RUTH Davidson has been accused of “boundless hypocrisy” after pocketing £3000 for writing a single article demanding a Tory-led “reboot” of capitalism
The Scottish Conservative leader was paid £1-a-word for the piece, which appeared on the new centre-right blog Unherd in July.
The money, declared in her parliamentary register of interests, brings her outside earnings in the last year to almost £30,000.
The money is on top of the Edinburgh Central MSP’s basic salary of £61,778.
Ms Davidson’s article was titled “Ctrl + Alt + Del. Conservatives must reboot capitalism.”
In it, she said that, despite capitalism’s huge successes, “inequality” and “injustice” meant people were “losing faith” in its ability to make their lives better.
She also attacked “restrictive practice” and “creeping cronyism”.
Unherd is run by Tory journalist Tim Montgomerie, who has tipped Ms Davidson as a possible leader of the UK Conservatives.
Ms Davidson’s piece concluded: “Capitalism has lifted billions out of poverty and made the world a better, safer, healthier, more comfortable place.
“It’s not working for everyone, however, and some people are enriching themselves through the kind of restrictive practices that Adam Smith warned us about two centuries ago.
“Nationally and internationally, capitalism needs a reboot. Time to press Ctrl + Alt + Del.”
SNP MSP George Adam said: “Ruth Davidson’s hypocrisy knows no bounds – even when she is admitting to how her own party has reduced living standards, she is coining it in.
“Pound-a-word Davidson has absolutely no self-awareness.
“While many of her own constituents and people across the country suffer at the hands of her party’s welfare policies, she is able to sit comfortably and write blogs to boost her income knowing that she’ll never have to suffer the impact of those policies.
“Ruth Davidson is absolutely right when she says ‘some people are enriching themselves’. She just seems completely unaware that she is one of them.”
In addition to the £3000 from Unherd Limited, which is bankrolled by former LibDem donor and Brexiteer Sir Paul Marshall, Ms Davidson earned another £25,565 last year.
In September 2016 she received £1500 for three newspaper articles.
In October, she received £1500 for appearing on the BBC’s Have I Got News for You show.
The same month she got £2065 for appearing on The Great British Bake Off - An Extra Slice, a spin-off of what was then the BBC’s Bake Off show.
And in December she got a £20,500 advance from publishers Hodder and Stoughton to write a book exploring “the life lessons learned by some of the world’s most powerful women”.
Ms Davidson declared the book would involve around 20 hours work per month.
In March, she and partner Jen Wilson were also overnight dinner guests at Ardnamurchan Estate, owned by Donald Houston, one of the biggest donors to Better Together.
A spokesman for the Scottish Conservatives said: “If the hypocritical SNP wants to complain about outside earnings, it should start with its leader in Westminster, who rakes in £50,000 a year away from politics.”
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