow Labour peers, including George Foulkes, who had previously called for him to be left alone, saying: "He's done his punishment."
Today Glasgow Nationalist MSP Sandra White, who along with other SNP members has called for the Lords to be replaced with an elected body, said Lord Watson's attitude could sound the death knell for the Lords.
She said: "I'm disgusted someone who has served a jail term for endangering people's lives can just walk back into this archaic system.
"How are people supposed to feel when they see him picking up public money again?"
Ms White condemned the fact Lord Watson can still sit in the Lords and claim allowances of £320 a day, which includes travel expenses, without having a single voter elect him.
She said: "I hope the voters will see this and demand an end to this unelected house.
"He represents no-one but his greedy self, parking his bum on a seat and taking the public's money."
Lord Watson's former Holyrood and Westminster colleagues say convicted criminals should be barred from the Lords, as they can be from Westminster.
But friends of the disgraced peer said he received a warm welcome on his return.
One reportedly said: "It was always his intention to retake his seat in the Lords."
They said he got a good welcome "even from the Tory side" and insisted: "He just wants to settle down and get back to business."
At his trial, Sheriff Kathrine Mackie was concerned at his lack of remorse for his actions in setting fire to curtains at the hotel, which could have claimed lives.
She told him: "Someone in public office ought to know how to conduct himself on all occasions."
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