TORY MSP Adam Tomkins is being paid to speak at conferences of a right-wing think tank called the Liberty Fund that 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 that 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 to him 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 has 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 put in his apologies for another Holyrood social security event committee tomorrow. The meeting is a fact-finding visit to a jobcentre to learn about universal credit.

The news came after his fellow Tory MSP Douglas Ross also faced fresh 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: “Douglas Ross has insisted that he’ll continue to skip his parliamentary duties to take glamour trips abroad with his £40k-a-year third job.

“Yet in the past Mr Ross assured voters that he’d give up midweek games and only referee on weekends. He needs to tell us what’s changed.

“And why has he repeatedly volunteered for midweek games knowing that this would mean being AWOL in his day job?

“The arrogant comments from these Tories show that they think they can do what they want, and are treating the people of Scotland with contempt.

“Rather than running around trying to get herself on every chat show in the country, it’s time Ruth started focussing on her day job – and got her colleagues to do the same.”

A Scottish Tory spokesperson defended the activities of both Tomkins and Ross.

They said: “The Liberty Fund conferences and academic publishing programmes are unrelated to their political activities in the US.

“The SNP wish they had someone of Douglas’s quality, and that’s probably what’s driving this witch-hunt. He is committed 100 per cent to his role as an MSP, and the party is 100 per cent committed to him.”