A TORY MSP who repeatedly attacked Nicola Sturgeon for going on overseas trips has been accused of rank hypocrisy after going on one himself.
Jamie Greene, who last week criticised the First Minister for visiting the US and Canada, is currently in the Caribbean.
The West of Scotland MSP is acting as an election observer in the British Virgin Islands.
He missed proceedings in parliament to take part in a mission organised by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s British and Mediterranean Region.
A news agency in the tax haven published a picture of the group showing Mr Greene in an open-necked shirt and an apparently sunburned face.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon defends trip to France after 'jaunt' jibe
In recent months Mr Greene hds complained about Ms Sturgeon going on overseas trips, accusing her of using them as an excuse to promote independence.
In August, he tweeted a picture of a mocked-up boarding pass bearing Ms Sturgeon’s name and “paid by the taxpayer” stamped across it.
He added: “The Scottish taxpayer shouldn't have to pay for Nicola Sturgeon to jet off to Barcelona to talk about independence. If she wants to go to Catalonia then the SNP should pay for it!”
Last week, he tweeted a similar picture of a mocked-up “transatlantic” boarding pass to comment on the First Minister’s recent visits to North America.
He wrote: “If Nicola Sturgeon wants to go to the US to talk about independent then the #SNP should pay for it. The Scottish taxpayer should not be left with a bill of thousands of pounds so that the First Minister can fly first class, grandstand and talk up #indyref2.”
Mr Greene’s Tory MSP colleague, Maurice Golden, said the US trips were a “jaunt”.
Mr sturgeon also visited Paris during the final Holyrood vote on the 2019/20 budget.
READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon accused of 'running away' from tax vote
An SNP spokesman said: "We don't have an issue with politicians visiting other countries to promote trade, to build closer relationships or to undertake the valuable task of observing elections. "But we do have an issue with such manifest hypocrisy.
"Jamie Greene was among the loudest critics of the First Minister's recent visit to the United States and Canada, where she was drumming up business and investment for Scotland.
"Just days later he's off to one of the popular tourist destinations in the Caribbean. I think the public will see that for what it is."
Asked for comment on the accusation of hypocrisy, a Scottish Conservative spokesman said merely: "Jamie Greene was working as an Election Observing Officer on behalf of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.”
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