A NATIONALIST MP who habitually criticizes others for being “lazy” has the worst record for asking written questions of any of his 2015 contemporaries.
SNP culture spokesman John Nicolson has tabled just three questions to the government since being elected MP for East Dunbartonshire, or roughly one every six months.
The average for the SNP’s ‘Class of 2015’ is 76 written parliamentary questions (PQs), while three SNP MPs have tabled more than 200 PQs since their election.
A former BBC presenter, Mr Nicolson, 55, frequently uses Twitter to attack others as workshy.
He has condemned the “lazy and complacent political establishment”, called a former Tory minister “the definition of lazy Westminster entitlement”, branded BBC Newsnight “lazy” for booking a particular Labour MP on the show, and called Boris Johnson a “lazy charlatan”.
He also tweeted recently on “lazy journalism”, complaining “We have such a lazy press”.
Several reporters then posted examples of their work with the ironic hashtag #beinglazy.
However Commons records show Mr Nicolson, who missed last week’s oral questions on culture at Westminster, has the lowest PQ tally of any newly elected MP in Scotland.
He managed just three - on the living wage, energy prices and the implications of Brexit on the department of work and pensions - in June last year and February and July this year.
Also at the bottom of the league were returning MP Alex Salmond, with five, and Joanna Cherry QC, the SNP’s justice and home affairs spokeswoman, who tabled eight.
Over the same period, Scotland’s sole LibDem Alistair Carmichael tabled 117 written PQs, while Scotland’s only Labour MP, Ian Murray, put down 162.
Three SNP MPs - Westminster leader Angus Robertson, Treasury spokesman Stewart Hosie and Scottish Affairs Committee chair Pete Wishart - tabled no PQs at all, but the party said that was traditional for senior frontbenchers who can question ministers in other ways.
As he is Scottish Secretary, Tory MP David Mundell does not table PQs to the government.
Mr Carmichael said: “Parliamentary questions are an important tool for holding government to account. Much of the work of an MP is sheer hard slog and not very glamorous.
“It can, however, yield results for your constituents. Some in the SNP are more likely to be found on Twitter than in Hansard. Unfortunately it’s the electorate who miss out."
A Labour spokesperson said: “When you see MPs fighting with members of the public and journalists on Twitter, you’d think they had better things to do - like hold the Tory Government to account by tabling PQs. Mr Nicolson should put down his phone and pick up an order paper, before his constituents start to question how he is filling his days in Westminster.
Mr Nicolson did not return calls. An SNP spokesperson said: "The SNP are widely regarded as the only strong, united and effective opposition to the Tories at Westminster.”
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