TORY MSP Adam Tomkins is being paid to speak at conferences of a right-wing think tank called the Liberty Fund.
This has links to a body that was reportedly involved in drawing up US president-elect Donald Trump’s list of potential Supreme Court judges.
Tomkins lists on his MSP’s register of interests that he is “a conference delegate” for Liberty Fund and he receives “remuneration of between £500 and £1,000 per annum”.
However, the Sunday Herald can reveal that the Liberty Fund lists the Federalist Society as one with which it holds “co-sponsored” conferences.
The Federalist Society has been reported in the American media to be involved in drawing up Trump’s list of potential Supreme Court judges, which opponents have warned is likely to have abortion and gun rights on its agenda.
Trump told Republican House leadership during a meeting on Capitol Hill that he would come out with a list, assisted by conservative groups the Federalist Society and the Heritage Foundation, of judicial nominations he would make if he had the opportunity to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court, according to a source reported in the US media.
At the time, Trump also said the members present at the meeting should submit names and he would put them on the list.
Tomkins’s work for a right-wing American think tank with links to Trump supporters is at odds with Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson’s opposition to the election of the US President-elect.
His links to the American right will also raise questions about the company kept by Tomkins, who is the Tory welfare spokesman at Holyrood. The Liberty Fund also holds co-sponsored conferences with right-wing US groups such as the Charles Koch Foundation and the Cato Institute.
Tomkins has already come under fire for failing to attend an event of his parliamentary committee on the same day he was lecturing as part of a lucrative academic post he is paid for on top of his MSP’s salary.
The Glasgow list MSP stayed away from a Scottish Parliament and Westminster joint session held to “learn more about welfare reform in Scotland” – a subject that relates to his shadow cabinet brief. Tomkins was teaching at the University of Glasgow’s law school that day as part of his obligations for an annual contract worth between £30,000 and £35,000, on top of his parliamentary salary of £58,000 per year.
However, Tomkins has now made his apologies for another Holyrood social security event committee tomorrow.
The news came after his fellow Tory MSP Douglas Ross also faced criticism for a missed parliamentary committee to referee a Champions League match in Portugal. Ross was an assistant referee at the clash between Sporting Lisbon and Real Madrid on Tuesday, which meant he was unable to attend a Justice Committee meeting in the Scottish Parliament. The MSP earns up to £40,000 a year as a self-employed specialist assistant football referee, according to his Scottish Parliament register of interests.
SNP MSP James Dornan claimed the outside paid interests of Ross and Tomkins displayed an arrogant attitude towards voters who elected them in May.
He said: “The arrogant comments from these Tories show they think they can do what they want, and are treating the people of Scotland with contempt.”
A Scottish Tory spokesperson defended the activities of both Tomkins and Ross.
He said: “The SNP wish they had someone of Douglas’s quality. That’s what’s driving this witch-hunt.”
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