THE STANDARDS Commissioner has confirmed Douglas Ross is under investigation.
The Scottish Tory leader apologised and reported himself to Westminster watchdog Kathryn Stone after failing to declare earnings for 16 football games which he refereed last year.
The total came to around £7000.
He also failed to declare his £21,000 MSP salary on the Commons register of financial interests.
The Herald revealed the omissions last month as Westminster politicians were under intense scrutiny for their earnings outside their core jobs as MPs.
It came after Geoffrey Cox MP declared he earned more than £1m last year for legal work, alongside his £82,000 MP salary.
Mr Ross, MP for Moray, has now updated his financial register of interests to include the football earnings, as well as declaring his monthly MSP salary which he donates to charity.
However the Standards commissioner has confirmed she is now investigating his omissions, after he reported himself.
MPs are supposed to declare any financial interests within 28 days, with Mr Ross failing to declare some of the earnings for almost a year.
The Commissioner’s website states he is being investigated for possible breaches of the MPs’ code of conduct, relating to the full disclosure of financial interests.
He joins several other MPs who are also being investigated for similar potential breaches, including Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, and senior Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Mr Davey is thought to have referred himself to the Commissioner last week for a “minor clerical error” in his declaration of financial interests.
A spokesman for Douglas Ross MP said: “Douglas referred himself to the Standards Commissioner for investigation and he will support the conclusion they reach.”
The SNP's deputy leader Kirsten Oswald said: "Douglas Ross is just the latest in a long line of Tories who find themselves up to their neck in sleaze.
"By failing to declare thousands of pounds from multiple side hustles, and missing crucial votes in Parliament to run the line at football matches, Mr Ross is in clear breach of the rules.
“The irony, of course, is that it was Mr Ross who was first off the mark to demand that others resign for rule-breaking, even when that was disproven, but has now become strangely reluctant to follow his own advice.
“It is clear that, just like every other Tory, Mr Ross believes it is one rule for him and another for everyone else.
“There can be no doubt that Douglas Ross’ credibility has been blown apart. It is surely only a matter of time before the search for the next Scottish Tory Leader begins.”
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