MSP McCabe reveals he employs his sister

Feb 21 2008

ANOTHER Lanarkshire MSP has revealed that he employs a family member as staff.

Hamilton South Labour MSP Tom McCabe told the Advertiser that his sister works for him.

Hamilton South and Bellshill Labour MSP Michael McMahon, Central Scotland SNP MSP Alex Neil, and East Kilbride MSP Andy Kerr all said last week that they employ family members.

They were responding to a survey of Lanarkshire MPs and MSPs carried out by the Advertiser.

The politicians were contacted following the scandal surrounding London Tory MP Derek Conway.

Conway had employed his son Freddie in his private office using public cash. But there was no record of what, if any, work Freddie Conway had done. Conway has since been suspended from the House of Commons and the Conservative Party.

Mr McCabe was not available last week as he was out of the country during the Scottish Parliament recess.

But he confirmed this week that his sister works for him.

However, he would not give out her name, adding: “I don’t give out names of employees.”

Asked why he had employed his sister, he said: “She can do the job 100 per cent and is dependable.

“That’s the criteria I would use when employing anybody.”

Mr McMahon, the Labour Party chief whip at Holyrood, employs his daughter Siobhan in the whips office.

His wife Margaret also works for him as a parliamentary assistant.

Alex Neil employs his wife Isobel as his secretary and personal assistant on a full-time basis.

And former Scottish Executive minister Andy Kerr’s wife is employed by her husband on a part-time contract.

Rutherglen and Hamilton West Labour MP Tommy McAvoy employs his wife Eleanor.

The House of Commons privileges and standards committee has recommended an April 1 deadline for MPs to register any relatives they employ.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said that Labour MPs had to be “fully transparent” in their declarations.

He has also ordered them to provide to the committee details of any family members working for them “as soon as possible.”

Lanark and Hamilton East Labour MP Jimmy Hood, and Dumfries, Clydesdale and Tweeddale Conservative MP David Mundell do not employ any family as staff.

Nor do Clydesdale Labour MSP Karen Gillon, Motherwell and Wishaw MSP Jack McConnell, Central Scotland Conservative MSP Margaret Mitchell, Liberal Democrat MSP Hugh O’Donnell, and SNP list MSPs Linda Fabiani, Christina McKelvie and John Wilson.

South of Scotland SNP MSP Aileen Campbell employed her mother for a brief period last year on a part-time basis.

Motherwell and Wishaw Labour MP Frank Roy, and East Kilbride MP Adam Ingram, did not respond to the Advertiser’s survey.