DISGRACED MSP Bill Walker could be stripped of his £58,000-a-year salary, it emerged last night, as the Scottish Parliament announced an urgent review of its pay scheme in the wake of his conviction for domestic violence.
Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick will this week chair a meeting of the parliament's ruling body to discuss denying pay to any MSP in jail.
Walker, 71, the Independent MSP for Dunfermline, was convicted last month of 23 counts of assault against three ex-wives and a step-daughter, who he tyrannised over three decades.
He is due to be sentenced on September 20.
As Walker was tried under summary procedure, the maximum sentence he can receive is 12 months - too little to disbar him from Holyrood - and last week he confirmed he would not resign despite public revulsion at his crimes.
Under current parliamentary rules, Walker will continue to collect his full salary until the next Holyrood election in 2016, around £155,000, even if he is in jail some of that time.
But yesterday the parliament said it was to look at changing its rules on pay - a possible means of driving Walker, who is described as "money mad", out of the door.
Even if Walker receives a non-custodial sentence, parliament insiders say the pay scheme could be altered to punish him regardless. "We're ruling nothing in and ruling nothing out," a senior source said.
Parliament officials have already considered and discounted other proposed solutions to the Walker problem, including a power of recall to sack him and expelling him by using the MSP's Code of Conduct.
The former would require legislation to be passed by Westminster, while the latter cannot be applied to an MSP's private life.
However, the 1998 Scotland Act does give Holyrood the power to "make provision for the payment of salaries" to MSPs, and power to make "different provision ... for different cases" through a simple resolution in parliament.
The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) will discuss the option on Thursday.
One of the issues expected to be examined is whether MSPs could pass a one-off rule covering convicted colleagues, or whether the entire pay scheme for MSPs would have to be revisited.
Facing public criticism after setting their own salaries in the early years of devolution, MSPs voted in March 2002 to surrender power over pay, and set their salaries at 87.5% of an MP's wage. This fixed link means pay rises at Westminster automatically trigger rises for MSPs.
Officials are now studying whether that link would have to be dissolved to allow for a new rule on convicted MSPs.
"This is clearly a complex issue that needs careful consideration of the options that might be available to the SPCB," an insider said.
Scottish LibDem leader Willie Rennie, whose motion calling on Walker to vacate his seat immediately has been signed by more than 85 MSPs, welcomed the SPCB's initiative.
He said: "Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick is providing good leadership in seeking to deprive salary to an MSP in prison. There is a powerful uprising of disgust that Bill Walker plans to remain as a parliamentarian. He should leave. But if he defies the public will, every attempt should be made to take action against him. People will find it difficult to understand why an MSP would expect to take their salary if locked up behind bars. This is a sensible move."
A parliament spokesman said: "Officials are looking at the issue of the extent to which a member who is a serving a custodial sentence should continue to be paid."
An SNP spokesman said: "Bill Walker was convicted of extremely serious offences and is not fit to be a public representative. He should stand down as an MSP and allow the people of Dunfermline to elect a new MSP.
"In the meantime, the SNP fully supports efforts of the Presiding Officer to consider what action can be taken in relation to pay and conditions if a member is serving a custodial sentence."
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