A SCOTTISH Tory has been reported to the parliamentary standards commissioner over claims he used taxpayer-funded House of Commons stationery for electioneering.
David Duguid sent a letter to a number of constituents at the beginning of October on paper with a House of Commons letterhead.
MPs have a taxpayer-funded stationery budget of £9000 per year per member.
According to the Standards Commissioner rules, the House of Commons provided stationery and pre‐paid envelopes can only be used for an MPs “parliamentary functions.”
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The guidelines says this excludes “using stationery or postage in connection with work for or at the behest of a political party (including fund‐ raising for a political party, advocating membership of a political party or supporting the return of any person to public office).”
Duguid’s letter starts: “Looking at the daily media headlines it would be easy to think that politicians are interested in Brexit or Nicola Sturgeon’s call for another independence referendum. Both issues are of course very important and will be at the heart of any General Election if one if called.”
It’s understood there have been complaints from constituents.
His SNP rival, Paul Robertson said voters would be concerned to learn that Duguid “may be inappropriately using taxpayer-funded resources to campaign for his re-election”.
He added: “Should the Standards Commissioner find that taxpayer-funded resources have been used inappropriately, I hope Mr. Duguid will undertake to repay every penny to the public purse.”
A spokesman for Duguid’s office said letters like this had been sent out by just about every MP in Scotland, including the SNP.
He said: “We always seek to comply with parliamentary rules.
“We have not been contacted by the parliamentary standards commissioner but would be happy to discuss this.”
The Tory won Banff and Buchan in 2017, overturning the 14,000 majority of the SNP’s Eilidh Whitford.
The seat, which takes in fishing towns Peterhead and Fraserburgh, had been SNP since 1987 when Alex Salmond took it off the Tories.
Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown Lloyd Russell-Moyle is also at the receiving end of a complaint to the commissioner after he shared a video of his campaign team stuffing envelopes marked with official Commons stationery.
Russell-Moyle denies wrongdoing and promised to provide evidence to the parliamentary authorities.
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