David Maddox: Rewards for failure

So what price failure in the Scottish Government. Well in the last two years it has been £163,024.25, a price paid not by failed ministers but to them by the poor old tax payer.

This nuggest came out in a recent parliamentary answer by John Swinney to Lord George Foulkes, Baron of Cumnock, Labour MSP for the Lothians, First Lord of the Twittery.

It seems that 10 Labour and Lib Dem ministers who lost their jobs in May 2007 because the electorate preferred the SNP were paid £99,742.50 between them as a pay-off.

Then the three former SNP ministers - Stewart Maxwell (bottom left), Linda Fabiani (mid left) and Maureen Watt (top left) - deemed so hopeless by Alex salmond that he sacked them got £43,730.75 between them for not being up to the job - that's £14,576.92 each.